Game Notes vs. Boston College 
| Coach Jackson’s Weekly Press Conference
DETAILS — GAME 17
Match-up: Notre Dame at Boston College
Date: Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015
Time: 7:05 p.m.
Site: Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Arena: Kelley Rink at Conte Forum (7,884)
Television: None
Live Streaming: bceagles.com/watch
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
All-Time Series: BC leads 20-17-2 (39 games)
OVERVIEW
— The Irish and Eagles will be meeting for the 40th time on Thursday night.
— It will mark Notre Dame’s final game of the semester and of 2015.
— Notre Dame carries a three-game winning streak to Chestnut Hill, Mass., and currently ranks third in the Hockey East standings (8 GP, 5-1-2, 12 points).
— Boston College is unbeaten in its last 13 games (12-0-1) and sits in second place in the Hockey East standings (7 GP, 6-0-1, 13 points).
— Cal Petersen (98.7%) and Thatcher Demko (99.8%) are two of the four Hockey East goaltenders to play at least 98% of their teams’ minutes so far this season.
THE BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
— Boston College and Notre Dame renew their rivalry on Thursday night at Conte Forum. The Irish lead the all-time series at BC, 10-9-1.
— Thursday night will mark the 40th meeting between the sides with BC holding a 20-17-2 edge in 39 meetings.
— The series began in December of 1969 and, since 1995, the teams have met every year except for two (1999-2000 and 2005-06).
— Last season, the Irish and Eagles split a weekend series at the Compton Family Ice Arena, with Boston College taking game one, 2-0 (Feb. 27). Notre Dame bounced back with a 3-1 Senior Night victory (Feb. 28), on goals by Anders Bjork, Jordan Gross and Austin Wuthrich.
— Cal Petersen made 55 saves in that Notre Dame victory.
— The Eagles helped dedicate the Compton Family Ice Arena on Nov. 18, 2011 as No. 4 Notre Dame downed No. 3 BC, 3-2 in overtime when Bryan Rust scored with 1.1 seconds remaining.
— Boston College dominated the first half of the series, going 14-7-2 against the Irish from 1969-2002, but Notre Dame has ruled the rivalry since, going 10-6-0 since 2003.
— The teams met in the 2014 Hockey East quarterfinals with Notre Dame claiming a best-of-three series at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., upsetting the top-seeded Eagles.
— Other recent notable meetings include a 4-3 BC win at Fenway Park (Jan. 4, 2014), while BC also defeated the Irish 4-1 in the 2008 NCAA Championship game in Denver, Colorado (Notre Dame’s first appearance in the NCAA Championship game).
MARQUEE COACHING MATCH-UP
— Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson and Boston College head coach Jerry York are two of the 18 head coaches that have won multiple NCAA Div. I Championships.
— At Notre Dame, Jackson is 8-6-0 versus York and the Eagles.
— As head coaches, the duo first met on Oct. 12-13, 1990 during Jackson’s first season as head coach at Lake Superior State when the Lakers turned in a weekend sweep of York’s Falcons (defeating Bowling Green by scores of 3-1 and 10-2).
— Heading into Thursday night’s game, Jackson and York have two of the seven best active career winning percentages in NCAA Div. I (minimum of five years):
.660 — Red Berenson, Michigan (818-401-87)
.658 — Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame (416-200-69)
.638 — Don Lucia, Minnesota (680-364-97)
.630 — Nate Leaman Providence (189-103-40)
.627 — Dean Blais, Omaha (385-217-58)
.623 — Dick Umilie, New Hampshire (563-321-101)
.619 — Jerry York, Boston College (997-592-106)
PETERSEN PICKING IT UP
— Sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen, who has started each of Notre Dame’s first 16 games of the season, is 3-0-0 over the last three games with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage
— Petersen has stopped 86 of the 89 shots he faced in wins over Western Michigan (3-1) and UMass (3-1 and 5-1).
Ã… In Hockey East play this season, Petersen is 5-1-2 with a 1.60 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
— In two games versus Boston College last season, Petersen went 1-1-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage.
