Nov. 14, 2006
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) has honored two Notre Dame hockey players for their play in games last weekend, November 10-11. Sophomore left wing Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) has been named the CCHA offensive player of the week for his five-point week (2g, 3a) in 5-2 and 4-0 wins over Bowling Green. His linemate, freshman right wing Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) was named the CCHA rookie of the week after scoring two goals and adding an assist in the 5-2 win over the Falcons on Friday night (Nov. 10).
Condra topped all Irish scorers on the weekend with his five points in the Notre Dame sweep of Bowling Green. In Friday’s 5-2 win, he recorded three assists, setting up two goals by Thang and one by fellow linemate Kevin Deeth. On Saturday in the 4-0 shutout of the Falcons, Condra scored a pair of goals, getting the first one of the game and then closing the scoring with a power-play goal in the third period.
For the year, Condra is second on the Notre Dame roster in scoring with four goals and nine assists for 13 points with one power-play goal and one game winner. He owns a +7 for the year. Last season, Condra led the Irish in scoring with six goals and 28 assists for 34 points and was a member of the CCHA’s all-rookie team.
Condra also was selected as Inside College Hockey.com’s player of the week for his five-point weekend against Bowling Green.
Thang continued his impressive rookie play in Friday’s win over Bowling Green as he picked up the first three-point game of his young career with two goals and an assist. The big right wing started the night by helping set up Mark Van Guilder’s first-period goal that tied the game at 1-1. He then made it a 2-1 game when he followed Van Guilder’s goal with one of his own at 16:20. His second goal of the night was the game-winning goal when he scored at 5:39 of the third period to give the Irish a 3-2 lead on the way to the 5-2 win. Thang led the Irish with five shots on goal and was +3 in the game. On Saturday, he failed to get on the scoresheet but was on the ice for both of Condra’s goals in the 4-0 win.
After 10 games in his rookie season, Thang is fifth on the Irish in scoring with six goals and three assists for nine points. He has two power-play markers and his three game-winning goals lead the team and the CCHA.
Condra and Thang, along with their teammates are 8-1-1 on the season and 3-0-1 in the CCHA. Notre Dame has moved up to sixth in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll and fifth in the USCHO.com/CSTV poll. They return to action this weekend with a home-and-home series against the #4/#4 ranked Michigan State Spartans. On Friday, Nov. 17, the two teams meet at the Joyce Center in an 8:05 p.m. game. On Saturday, Nov. 18, game two of the series will be played in East Lansing, Mich., beginning at 7:05 p.m. Friday’s game will be televised live by CSTV while Comcast Local will broadcast Saturday’s contest from Munn Arena.