Game Notes vs. UMass Lowell | Coach Jackson’s Weekly Press Conference

OVERVIEW
— Fifteenth-ranked Notre Dame and fifth-ranked UMass Lowell meet for the first time since the River Hawks knocked the Irish out of the 2015 Hockey East Playoffs, two-games-to-one in a quarterfinal series at the Tsongas Center.
— Heading into the weekend, the Irish (3-0-1) and River Hawks (4-0-2) are two of five teams with unbeaten Hockey East records, joining Boston College (3-0-0), New Hampshire (1-0-2) and Providence (0-0-2).

DETAILS — GAME 11
Match-up: Notre Dame at UMass Lowell
Date: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015
Time: 7:15 p.m.
Site: Lowell, Mass.
Arena: Tsongas Center (6,496)
Television: None
Live Streaming: www.goriverhawks.tv
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats: hockeyeastonline.com
Live Updates: @NDHockey

DETAILS — GAME 12
Match-up: Notre Dame at UMass Lowell
Date: Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015
Time: 7:05 p.m.
Site: Lowell, Mass.
Arena: Tsongas Center (6,496)
Television: None
Live Streaming: www.goriverhawks.tv
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats: hockeyeastonline.com
Live Updates: @NDHockey

UP NEXT
— After this weekend’s two-game series, Notre Dame returns home to play host to the sixth-annual Shillelagh Tournament, which will also include eighth-ranked Harvard, RPI and Western Michigan.

IN THE POLLS
— After improving to 5-2-3 on the season last weekend, Notre Dame moved up to No. 16 in latest USCHO.com poll and entered the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll at No. 15 (both national polls were released on Nov. 16).
— For the previous two weeks, Notre Dame was ranked 18th in the USCHO.com poll and had been receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
— The No. 15 ranking marks Notre Dame’s highest ranking since it was 14th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll on Nov. 3, 2014.

ACTIVE NOTRE DAME POINT STREAKS
— Jake Evans has a two-game point streak (1-2-3).

GROSS OF GOALS
— With five goals on the season, Jordan Gross is tied for second in the country in goals scored by defensemen with Gregory Amlong of RIT and trailing only Jake Walman of Providence College (nine goals).
— Gross has scored four goals in Notre Dame’s last four games, including two goals in a 4-3 win over Minnesota (Nov. 6) and two goals in a 3-2 win over Northeastern (Nov. 12).
— Gross leads the Irish with two power-play goals on the season.
— Last season, Gross scored seven goals in 42 games, including one power-play tally.

UMASS LOWELL AT A GLANCE
— The fifth-ranked River Hawks carry a five-game winning streak into this weekend’s series and are 8-1-2 (4-0-2 HEA) on the season with their only loss coming at Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 20 (2-1).
— Last weekend, Lowell swept Maine in a home-and-home series, including a 2-1 home win on Friday night and then a 6-0 victory at Maine on Sunday afternoon.
— Senior goaltender Kevin Boyle went the distance in both wins over the Black Bears, stopping 66 of 67 shots for a .985 save percentage and registering his third shutout of the year.
— For the season, Boyle has played all 11 games (8-1-2) and posted a 1.26 goals-against average (fourth in the nation) and a .957 save percentage (fifth in the nation).
— As a team, Lowell ranks 29th in the country in scoring (2.82 goals-per game) but ranks second in team defense (1.27 goals-against per game).
— Lowell’s penalty kill (36-for-40, .900) ranks ninth in the country.
— Senior Adam Chapie (5-4-9), sophomore C.J. Smith (4-5-9) and junior Joe Gambardella (2-7-9) lead the team in scoring with nine points apiece.
— Junior defenseman Dylan Zink (3-2-5) leads the team with three power-play goals.

NOTRE DAME STATS vs. UMASS LOWELL

NOTRE DAME vs. UMASS LOWELL
— Sam Herr 8 GP, 3-0-3
— Mario Lucia 8 GP, 2-1-3
— Anders Bjork 5 GP, 1-2-3
— Jordan Gross 5 GP, 1-2-3
— Jake Evans 5 GP, 0-1-1
— Steven Fogarty 6 GP, 0-1-1
— Connor Hurley 5 GP, 0-1-1
— Ben Ostlie 5 GP, 0-1-1
— Luke Ripley 5 GP, 0-1-1
— Andy Ryan 8 GP, 0-1-1
— Tony Bretzman 3 GP, 0-0-0
— Dawson Cook 3 GP, 0-0-0
— Thomas DiPauli 6 GP, 0-0-0
— Ali Thomas 6 GP, 0-0-0
— Justin Wade 7 GP, 0-0-0
— Cal Petersen is 1-2-0 in three career games against the River Hawks, which came during last season’s Hockey East Quarterfinals series at the Tsongas Center (5.58 goals-against average, .790 save percentage).
— Chad Katunar is 0-1-1 in four career appearances against the River Hawks (two starts), including a 1.86 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. His two starts came during the 2014-15 regular season (a 3-1 loss and a 2-2 tie in a series at Notre Dame on Nov. 20-21).

