Feb. 18, 2013
Notre Dame, Ind. – University of Notre Dame freshman center Steven Fogarty (Edina, Minn.) has been named the CCHA Gongshow rookie of the week for the week ending February 17. The rookie center played a key role for the Irish in their weekend split win Miami (OH).
Fogarty scored one goal and added an assist for two points and was +2 in the two-game series against the RedHawks. Miami won the Friday, Feb. 15 game in Oxford, Ohio, 3-1. Notre Dame won the second game of the weekend with a 2-1 victory in the OfficeMax Hockey City Classic played at Chicago’s famed Soldier Field on Sunday, Feb. 17.
In Friday’s 3-1 loss to the RedHawks, Fogarty scored Notre Dame’s lone goal at 17:37 of the third period when he took a lead pass from defenseman Shayne Taker (Jr., Surrey, B.C.) and raced down the right wing side. Inside the Miami blue line he undressed a RedHawk defenseman at the right circle before putting a move on goaltender Ryan McKay to beat him with a backhander for his fifth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game. Miami would add a late empty-net goal for the 3-1 final score.
On Sunday afternoon in Chicago, the 2011 third-round draft choice of the New York Rangers set up the opening goal of the game at 12:42 of the second period when he won a face off in the left circle to Bryan Rust (Jr., Novi, Mich.) on the left boards. Rust drove across the circle to the slot, leaving the puck for Mario Lucia (Fr., Plymouth, Mich.) who buried it behind McKay with a quick wrist shot for his 10th goal of the season to make it 1-0. The Irish would get the game-winning goal in the third period off the stick of junior Jeff Costello (Milwaukee, Wis.) for a 2-1 win.
On the season, Fogarty has played in all 32 games for Notre Dame and has five goals and four assists for nine points. He has 38 shots on goal and is -1 for the year. Two of his goals have come on the power play and two have been game winners for the 6-3, 202-pound center.
The Irish are currently ranked 11th in the nation and are 19-12-1 overall and 15-8-1-1 in the CCHA, good for 47 points and third-place in the conference race with four games left in the regular season. Notre Dame trails second-place Western Michigan (48) by one point and first-place Miami (50) by three points in the standings.
For the second consecutive week, the Irish will play a key two-game series on the road as they travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face the #7/#8 Western Michigan Broncos on Feb. 22-23. Friday’s game as a 7:35 p.m. start time and Saturday’s game at Lawson Arena is set for 7:05 p.m. The CBS Sports Network will televise the Friday night contest.