Jan. 6, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — A pair of third-period goals lifted the 12th-ranked University of Notre Dame hockey team to its fifth straight victory on Friday, with the Irish defeating Michigan Tech 3-1 at the Compton Family Ice Arena (4,328).
Sophomore Jack Jenkins gave the Irish the 2-1 lead at the 7:28 mark of the third period after the Huskies opened the final stanza with a power-play goal to even the score.
Sophomore Joe Wegwerth gave the Irish an insurance goal with an unassisted tally at 13:24. Junior Jake Evans also scored for Notre Dame.
Junior goaltender Cal Petersen saw his shutout streak snapped at 207:10, which ranks second in Irish history. The Irish captain recorded 27 saves in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish and Huskies played 35 minutes of scoreless hockey before the Irish lit the lamp to take an initial 1-0 lead.
The beneficiaries of a 5-on-3 power play opportunity starting at the 12:56 mark of the second period, the Irish couldn’t convert with the advantage, but found the back of the net four seconds after the Huskies had returned to full strength. Evans scored his fifth goal of the season off a redirect of junior Jordan Gross’ shot from near the blue line, while junior Anders Bjork also assisted on the play.
The Huskies came out of the second intermission on a power play and scored 17 seconds into the third period to erase the shutout.
The Irish regained the lead seven minutes later when Jenkins fired a shot from the right faceoff circle and through the legs of Huskies goaltender Angus Redmond, assisted by sophomore Dylan Malmquist and freshman Andrew Peeke.
Wegwerth’s goal then gave the Irish breathing room later in the period as the sophomore buried a loose puck that went off the stick of Redmond.
The Irish were 0-for-6 on the power play while the Huskies were 1-for-5.
The Irish are in the midst of a five-game win streak, their longest since a five-game win streak during the 2014-15 season (October 17-31, 2014).
COACH JACKSON’S THOUGHTS
On the team’s response in the third period following the tying goalââ’¬¦
“That’s a good game for us because it was a gritty opponent. Michigan Tech plays very hard and heavy, and they’re not easy to play against. I knew it was going to be like that from what I saw last weekend at the GLI (Great Lakes Invitational). They’re a good team, and they’re a similar team to UMass Lowell as far as the way they play. It was a good, tough game to have success with, and the response was really important.”
Continuing the trend of strong play in the third periodââ’¬¦
“Hopefully it’s our strength and conditioning, what (coach) Tony (Rolinski) does with these guys. Also it’s a bit of our depth, especially on the back end. Our defense has really started to settle in and be more consistent, which has helped us a lot. The play of (Bobby) Nardella and (Andrew) Peeke, along with (Jordan) Gross, and I think (Tory) Dello started to show some good signs again tonight. That’s where it starts, that and in goal.”
On another stellar start from goaltender Cal Petersenââ’¬¦
“For Cal, we expect him to make the saves he should make and then make some that he probably shouldn’t. He’s been real solid for us since the break, and obviously the game before break, but we’re going to go as far as he takes us. He’s one of the best netminders in the country, and we have to play well in front of him.”
UP NEXT
The Fighting Irish and Huskies close out their weekend series tomorrow night (January 7) at 7:10 p.m. in game that will also be broadcast by the NBC Sports Network.
To purchase tickets visit UND.com/BuyTickets.
NOTRE DAME – MICHIGAN TECH GAME NOTES
- Junior goaltender Cal Petersen made his 70th-consecutive start in the Notre Dame net.
- Petersen’s shutout streak was snapped at 207:10, which now ranks as the second longest in program history (Steven Summerhays has the longest at 231:50).
- Jordan Gross skated in his 99th-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- Notre Dame improved to 8-0-0 when leading after two periods of play this season.
- Notre Dame extended its win streak to five games dating from December 3 at UMass. It marks the longest wining streak since the Irish won five in a row from October 17-31, 2014.
- With an assist, Anders Bjork extended his point streak to six games (5-5-10).
- With a goal, Jake Evans extended his point streak to six games (4-3-7).
- With an assist, Jordan Gross extended his point streak to three games (1-5-6).
- Jack Jenkins scored his second game-winning goal in as many games with his third-period tally.
- With an assist, Dylan Malmquist extended his point streak to three games (2-3-5).
— ND —
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.