WHO: #5/4 Notre Dame (2-0-0, 0-0-0-0 B1G) vs. Lake Superior State (2-4-0, 0-0-0 WCHA)
WHEN: Friday, October 25 – 7 p.m. ET | Saturday, October 26 – 6 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: Friday – NBCSN | Saturday – NHL Network/NBC Sports Chicago+
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
TICKETS: Click here
GAME NOTES (PDF)
FOR STARTERS
- The No. 5/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish return to action with a weekend home series against Lake Superior State University.
- Notre Dame, which was off last weekend, swept its season-opening series against Air Force (Oct. 11 & 14), coming back to defeat the Falcons 4-3 in game one and then winning game two by a score of 6-1.
- Freshman Ryan Bischel made both starts for the Irish, posting a 2.00 goals against average and a .932 save percentage in the weekend sweep.
- With five assists in the two wins, senior Mike O’Leary leads the team in points, while Colin Theisen (3-1-4) and Cal Burke (2-2-4) each have four points.
- The Irish penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5 in the series, while Notre Dame finished 2-for-7 on the power play.
- Lake Superior enters the series after being swept by Big Ten foe Michigan by scores of 4-0 and 4-3 (Oct. 18-19).
- The Lakers opened the year by sweeping Merrimack at home and then were swept at home by currently top-ranked Denver.
- Notre Dame is coming off a program-best fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament in 2018-19 and advanced to a regional final for the third consecutive season (won regional final games in 2017 and 2018 to advance to the Frozen Four).
- The Irish also won the Big Ten Tournament Championship for a second consecutive season in 2019.
THE SERIES VS. LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
- Notre Dame and Lake Superior State have met 69 times but not since playing three times during the 2014-15 season, including twice at the Compton family Ice Arena when the Irish swept the Lakers by scores of 5-3 and 5-1.
- The teams then met for a third time in 2014-15 when they played in the championship game of the Florida College Hockey Classic in Estero, Florida with the Lakers scoring the game winner with less than a minute after Notre Dame tied the game at 1-1 late in the third period.
- Overall, the Irish lead the series 36-26-7, including a 22-9-4 mark at home (6-0-0 at the Compton Family Ice Arena).
- Notre Dame has an active seven-game home winning streak against the Lakers and is 8-2-0 in the last 10 meetings dating back to the 2010-11 season.
- Jackson is 20-4-4 all-time against the Lakers (and at Notre Dame).
THREE GOALS AND COUNTING
- Over the past two seasons, the Irish are now 19-0-1 when scoring at least three goals.
- In 2018-19, Notre Dame went 17-0-1 when scoring three or more goals.
- The lone tie came to open the season on Oct. 12 against Mercyhurst in the Ice Breaker – a game that ended knotted at 6-6 before Notre Dame won the shootout to advance to the championship game.
IN THE CLASSROOM
- Notre Dame’s posted another GSR rating of 95 in October, 2019 marking the 15th consecutive season the Fighting Irish posted at least a 94 in the annual four-year graduation success rating from the NCAA.
- In the 2019-20 federal standings, Notre Dame’s hockey score of 91 ranked sixth among all Division I men’s ice hockey programs and first in the Big Ten.
- Last season, Cam Burke (Fall), Charlie Raith (Fall and Spring) and Alex Steeves (Fall and Spring) were each named to the Dean’s List.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- 503 – With Notre Dame’s 3-2 win over Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament championship game last season, head coach Jeff Jackson recorded his 500th career win, spanning six seasons at Lake Superior State and 14 seasons at Notre Dame. He now has 503 career wins, which ranks second among active NCAA DI head coaches.
- 51 –Over the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Notre Dame totaled 51 wins to rank fourth in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten over in that time span: 1. Minnesota State (61); 2. St. Cloud State (55); 3. Minnesota Duluth (54); 4. Notre Dame (51); 5. Northeastern (50); 6. Clarkson (49); 7. Bowling Green (48) and Providence (48).
- 13 – Thirteen sets of brothers have suited up for the Irish, including currents sets of brothers Cal and Cam Burke and Matt and Alex Steeves.
- 8 –With the 2019 Big Ten tournament title, Notre Dame has won eight conference championships in program history, each under Jeff Jackson (three regular-season).
- 8 – Eight former Fighting Irish players have appeared on NHL rosters so far this season, including: Anders Bjork (Boston Bruins), Ian Cole (Colorado Avalanche), Dennis Gilbert (Chicago Blackhawks), Vinnie Hinostroza (Arizona Coyotes), Anders Lee (New York Islanders), Kyle Palmieri (New Jersey Devils), Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh Penguins/IR) and Riley Sheahan (Edmonton Oilers).
- 6 – With freshman Trevor Janicke joining the program, six father-son combinations have played for the Irish including Trevor and his father, Curtis ‘93, as well as sophomore Graham Slaggert and his father/Associate Head Coach Andy Slaggert ‘89.
- 4 – Notre Dame has an active four-year NCAA tournament appearance streak, including Frozen Four appearances in 2017 and 2018, which is the longest streak in program history and is the fourth-longest active streak in the NCAA (the Irish have also appeared in seven of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments).
- 4 – All four of Notre Dame’s top goal scorers from last season return for the 2019-20 campaign including Cal Burke (12), Michael Graham (12), Colin Theisen (11) and Cam Morrison (11).
- 3 – Cam Morrison has three career overtime goals, which is tied for the active lead across the NCAA. Two of his three overtime winners have come in postseason play, clinching the 2018 Big Ten Tournament championship with a goal against Ohio State and sending the Irish to the 2019 NCAA Northeast Regional Final with the OT winner versus Clarkson.
- 2.5 –Mike O’Leary enters the weekend tied for the NCAA lead with a 2.50 assists per game average (tied with Nick Halloran of Colorado College).
—ND—