Dec. 2, 2015
Game Notes vs. UMass 
| Coach Jackson Audio | Anders Bjork Audio
OVERVIEW
— Notre Dame opens December with a home Hockey East series versus Massachusetts this weekend (Dec. 4-5).
— The teams will be meeting for the first time since Notre Dame knocked the Minutemen out of the 2015 Hockey East Tournament (two games to one) in a first round series at the Compton Family Ice Arena (March 6-8).
— The first game of that opening round series proved to be college hockey’s longest game as UMass posted a 4-3 win in the fifth overtime (151:42).
— Notre Dame and UMass enter the weekend tied for third in the Hockey East standings, but UMass (2-2-4, 8 points) has played two more league games than the Irish (3-1-2, 8 points).
DETAILS — GAME 15
Match-up: Notre Dame vs. Massachusetts
Date: Friday, Dec. 4, 2015
Time: 7:35 p.m.
Site: Notre Dame, Ind.
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022)
Television: CSN Chicago Plus
Live Streaming: NBC Live Extra
Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco
Analyst: Rich Hidy
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
DETAILS — GAME 16
Match-up: Notre Dame vs. Massachusetts
Date: Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015
Time: 6:10 p.m.
Site: Notre Dame, Ind.
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022)
Television: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
Play-by-Play: Steve Schlanger
Analyst: Brian Boucher
Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
UMASS AT A GLANCE
— UMass enters the weekend with a 6-5-4 record and a 2-2-4 mark in Hockey East play.
— After starting the season with a 4-0-1 record in games against Colorado College (x2), Sacred Heart, New Hampshire and Maine, UMass has gone 2-5-3 over the last nine games.
— Last weekend, the Minutemen were swept in a home-and-home series versus No. 2/3 Quinnipiac, 4-1 on Friday and 1-0 on Saturday.
— In goal, freshman Nic Renyard has played 12 games, posting a 4-3-4 record to go along with a 3.05 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
— Sophomore Henry Dill (2-2-0, 3.74, .887) has also seen time in the UMass net, including stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced in last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Quinnipiac.
— Sophomore forward Dennis Kravchenko leads the team with 17 points on seven goals and a team-high 10 assists, while senior forward Shane Walsh leads the team with nine goals (9-4-13).
— Notre Dame (3.07 goals per game) and UMass (3.00 goals per game) have posted similar offensive outputs per game so far this season.
NOTRE DAME vs. MASSACHUSETTS
— This weekend’s series will mark the teams’ first meetings since the Irish knocked the Minutemen out of the 2015 Hockey East Tournament, two games to one, at the Compton Family Ice Arena (March 6-8). — That series included college hockey’s longest game, a five overtime 4-3 game one win by UMass.
— Cal Petersen made an NCAA-record 87 saves in that game and he also made 23 saves in Notre Dame’s game three shutout victory (7-0).
CAREER STATS vs. MASSACHUSETTS
Mario Lucia 7 GP, 6-4-10
Thomas DiPauli 7 GP, 2-5-7
Andy Ryan 7 GP, 1-4-5
Steven Fogarty 5 GP, 3-1-4
Jordan Gross 5 GP, 1-3-4
Sam Herr 5 GP, 1-3-4
Connor Hurley 5 GP, 2-1-3
Luke Ripley 5 GP, 2-1-3
Anders Bjork 5 GP, 0-2-2
Jake Evans 5 GP, 0-2-2
Justin Wade 5 GP, 0-2-2
Tony Bretzman 3 GP, 0-1-1
Ben Ostlie 2 GP, 0-0-0
Dawson Cook 5 GP, 0-0-0
Ali Thomas 3 GP, 0-0-0
Cal Petersen 4-4 (GP-GS), 3-1-0, 1.27 GAA, .954 Sv.%
Chad Katunar 1-1 (GP-GS), 1-0-0, 5.00 GAA, .800 Sv.%
LAST TIME OUT: NOTRE DAME 3, WMU 1
— Tied 1-1 with under five minutes to play in the third period, Sam Herr redirected a Luke Ripley drive from the point past Western Michigan goaltender Lukas Hafner to score what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Irish on Saturday night at the Compton Family Ice Arena (Nov. 28).
