Nov. 5, 2012
Notre Dame, Ind. – November 5, 2012 //FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE// University of Notre Dame junior center Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) was named the CCHA Postgame Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 4th as he helped the Irish to a split versus Western Michigan in the weekend series.
Lee had a pair of two-point games, scoring a goal and an assist in the Nov. 2, 3-2 loss to the Broncos. He and his teammates bounced back on Sunday, Nov. 4, with a 4-0 shutout win versus Western Michigan with the junior center scoring a pair of goals in the victory.
With the split, Notre Dame has a 6-2-0 overall record and sits atop the CCHA standings with a 3-1-0-0 mark.
In the 3-2 loss to the Broncos, the Irish fell behind, 2-0, after two periods with Lee sparking a third-period comeback that fell short. His goal at 42 seconds of the third period cut the Western lead to 2-1 as he beat goaltender Frank Slubowski with a backhander from the right face-off circle for his third goal of the year.
After the Broncos made it a 3-1 game, Lee set up a Robbie Russo (So., Westmont, Ill.) power-play goal at 7:28 to make it 3-2 but that was as close as Notre Dame would get. Lee finished the game with eight shots on goal and was +1 for the evening.
In the 4-0 shutout win, Lee scored twice, picking up his fourth and fifth goals of the season. With the Irish leading 1-0 in the second period, the preseason CCHA first team selection, made it 2-0 when he took a feed from linemate Bryan Rust (Jr., Novi, Mich.) and beat Slubowski from the top of the crease at 1:03. He closed out the scoring in the game at 18:55 with his first short-handed goal of the season and the second of his career for the final score of 4-0.
With the Irish killing a penalty, goaltender Steven Summerhays (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) stopped a shot with his pads, steering the puck towards the right boards. The puck went off Rust to Lee along the right boards. The 6-3, 217-pound center lifted a backhander 180 feet down the ice into the empty net for the final score of the game.
Lee had four shots in Sunday’s game and was +3 on the evening. He currently leads Notre Dame in scoring with five goals and four assists for nine points and is tied for fifth in the CCHA scoring race. He also leads the Irish with 30 shots on goal this season and is third on the team with a +5 plus-minus rating.
Notre Dame, ranked eighth in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and seventh in the USCHO.com poll, is in the midst of a streak of 11-consecutive games against nationally ranked teams. Western Michigan was ranked 11th in both polls and last week and this week the Irish travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to face the top-ranked team in the nation – the Boston College Eagles – in a 7:00 p.m. game on Friday, Nov. 9th at Conte Forum.