Oct. 11, 2017
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 4/6 University of Notre Dame hockey team didn’t need to wait long for a rematch against 2017 Frozen Four foe and eventual national champion Denver.
The Irish will face the top-ranked Pioneers in their second series of the season with two games slated at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday and Saturday.
The Irish (2-0-0, 0-0-0 B1G) are coming off a season-opening sweep of Alabama Huntsville last weekend, with wins of 5-3 and 4-0, while Denver (0-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) will open its season against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame and Denver last met on April 6, when the Pioneers defeated the Irish 6-1 in the national semifinals. The Irish had defeated the top two seeds in the Northeast Regional (Minnesota and UMass Lowell) to advance to the third Frozen Four in program history.
The Denver series will mark the first time the two teams have met at the Compton Family Ice Arena as the teams squared off in the Joyce Center in their last meeting at Notre Dame (Oct. 19, 2007). It will also mark the first meeting between a pair of top-10 teams since ninth-ranked Notre Dame split with No. 5/6 UMass Lowell on Nov. 17-18, 2016.
Games 3 & 4
Matchup: Denver at Notre Dame
Date: Friday, Oct. 13 | Saturday, Oct. 14
Time: 7:05 p.m. ET | 6:05 p.m. ET
Site: Notre Dame, Ind.
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena
Television: NBC Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Steve Schlanger
Analyst: Anson Carter
Live Streaming: NBCSports.com & the NBC Sports App
Live Radio | Audio: WZOC 94.3 FM & WatchND
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats: |
Live Updates: @NDHockey
Series History: DU leads 35-10-5 (50 games)
Tickets: Buy Now
Notes To Know
- Following a weekend sweep of Alabama Huntsville, seniors Jake Evans (Second Star) and Jordan Gross (Third Star) earned weekly Big Ten honors (Oct. 10).
- Evans totaled two goals and three assists for a five-point weekend against the Chargers.
- Gross had a four-point weekend against Alabama Huntsville, including three assists in game one of the series and a goal in game two.
- Junior forward Andrew Oglevie scored a pair of buzzer beating goals in Notre Dame’s 4-0 win over Alabama Huntsville (Oct. 7). Both of Oglevie’s goals were scored with under 1.0 second remaining in the first and second periods, respectively.
- Seniors Jake Evans (30-67-97) and Jordan Gross (27-68-95) are each approaching the 100-career points plateau. The last Fighting Irish player to notch at least 100-career points was Anders Bjork, who hit the century mark during his junior season (2016-17).
- In the sweep over Huntsville, sophomore Cale Morris made his first career start in game one (25 saves), while freshman Dylan St. Cyr posted a shutout in his first career start in game two (34 saves).
- St. Cyr became the first Irish goaltender to record a shutout in his first career start since Mike Johnson blanked Providence 2-0 on Oct. 16, 2009 at the Joyce Center (29 saves).
- Seven players combined to score Notre Dame’s nine goals in the series, while 12 players registered at least one point including freshman defenseman Matt Hellickson (2 assists) as well as freshmen forwards Colin Theisen (1 goal, 1 assist), Matt Steeves (1 goal) and Max Eisenmenger (1 assist).
Series Quick Hits
- Notre Dame and Denver will meet for the third consecutive season.
- Last year, Denver defeated Notre Dame 6-1 at the Frozen Four in the national semifinals (United Center/Chicago) en route to the 2017 NCAA Championship.
- During the 2015-16 season, the teams played to a pair of overtime ties (scores of 1-1 and 2-2) at Denver on Jan. 1-2, 2016.
- The teams were conference foes in the WCHA from 1971-81.
- This weekend’s series will mark the first trip to the Compton Family Ice Arena by the Pioneers as the previous meetings took place in the Joyce Center.
- Denver head coach Jim Montgomery’s first college coaching job was as Jeff Jackson’s volunteer assistant coach in 2005-06 (Jackson’s first season with the Irish).
- Jackson’s Lake Superior State teams won NCAA titles in 1992 and 1994 but they were denied in the 1993 title game when Montgomery scored a hat trick to lead Maine past the Lakers.
–ND–