Dec. 1, 2008
Farmington Hills, Mich. – The Central Collegiate Hockey Association announced today that Notre Dame freshman right wing Billy Maday (Burr Ridge, Ill.) and sophomore left wing Calle Ridderwall (Stockholm, Sweden) have been selected as the CCHA’s rookie and offensive player of the week respectively for the week ending Nov. 30.
Maday had two goals and added an assist for a three-point weekend while Ridderwall had five points (two goals and three assists) in Notre Dame’s 4-1 win and 3-3 tie at home against Western Michigan on Nov. 28-29. The Irish won the tie with a 2-1 shootout victory for the extra point in conference play. Ridderwall had a hand in all four Irish goals in the 4-1 win for his second consecutive four-point game.
The win and tie improved the Irish to 10-3-2 on the year and 6-2-2-2 in the CCHA, good for 16 points, just three points behind first-place Miami with two games in hand. The win and the tie also moved Notre Dame into first in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports poll. national polls for the first time this season.
In Friday’s 4-1 win over the Broncos, Maday had a goal and an assist and took six shots on goal. He set up Ridderwall’s power-play game winner at 2:02 of the second period and then closed the scoring with a power-play goal of his own at 6:19 of the third period. Ridderwall equaled his career high with four points in the game, set a week ago (Nov. 22) in the 9-1 win at Bowling Green. The sophomore scored twice on the power play and set up a pair of Irish power-play goals as they went four-for-four with the extra man in the game. Trailing 1-0 in the first period, he set up a Kevin Deeth (Jr., Gig Harbor, Wash.) power-play tally at 17:13 to tie the game at 1-1.
In the second period, Ridderwall struck twice, getting power-play goals at 2:02 and 17:48 to give Notre Dame a 3-1 lead. He then closed his night with an assist on Maday’s third-period goal in the 4-1 win.
On Saturday night, Ridderwall helped set up Maday’s second-period power-play goal that gave the Irish a 2-0 lead. Western Michigan would go ahead in the game, 3-2, only to see Ryan Thang (Jr., Edina, Minn.) tie the game at 6:27 of the third. The game would remain tied 3-3 after overtime and in the shootout that went five rounds, Ridderwall and Maday both had shots but failed to score as the Irish won 2-1.
For the season, Ridderwall is tied for the team lead in scoring with 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists. He is tied for the team lead with five power-play goals and has one game winner in the first 15 games. As a freshman last season, he played in 39 games with five goals and two assists for seven points. He currently has a five-game point-scoring streak with five goals and nine assists for 14 points.
Maday is third on the team in scoring with nine goals and five assists for 14 points. His nine goals are tied for the team lead with Christian Hanson (Sr., Venetia, Pa.) and his five power-play goals tie him with Ridderwall in that department. He currently has a five-game goal-scoring streak that started on Nov. 15 versus Lake Superior State. He is the top scoring freshman in the CCHA and is second on the national level.
Ridderwall and Maday and their Notre Dame teammates take to the road this weekend where they will put their 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2) on the line at Ferris State University on Dec. 5-6. Game time both nights in Big Rapids, Mich., is 7:05 p.m.