WHO: #9/10 Notre Dame (8-4-2, 4-2-2-1 B1G) vs. No. 10/7 Boston College (9-4-0, 5-2-0 HEA)
WHEN: Friday, December 6 – 7 p.m. ET & Sunday, December 8 – 5 p.m. ET
WHERE: Friday – Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass. | Sunday – Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame, Ind.
WATCH: Friday – CBS All-Access | Sunday – NBCSP+
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
GAME NOTES (PDF)
FOR STARTERS
- Notre Dame and Boston College will play a home-and-home series this weekend, beginning with Friday night’s 7 p.m. game at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
- The series then shifts to Notre Dame for a 5 p.m. game on Sunday afternoon at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
- Longtime rivals and four year Hockey East foes, the teams have met every season since 1995-96 with the exception of the 1999-2000, 2005-06 and 2017-18 seasons.
- The Irish are coming of a weekend sweep at the hands of #11/13 Bowling Green, while the Eagles have won seven in a row dating back to Nov. 8.
- In Jerry York (1,076) and Jeff Jackson (509), the series will feature the two active leaders in NCAA DI head coaching wins.
- Prior to the 2019-20 season, Jackson averaged 25.05 wins per season, while York averaged 22.70 wins per season.
- Jackson’s career winning percentage (.656) ranks second among active NCAA DI head coaches, while York’s ranks sixth (.614).
- Friday night’s contest will mark Notre Dame’s sixth road game in its last seven contests.
- Mike O’Leary currently leads the Irish with 16 points (7-9-16) and he has an active four-game point streak (2-2-4).
- Dating back to last season’s series at Wisconsin on Jan. 18-19, O’Leary has 32 points (11-21-32) in his last 32 games played (he had seven goals and 11 assist for 18 points in his first 96 career games).
- Cam Morrison has a four-game point streak (1-3-4), while Nick Leivermann has a three-game point streak (1-3-4).
- Notre Dame is 4-2-0 this season in non-conference play.
- The Fighting Irish have posted six comeback wins this season, including three third period comebacks (both wins over Ohio State and the overtime victory at Wisconsin) and added a third period comeback tie (and shootout win) at Michigan State on Nov. 22.
- The Irish are 2-0-2 in overtime this season, with game-winning goals from Pierce Crawford (vs. Ohio State on Nov. 8) and Alex Steeves (at Wisconsin on Nov. 16).
- Notre Dame is once again one of the nation’s least penalized teams, with its 7.5 PIM/ game ranking second-lowest in the country.
- At .563, the Fighting Irish rank second in the NCAA in faceoff winning percentage (Western Michigan is first at .564).
NOTRE DAME – BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
- Boston College holds a slight edge in the all-time series, 21-20-3.
- The series began Dec. 20, 1969 and, since 1995, the teams have met every season except for three (1999-2000, 2005-06 and 2017-18).
- Last season, Notre Dame posted a 4-0 win at the Compton Family Ice Arena in a New Year’s Eve game that featured goals from Matt Hellickson, Matt Steeves, Colin Theisen and Dylan Malmquist and Cale Morris had 20 saves to earn the shutout.
- In 2016-17, the Irish and Eagles split their regular-season Hockey East series in their final meetings as conference opponents (Notre Dame won 3-2 at home on Dec. 10, BC then posted a 6-4 win on Jan. 28 at Conte Forum).
- In that meeting at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Dec. 10, 2016, the Irish faced a two-goal deficit against third-ranked Boston College but rallied for a comeback win on two goals by Anders Bjork and an Andrew Oglevie tally. Bjork buried the shorthanded, game-winner for the Irish at 17:30 of the second to lift the Irish to the win.
- Notre Dame also had a notable comeback against the Eagles at Conte Forum on Dec. 10, 2015 when they trailed 3-1 at 7:05 of the third period but rallied to score three straight goals to post a 4-3, come-from-behind win at third-ranked Boston College (Dennis Gilbert had the game winner).
- 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 led the first half of the series, going 14-7-2 against the Irish from 1969- 2002, but Notre Dame has led the rivalry since, going 12-8-0 since 2003.
- The teams met in the 2014 Hockey East quarterfinals with Notre Dame claiming the 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).
- Notre Dame’s active career points leader against the Eagles is Tory Dello (3 GP, 0-2-2), while Cale Morris’ 20 save shutout last season marked his only career appearance against Boston College.
THREE GOALS THE KEY
- Over the past two seasons, the Irish are 25-0-1 when scoring at least three goals.
- In 2019-20, the Irish are 8-0-0 when scoring at least three times.
- In 2018-19, Notre Dame went 17-0-1 when scoring three or more goals.
- The lone tie in 2018-19 came when Notre Dame opened 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.
—ND—