TOP MARKS IN THE COUNTRY
— Released on Nov. 4, the Notre Dame is first in NCAA Div. I hockey in the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) rankings with a perfect 100 score (tied with Bowling Green).
— The Irish also rank first in NCAA Div. I hockey in the Federal Rate (measured by the federal government in its Department of Education report) with a score of 94.
— Miami finished second in the Federal Rate with a score of 73.
— University wide, Notre Dame claimed a share of the 2015 national championship for graduating student-athletes in all sports – in the process posting the top NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figure (98) for its student-athletes for the ninth straight year.

BALANCED ATTACK
— Notre Dame heads into Friday night with the nation’s No. 12 ranked scoring offense (3.60 goals per game).
— Dylan Malmquist and Jordan Gross lead the Irish with five goals each, while Thomas DiPauli (4-7-11) and Jake Evans (2-9-11) are tied for the team lead in points.
— Evans’ nine assists lead the team, followed by Anders Bjork’s eight (2-8-10).
— The balanced Irish attack features seven players with at least seven points on the season, while 16 players have already scored at least one goal this season.

HOCKEY EAST HOT START
— With a road sweep of UConn (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1) and a 1-0-1 mark last weekend (Nov. 12-13) against Northeastern, Notre Dame has opened Hockey East play with a 3-0-1 mark.
— Heading into the weekend, the Irish (3-0-1) and River Hawks (4-0-2) are two of five teams with unbeaten Hockey East records, joining Boston College (3-0-0), New Hampshire (1-0-2) and Providence (0-0-2).
— In three seasons since joining the league, the 3-0-1 mark is Notre Dame’s best Hockey East start.

LAST WEEKEND: 1-0-1 VS. NORTHEASTERN
— The Irish posted a 1-0-1 record in a home Hockey East series versus Northeastern, including a 3-2 win on Thursday (Nov. 12) and a 2-2 overtime tie on Friday (Nov. 13).
— In Thursday’s win, Jordan Gross scored a power-play goal at 5:54 of the first period and then he notched his second of the game at 13:18 of the opening frame.
— Andrew Oglevie netted what proved to be the game winner at 3:05 of the second period – his first career goal in an Irish uniform.
— Northeastern tried to stage a comeback when Zach Aston-Reese and Brendan Collier scored back-to-back goals 28 seconds apart midway through the second period.
— In the Northeastern net, Ryan Ruck totalled 28 saves, while Cal Petersen had 23 for the Irish.
— On Friday, Jake Evans and Connor Hurley scored for the Irish and Petersen made 32 saves.
— Northeastern’s Matt Benning netted a power-play goal late in the third period as the Huskies and Irish skated to a 2-2 overtime tie.
— With a pair of assists, Thomas DiPauli recorded his second multi-point game of the season and the 10th of his career.

POWER PLAY PROGRESS
— The Notre Dame power play is 8-for-34 (.235) on the season, which ranks 16th nationally and third in Hockey East.
— Dylan Malmquist, Thomas DiPauli, Mario Lucia, Sam Herr, Steven Fogarty Jake Evans and Jordan Gross (2) have combined for the eight Notre Dame power-play goals.
— Notre Dame has scored at least one power play goal in seven of 10 games this season (seven of nine in games when it has had a power play opportunity).

IN OVERTIME
— The Irish are 0-0-3 in overtime this season, including a pair of 3-3 ties against then fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 23-24 and a 2-2 tie versus Northeastern on Nov. 13.
— Two players on the current roster have overtime, game-winning goals:
— Jake Evans in a 3-2 win vs. Miami on Dec. 28, 2014 in the Florida College Hockey Classic.
— Connor Hurley in a 3-2 win at Merrimack on Nov. 14, 2014.

YOUNG GUNS
— According to research conducted by College Hockey Inc. (@Collegehockey), entering the 2015-16 season, the Notre Dame roster is the fifth-youngest in the country (as of Oct. 1, 2015).
— The top-five youngest teams entering the season include Boston College (20 years, 169 days), Boston University (20 years, 179 days), Michigan (20 years, 235 days), Wisconsin (20 years, 320 days) and Notre Dame (20 years, 333 days).
— Notre Dame’s roster includes 15 underclassmen (nine sophomores and six freshmen).

— ND —

Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August, 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity surrounding the hockey and men’s golf programs. A native Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Prior to Providence, Colleran spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League. He is a 2006 graduate of Providence College, where he also earned an MBA in 2008.