ACTIVE NOTRE DAME POINT STREAKS
— Andy Ryan (0-4-4), Thomas DiPauli (2-2-4) and Anders Bjork (2-2-4) each have three-game point streaks.
— Ryan’s three-game streak is a career-long mark.
— Jordan Gross (0-3-3), Mario Lucia (0-2-2) and Steven Fogarty (2-0-2) each have two-game point streaks.
BALANCED ATTACK
— Thomas DiPauli leads the Irish with seven goals and 16 points (7-9-16).
— Steven Fogarty and Dylan Malmquist are tied for second on the team with six goals apiece.
— Anders Bjork (5-10-15) and Jake Evans (2-12-14) rank second and third, respectively, in points.
— Evans’ 12 assists lead the team, followed by Bjork’s 10.
— The balanced Irish attack features six players with at least 11 points on the season, while 18 players have scored at least one goal this season.
— Notre Dame’s 18 goal scorers are the most in Hockey East, followed by Boston College (17), Boston University (17) and UMass Lowell (17).
BJORK HEADING TO CAMP
— USA Hockey announced on Dec. 7 that sophomore forward Anders Bjork is one of the 29 players who have been named to the 2016 U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster.
— Team USA will use a training camp to finalize the roster for the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship, which will take place from Dec. 26 – Jan. 5 in Helsinki, Finland.
— Phase one of Team USA’s camp will take place Dec. 14-18 in Boston, Mass. and then phase two will be held from Dec. 19-23 in Vierumaki, Finland. Ã… USA Hockey is expected to announce the final 23-man roster by Dec. 24.
— One of 16 forwards on the preliminary roster, Bjork is coming off a three-point weekend as he helped Notre Dame sweep UMass by notching an assist in Friday night’s 3-1 win (Dec. 4) and a career-high two goals in Saturday night’s 5-1 victory (Dec. 5).
— Team USA’s support staff for the upcoming World Junior Championship will have a decidedly Notre Dame flavor to it as Irish coordinator of hockey operations, Nick Siergiej, will join the squad as the team’s video coordinator.
— Notre Dame equipment specialist Dave Gilbert will serve in that same role for Team USA.
— Dating back to 1997, 18 Notre Dame players have taken part in the IIHF World Junior Championships. Most recently, Thomas DiPauli and Vince Hinostroza were members of the 2014 U.S. Junior National Team that finished fifth in Malmo, Sweden.
IN THE POLLS
— In the rankings for a sixth consecutive week, the Irish moved from No. 20 to No. 18 in the USCHO.com poll after last weekend’s sweep of UMass.
APPROACHING 100
— Senior forward Mario Lucia (52-45-97) is approaching the 100 career points milestone.
— Lucia would become the 49th Notre Dame player to reach 100 career points and the first since the 2012-13 season when both Anders Lee (61-55-116) and T.J. Tynan (54-107-161) reached 100 points.
UP NEXT: EXAMS & TRIP TO DENVER
— After playing the Eagles on Thursday night, the Irish will break for final exams.
— Notre Dame opens the second half of the season with a weekend series at No. 11/12 Denver on Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2.
— Last season, Notre Dame finished the first semester with an 8-8-2 record (prior to returning to play on Dec. 28-29, 2014).
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.
HERR COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH
— Sam Herr became the first Notre Dame player to score two game-winning goals this season when he netted the game winner against Western Michigan (Nov. 28) with just under five minutes to play in the third period in Notre Dame’s 3-1 victory.
— Herr’s other game winner this season came at 12:36 of the third period in Notre Dame’s 2-1 win at UConn (Oct. 31).
— Herr’s other goal this season also came in the third period when he tied the game 3-3 in an eventual 3-3 tie with Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 23).
— The Irish are 4-0-1 this season when Herr registers at least one point.
— Herr has seven game winners in his career (29 career goals, 24% game winners).
IN OVERTIME
— The Irish are 0-0-4 in overtime this season, including a pair of 3-3 ties against then fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 23-24), a 2-2 tie versus Northeastern on Nov. 13 and a 2-2 tie at No. 5 UMass Lowell (Nov. 20).
— 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).