— Thomas DiPauli added an insurance tally at 19:01 of the third period for the final 3-1 margin of victory as Notre Dame placed third in the 2015 Shillelagh Tournament.
— Cal Petersen had a strong game in the Notre Dame net, stopping 31 of the 32 Western Michigan shots he faced, while the Irish forced Hafner into making 39 saves.
— Senior defenseman Andy Ryan skated in his 100th-career game and notched two assists for his fifth career multi-point game. Ã… Dawson Cook scored his first goal of the year and the second of his career (his other goal came in Notre Dame’s 6-3 win over Niagara on Oct. 23, 2014).
— Joe Wegwerth recorded the first assist of his Irish career.
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. Ã… Herr has seven game winners in his career (29 career goals, 24% game winners).
BALANCED ATTACK
— Thomas DiPauli leads the Irish with six goals this season, followed by Dylan Malmquist (5) and Jordan Gross (5).
— DiPauli (6-7-13) and Jake Evans (2-11-13) lead the team with 13 points.
— Evans’ 11 assists lead the team, followed by Anders Bjork’s nine (3-9-12).
— The balanced Irish attack features seven players with at least eight points on the season, while 17 players have scored at least one goal this season. Ã… Notre Dame’s 17 goal scorers are tied with Boston College for the most in Hockey East, followed by Boston University (16), Merrimack (16) and UMass Lowell (16).
ACTIVE NOTRE DAME POINT STREAKS
— There are no active Notre Dame point streaks.
— Andy Ryan (0-2-2), Dawson Cook (1-0-1), Anders Bjork (0-1-1), Sam Herr (1-0-1), Thomas DiPauli (1-0-1), Joe Wegwerth (0-1-1) and Luke Ripley (0-1-1) each registered points in the win over Western Michigan.
IN THE POLLS
— In the rankings for a fifth consecutive week, the Irish moved from No. 18 to No. 20 in the USCHO.com poll after last weekend’s 4-1 loss to eighth-ranked Harvard (Nov. 27) and the 3-1 win over Western Michigan (Nov. 28).
APPROACHING 100
— Senior forward Mario Lucia (52-43-95) 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: CLOSING OUT FIRST SEMESTER
— Next week, the Irish are back on the road to play one game at No. 2/3 Boston College on Thursday, Dec. 10 (7:05 p.m.).
— The game will be Notre Dame’s final contest of the first semester and of 2015. Ã… Last season, Notre Dame finished the first semester with a 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.
SHILLELAGH TOURNAMENT RECAP
— Notre Dame hosted the sixth installment of the Shillelagh Tournament (Nov. 28-29) and placed third with a 3-1 win over Western Michigan in the consolation game.
— Eighth-ranked Harvard took the 2015 Shillelagh Championship with a 4-1 win over Notre Dame followed by a 4-0 win over RPI.
— After a break until the Compton Family Ice Arena opened, the tournament resumed in November of 2013 at the home of the Fighting Irish.
— Harvard goaltender Merrick Madsen stopped 60 of 61 shots he faced over the weekend to earn All-Tournament and Most Outstanding Player honors.
— The Irish won the Shillelagh Tournament in 2009 and 2010.
— The 2011 championship went to Minnesota State, while Northeastern took the 2013 title.
STAGING A COMEBACK
— With less than a minute to play in the second period, Notre Dame trailed at No. 5 UMass Lowell 2-0 on Nov. 20.
— A late Dennis Gilbert power-play goal to close the second period made it a 2-1 game and then Anders Bjork scored the game-tying goal midway through the third period in an eventual 2-2 overtime tie.
— Prior to the Irish comeback, UMass Lowell was 7-0-0 on the season when leading after two periods of play.
— It was just the fifth time under Head Coach Norm Bazin that the River Hawks could not hold a two-goal lead (86-3-2) and just the second time at home (39-0-2).
GROSS OF GOALS
— With five goals on the season, Jordan Gross is tied for second on the team in scoring.
— Gross scored two goals in a 4-3 win over Minnesota (Nov. 6) and two goals in a 3-2 win over Northeastern (Nov. 12).
— Gross is tied for the team lead with two power-play goals on the season. Ã… Last season, Gross scored seven goals in 42 games, including one power-play tally.