Jan. 23, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Series: #9/#9 Notre Dame (18-9-1/11-6-1) vs. Bowling Green (12-10-0/9-7-0)
• Date/Site/Time: Friday, Jan. 25 • Joyce Center (2,713) • 7:36 p.m. • Comcast Local Saturday, Jan. 26 • BGSU Ice Arena (5,000) • 7:05 p.m.
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on WDND ESPN Sportscenter 1490 with Mike Lockert calling all the action for the Irish.
• Television: Friday’s game from the Joyce Center will be broadcast live by Comcast Local with Jeff Jeffers and Lyle Phair calling the action.
• Internet: Irish hockey can be heard on the Internet at the Notre Dame website – www.und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.
GETTING BACK ON TRACK: The Notre Dame hockey team returns to action this weekend with a pair of games against cluster partner – Bowling Green. The teams will meet on Friday, Jan. 25 at the Joyce Center in a 7:35 p.m. game that will be broadcast live by Comcast Local and can be seen on South Bend’s Comcast on Channel 3. The “Dean” of South Bend sports, Jeff Jeffers will handle the play-by-play while Lyle Phair provides the color commentary. Notre Dame brings an 18-9-1 overall record and an 11-6-1 mark into the series with the Irish in fourth place in the CCHA with 23 points, seven behind first-place Michigan and Miami and three behind third-place Michigan State. Notre Dame leads fifth-place Nebraska-Omaha by four points and sixth-place Bowling Green by five with the Falcons having two games in hand. Since Jan. 1, Notre Dame is 1-4-1 over the six-game span. Bowling Green is 12-10-0 on the year and stands sixth in the conference with a 9-7-0 mark, good for 18 points. The Falcons are 4-2-0 since Jan. 1.
DOWN ONE: Notre Dame fell to ninth in the national rankings after dropping a pair to top-ranked Michigan last week. The Irish fell from eighth to ninth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV polls. Bowling Green is receiving votes in both polls. Six of Notre Dame’s last eight games have come against ranked opponents with the Irish going 1-4-1 in those games.
THE IRISH AND THE FALCONS: Notre Dame and Bowling Green have met 81 times in the all-time series with the Irish having a 41-34-6 edge in those games. Notre Dame brings a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) since 2005-06 versus the Falcons into the weekend series. The two teams have met twice this year in single-game meetings on Tuesday nights. On Oct. 23 at Bowling Green, the Irish prevailed, 4-2 and then on Nov. 20, the Irish won at home, 2-1. At the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 23-12-4 against the Falcons. At the BGSU Ice Arena, the Falcons are 22-17-2 against the Irish. The last time Bowling Green won at the Joyce Center was Jan. 29, 2005, a 4-1 win. The last Falcon win at the BGSU Ice Arena was Jan. 28, 2005, a 6-2 victory. Since those games, Bowling Green is 0-5-0 at the Joyce Center and 0-4-1 at home against Notre Dame.
TWO-IN-A-ROW: Notre Dame’s back-to-back losses to Michigan marked the first time that the Irish have lost two games in a row since losing twice to Alaska, March 3-4, 2006, in the 2006 CCHA playoffs. That covered a span of 69 games over the last two seasons. During that time, the Irish were 50-15-4 (.754). Over the last four games, Notre Dame is 0-3-1 and the last time the Irish went four games without a win came from Jan. 7-20, 2006 when they were 0-2-2 over a four-game span versus Nebraska-Omaha, Miami and Northern Michigan.
MICHIGAN RECAP: January, 18 – Notre Dame and Michigan were in the midst of a 2-2 contest as time wound down on Friday night at Yost Arena when Wolverine freshman center Louie Caporussa snapped the tie with 20.3 seconds on the clock to give the top-ranked Wolverines a 3-2 win over the Irish. The goal was Caporusso’s fifth of the season. Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes of the game. Kevin Deeth (So., Gig Harbor, Wash.) scored at 3:33 off a turnover inside the Michigan blue line for his sixth goal of the season. Less than three minutes later (5:53), junior center Justin White (Traverse City, Mich.) converted a two-on-one, taking a pass from Ryan Guentzel (Fr., Woodbury, Minn.) to make it 2-0. Michigan evened the score in the second period with a pair of goals. Kevin Porter picked up his 21st of the year just 21 seconds into the middle stanza on a 4-on-3 power-play chance. At 12:05, freshman Matt Rust ripped a shot past Jordan Pearce (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) for his eighth of the year to tie the game at 2-2. On the night, Michigan out shot Notre Dame by a 28-26 margin. Pearce finished with 25 saves while Wolverine netminder Billy Sauer had 24 stops. The Irish were 0-for-5 on the power play while Michigan was 1-for-4.
