Jan. 1, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After helping his team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat last Sunday night against No. 6 Miami University, University of Notre Dame hockey standout freshman Jake Evans has earned Hockey East/Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week honors, the league announced Thursday.
Trailing 2-0 with 6:44 left in the third period, Evans helped lead a furious Irish comeback over their former Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) rival. The Toronto, Ontario native first earned the lone assist on fellow freshman Jordan Gross’ goal with 6:43 left in regulation to trim the margin to 2-1.
Evans then put the equalizer past Miami goalie Ryan McKay with just 23 seconds left in the third period to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Evans scored the game winner with only 46 seconds left in the five-minute period to give Notre Dame the thrilling come-from-behind, 3-2 overtime win over the RedHawks and put the Irish into the Florida College Hockey Classic championship game.
“He’s a bright young kid who played for St. Michael’s in Toronto,” said head coach Jeff Jackson after the win. “St. Michael’s is a great program. We recruited him three years ago when he was only 15 years old. We went and watched him play and we liked his intelligence for the game. Tonight he showed us something that we thought he would have and that’s a little bit of grit and intestinal fortitude that really makes good players great.”
Evans becomes the first Irish player to claim Hockey East/Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week honors this season, and the third to receive conference honors, after Mario Lucia claimed Hockey East/Warrior Player of the Month honors for October and Robbie Russo was tabbed Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week in early December.
The win gave Notre Dame its second in a row over Miami, after besting the RedHawks, 2-1, at Chicago’s Soldier Field during the Hockey City Classic in 2013. It also marked the highest ranked win for the Irish this season.
Miami entered the contest with a perfect 8-0 record this season when leading after two periods, while Notre Dame claimed its first win of the campaign when its opponent scored first (previously 0-6-0) and when it trailed after one period (0-5-0).
Notre Dame (9-9-2, 4-2-2 Hockey East) returns to action next weekend when it has a home and home with Western Michigan. The two squads will open up in Kalamazoo, Michigan at 7:30 p.m. ET Jan. 9 (CBS Sports Network) before returning to Compton Family Ice Arena at 6:05 p.m. ET Jan. 10 (NBC Sports Network). Fans can listen to both games on New Country 99.9 FM in South Bend or through the WatchND platform on UND.com.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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