ORONO

The University of Notre Dame has a storied tradition in athletics.

The school based in South Bend, Indiana, has won 30 NCAA championships in nine sports and, under the guidance of 10th-year head coach Jeff Jackson, the hockey program has been knocking on the door to win its first NCAA title.

Jackson has guided the Fighting Irish to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including three in the last four years, and two Frozen Fours in his previous nine seasons.

The Fighting Irish, in its second season in Hockey East, will make its first appearance at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena this weekend when the team takes on the Black Bears at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Notre Dame is 11-14-3 overall, 6-5-3 in Hockey East, while Maine is 10-16-2, 5-8-1, respectively.

Notre Dame has played at Alfond Arena once before. Maine beat the Irish 6-3 on Nov. 30, 1991, but it became a forfeit loss when the Black Bears used an ineligible player.

“The atmosphere will be electric all weekend,” said Maine head coach Red Gendron. “The name, the University of Notre Dame, is known throughout the world. And, since Jeff Jackson has been there, they have become a perennial contender to win a national championship.”

He said the combination of Notre Dame’s athletic tradition and the excellence of its hockey program will be a major draw.

“Jeff is a fabulous person and a fabulous coach,” Gendron added. “They do an unbelievable job there.”

Jackson is no stranger to Maine fans.

Maine won its first NCAA championship at the expense of Jackson’s Lake Superior State Lakers in 1992-93 as the Black Bears rallied for three third-period goals to triumph 5-4 behind Hobey Baker Award winner Paul Kariya and Jim Montgomery.

In 1996, he became the national coach and senior director of the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“The Alfond Arena is going to be packed. I can already feel [the excitement],” said Maine junior defenseman Ben Hutton.

“It’s a storied school,” said Maine senior left wing Connor Leen. “We went to South Bend last year, and it was a fun experience. It will be nice to return the favor and let them see how Alfond can rock.”

Sophomore center Cam Brown noted that the Irish will find the “amenities” a far cry from the team’s beautiful Compton Family Ice Arena, which was opened in 2011.

“They’ll be in a nice, small locker room,” grinned Brown.

The locker room is undersized and requires some players to dress across the hall in a tiny room. They have to cross the hall to shower in the locker room.

Maine’s first visit to the Compton Family Ice Arena produced the Black Bears’ first and only road win last season as Maine triumphed 2-1 on Feb. 7, 2014. The Black Bears were in position to complete a sweep the next night, but Bryan Rust scored goals 24 seconds apart, the first being with an extra attacker, and Notre Dame won 3-2.

“Everybody wants to see Notre Dame play,” said Maine right wing-center Steven Swavely. “It’s going to be very exciting. They should be great games, and they mean a lot in the standings. We’re four points behind them in the standings, and if we could get a sweep, we’d be right back in the picture as far as Hockey East goes.”

Maine is in 10th place but is just four points behind fifth-place Notre Dame.