January 19 – The two teams moved on to Auburn Hills, Mich., for the second game of the series, this one at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Michigan scored twice in the first period, snapping a 1-1 tie late in the period on the way to the 5-1 victory. Chad Kolarik’s short-handed goal at 6:41 of the first period opened the scoring for a 1-0 Wolverine lead. The Irish would tie the contest at 14:38 when Ben Ryan (Fr., Brighton, Mich.) took a feed from Dan Kissel (So., Crestwood, Ill.) and snapped a shot past Billy Sauer. From there it was all Michigan, even though the Irish had a 33-30 shot advantage. Kevin Porter scored his 22nd of the year at 17:54 for the eventual game winner. Louie Caporusso and Matt Rust scored second-period goals and Travis Turnbull scored into an empty-net at the 17:00 minute mark of the third period for the 5-1 win. Freshman Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) played the first 35:16 of the game, making 15 saves while giving up four goals. Jordan Pearce played the final 23:49, making 10 saves while not giving up a goal.
PALACE FACTS: With the loss to Michigan on Jan. 19, Notre Dame saw its record at the Palace fall to 0-6-0 all-time with five of the losses to Michigan. Saturday’s crowd of 10,831 gives the six games a total attendance of 94,771 and an average of 15,795 per game. On Jan. 21, 1995, the game drew a crowd of 20,899, a mark that at a time was the largest ever to see a college hockey game.
SHINNY ANYONE?: On Monday, Jan. 21, Notre Dame’s practice had a different look. The Irish went back to their hockey roots that day as they ventured to nearby Merrifield Park in Mishawaka, Ind., to play a little shinny on the outdoor rink. Complete with temperatures in the single digits, stocking caps, hot chocolate and a great deal of laughter, the Irish spent some time having fun playing the game they love. Smiles were the number one priority and Monday’s practice was a smashing success in that area.
SHORT CIRCUITED: Notre Dame’s power-play woes continued in the series versus Michigan as the Irish were 0-for-5 on Friday night and 0-for-4 on Saturday to give the Irish an 0-for-38 mark over the last eight games. The last time Notre Dame scored on the power play came on Dec. 8 at Princeton. Over the last 10 games, the Irish are just 1-for-45 (2.2%). Prior to that, the Irish were 21-for-109 for a 19.3% success rate. The Irish are now 22-for-154 (14.3%) overall.
ONE-GOAL LOSSES: During the first half of the season, Notre Dame was 6-0 in one-goal games. In the second half of the season, the Irish have seen four of their eight games end in one-goal decisions with opponents winning three of the four one-goal games. For the year, Notre Dame is now 7-3 in one-goal contests.
SECOND-HALF NUMBERS: Scoring has been a problem for Notre Dame in the second half of the season that started on Dec. 29. In the eight games played, the Irish have scored just 14 goals (1.75) while giving up 20 (2.50). Notre Dame is 2-5-1 in those eight games. In the first half of the year (20 games) the Irish averaged 3.55 goals per game and were ranked third in the country in scoring. They are now 20th, averaging 3.04 goals-per-game.
FIVE-GOALS: Michigan’s five-goal out burst on Jan. 19 marked just the second time in the last two seasons that Notre Dame has given up five goals in a game. The last time came on Feb. 23, 2007 in a 5-2 loss to Ferris State. Under head coach Jeff Jackson, the Irish have given up five or more in a game just seven times in his three seasons (107 games) behind the bench.
EIGHT-GAME NUMBERS: In Notre Dame’s recent eight-game downturn where the Irish are 2-5-1, they are 0-for-38 on the power play while the opposition has scored seven power-play goals in 32 tries (21.9%) … Notre Dame’s top scorers are Erik Condra (2-3-5) and Ryan Thang (2-3-5) with Kevin Deeth leading the team with three goals. Jordan Pearce is 1-4-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. Brad Phillips is 1-1-0 with a 3.15 goals-against average and a .861 save percentage … the Irish are 0-0-1 at home, 1-3-0 on the road and 1-2-0 on neutral ice.
HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN: Senior defenseman Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, Ill.) is one of 22 nominees for the College Hockey Humanitarian Award that goes to college hockey’s “top citizen”. The group of 22 will be cut to 10 finalists on Jan. 28 with the winner announced at the NCAA Frozen Four along with the Hobey Baker Award on April 11. VeNard has been heavily involved in community service work in and around the Notre Dame campus during his career. He also serves as the president of Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
HOBEY HOPEFULS: Fan voting has begun for the 2008 Hobey Baker Award at www.hobeybaker.com. Two Notre Dame players are on the ballot – junior right wing Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) and senior right wing Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.).
BUMP IN THE ROAD: Freshman goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) saw his four-game winning streak snapped on Jan. 19 in the 5-1 loss to Michigan. The rookie netminder played 35:16 of the game, giving up four goals on 19 shots. In the first four starts of his career, Phillips was 4-0-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average and a .958 with one shutout. His numbers are currently 4-1-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
IRON MAN: Senior center Mark Van Guilder (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) has his sights set on Notre Dame’s all-time record for most consecutive games played. The record of 153 straight games was set by Tim Wallace `06 who played in every game of his career – 153 straight. Van Guilder has now played in every game of his career – 144 consecutive games played through the first 28 games this year.
ALL TIED UP: Notre Dame’s 1-1 overtime tie with Michigan State on Jan. 13 marked the first overtime game this season for the Irish. A year ago, Notre Dame was 3-1-3 in overtime. The three overtime wins were the most for the Irish in a single season. In two-plus seasons under head coach Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame is 3-1-8 in extra play.
CLUTCH SCORER: Ryan Thang’s goal with 38 seconds left versus Michigan State on Jan. 13 salvaged a 1-1 tie for the Irish. The sophomore left wing has now scored four game-winning goals this season and one game-tying goal among his team-high 12 goals. In 69 career games, Thang has scored 32 goal with 14 coming on the power play and 10 of them game winners. His 10 game winners tie him for sixth on the all-time game-winning goals list at Notre Dame.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame failed to record a win in the weekend series with top-ranked Michigan last weekend, the second time this year that the Irish faced the nation’s top-ranked team. On Nov. 9-10, Notre Dame met No. 1 ranked Miami twice in Oxford, Ohio, defeating the RedHawks, 2-1, on Nov. 9 befoe dropping a 3-1 decision at Miami on Nov. 10. The Nov. 9 win marked the 10th time in the program’s history that the Irish knocked off a top-ranked team. Before losing on Nov. 10, Notre Dame had won four straight versus top 10 teams. Here’s a list of Irish wins over No. 1 ranked teams in the 40-year history of the program.
11/9/07 - at Miami, 2-110/20/06 - at Boston College, 7-110/22/04 - vs. Boston College, 3-210/23/03 - at Boston College, 1-01/3/99 - at North Dakota, 4-311/20/78 - at Minnesota, 3-21/13/78 - vs. Denver, 5-31/18/74 - vs. Michigan Tech, 7-12/24/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 4-32/23/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
PERSONAL STREAK: Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce has surrendered eight goals in his last four starts and is 0-3-1 in those games as the Irish have lost at Northern Michigan, 2-1, lost at Michigan State, 3-1, tied the Spartans, 1-1 and lost to Michigan, 3-2. In those four games, Notre Dame has scored just five goals. Earlier this season, Pearce had a personal seven-game winning streak between Nov. 16 and Dec. 8. During the streak, Pearce was 7-0-0 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. Since Nov. 1, Pearce is 10-5-1 with losses to No. 1 Miami, No. 9 Massachusetts, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 1 Michigan. For the season, Pearce is 14-8-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage with two shutouts.
SECOND-PERIOD PROWESS: The second period has been Notre Dame's best period this season as the Irish have scored 37 goals while giving up just 17 for a +20 advantage in the middle stanza. They are out scoring the opposition, 22-21, in the first period and 26-20 in the third.
GETTING THE BOUNCES: Sophomore center Kevin Deeth is tied for second on the Irish in scoring with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points. Over his last 13 games, the speedy Deeth has scored six times and added four assists for 10 points. Three of his six goals have come on the power play.
MR. CONSISTENT: Sophomore defenseman Kyle Lawson (So., New Hudson, Mich.) has proven to be one of the CCHA's most consistent defensemen this season. A two-time CCHA defenseman of the week this season, Lawson leads all Notre Dame defensemen in scoring with three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. Already this year, he has a power-play goal and a pair of game-winning goals. Lawson's 15 points tie him for fifth among CCHA defensemen this season. He is tied for third on the team with a +9 on the year.