#2 Irish Back On The Road At #17 Penn State

Jan. 31, 2018 | Game Notes

By Dan Colleran

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame and Penn State close out their regular-season series this weekend with a two-game set on Feb. 2-3 at the Pegula Ice Arena.

The Fighting Irish previously swept Penn State at home in the first semester, taking game one 5-3 (Nov. 10) and game two 1-0 (Nov. 11). In the game one win, Dawson Cook, Andrew Oglevie and Bobby Nardella each posted a goal and an assist to lead the Irish. In game two, Cale Morris posted 33 saves for his first career shutout (now has four on the season).

Last weekend, Notre Dame posted a weekend split at now 12th-ranked Minnesota, falling 1-0 in overtime (Jan. 26) and then bouncing back with a 4-1 game two win (Jan. 27). In the game two victory over the Gophers, Dylan Malmquist had a pair of goals and Andrew Oglevie had three assists to pace the Irish offense.

FOR STARTERS

• Notre Dame has the best road winning percentage in the country at .909 (10-1-0 on the road) and the single road loss by the Irish is tied for the fewest in the country with Cornell (7-1-1).
• Notre Dame’s goals-against average on the road is 1.09, which leads the NCAA.
• It will mark Notre Dame’s second trip to the Pegula Ice Arena, having split a season-opening series with the Nittany Lions Oct. 16-17, 2015.
• The Irish are 14-2-0-0 in Big Ten play this season (42 points) and lead second-place Ohio State (31 points) by 11 points in the league standings.
• This weekend’s series marks Notre Dame’s second consecutive road series and fourth and fifth straight games away from home, having also played Wisconsin at the United Center on Jan. 21.
• The Irish have won 17 of their last 19 games and 18 of their last 21.
• Notre Dame’s current stat leaders against Penn State include Jake Evans (6 GP, 1-5-6), Jordan Gross (6 GP, 1-5-6), Andrew Oglevie (5 GP, 2-3-5), Bobby Nardella (6GP, 1-2-3), Dawson Cook (4 GP, 2-1-3), Dennis Gilbert (6 GP, 0-3-3), Bo Brauer (3 GP, 2-0-2), Dylan Malmquist (6 GP, 1-1-2), Mike O’Leary (4GP, 0-2-2) and Joe Wegwerth (5 GP, 2-0-2).
• Cale Morris is 2-0-0 against Penn State with a 1.50 goals-against average and a.961 save percentage (stopped 73 of 76 shots on goal in the two games earlier this season).

MORRIS EARNS 7TH WEEKLY B1G HONOR

• Sophomore goaltender Cale Morris was named the Big Ten’s Third Star of the Week, the conference announced on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
• The honor came after Morris helped lead the Irish to a weekend split at now 12th-ranked Minnesota, holding the Gopher offense to just one goal in each game including a 1-0 overtime loss and a 4-1 game two victory.
• For the weekend, Morris was 1-1-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average and a .961 save percentage.
• His win on Saturday night was his NCAA-leading 19th of the season.
• On the season, Morris is 19-3-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average and a NCAA-leading .952 save percentage.
• A Hobey Baker candidate, he also has four shutouts on the season and has totaled 709 saves, which ranks sixth in the country.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

• The Fighting Irish (14-2-0-0) are in first place in the Big Ten standings with 42 points, which is 11 points clear of second place Ohio State (10-5-1-0).
• Mathematically, Notre Dame could still finish first, second or third in the standings entering the weekend series versus Penn State.
• With 24 points, Penn State enters the series tied for fourth with Michigan and is part of a group of four teams separated by two points in third through sixth-place.
• The 2018 Big Ten Tournament will feature a three-weekend format with all games taking place on the campus of the higher-seeded teams.
• The tournament will open March 2-4 with three best-of-three quarterfinal series, as the second-, third- and fourth-seeded teams will each host a series.
• The top-seeded team will have a bye to the single-elimination semifinals, which are scheduled for Saturday, March 10.
• The highest-seeded team remaining after the semifinals will host a championship game scheduled for Saturday, March 17.

AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS

• Jake Evans is tied for eighth in the NCAA with 22 assists (9-22-31), while his 0.85 assists per game average is also tied for eighth.
• Evans is tied for fourth in the nation with 22 even strength points and his five games with at least three points are tied for second most in the country.
• Evans ranks third nationally in faceoff wins (354) and tied for 12th in plus/minus (+14).
• Jordan Gross (6-14-20) has put 95 shots on goal to lead all defensemen, while his 3.65 shots on goal per game average also ranks first among blue liners.
• Andrew Oglevie and Jake Evans are tied for fifth in the country with four game-winning goals each (tied for first among Big Ten skaters with Michigan State’s Mitchell Lewandowski and Minnesota’s Tyler Sheehy).
• Cale Morris has a .952 save percentage, which ranks first in the country, while his 19 wins and .864 winning percentage also lead the NCAA.
• Morris ranks third in the NCAA with a 1.61 goals-against average, while his four shutouts are tied for fourth.
• At 10-1-0, the Irish are one of only two teams in the country without at least two road losses (Cornell is 7-1-1 on the road).
• Notre Dame is giving up just 1.96 goals-against per game, which ranks third in the NCAA.
• Notre Dame’s penalty kill ranks fifth (87.5) and has accounted for three shorthanded goals.

— ND —

Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).