Feb. 18, 2004
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- The Game: Notre Dame (15-11-4/11-10-3) vs. University of Michigan Wolverines (21-8-1/16-5-1)
- Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat, Feb. 27-28, 2004 – Joyce Center (2,713) – 8:05 p.m. (Fri.)/7:05 p.m. (Sat.)
- Broadcast Information: Television: Friday night’s game will be televised live via College Sports Television (CSTV) with Steve Schlanger and Dave Starman calling the action. Game time is 8:05 p.m.
- Radio: All Notre Dame games can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1620, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” calls all the action with Tom Nevala handling the color commentary. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
BYE WEEK: Notre Dame takes a break from the college hockey wars this week after sweeping Ferris State, 4-2 and 4-1, last weekend at home. The wins moved the Irish to 15-11-4 overall and 11-10-3 in CCHA play. Notre Dame starts the week in sixth place in the CCHA with 25 points and has four league games left to play. The Irish are two points behind fifth-place Alaska Fairbanks (27) with two games in hand. Fourth-place Ohio State (28) is three points ahead of the Irish with four left to play and third-place Michigan State (29) is four points ahead with four to play. Western Michigan (24) is one point behind the Irish in seventh place with one game in hand. Northern Michigan (22) is three points behind in eighth place with two games in hand on the Irish. Notre Dame returns to action on February 27-28 when the Irish play host to the first-place Michigan Wolverines. Michigan is ranked third in the nation this week and knocked Miami out of first with a sweep of the RedHawks last weekend. The Wolverines have won 11 of their last 12 games. Friday’s game will be televised live on College Sports Television (CSTV) beginning at 8:05 p.m. Saturday’s game at the Joyce Center has a 7:05 p.m. starting time.
IRISH VS. WOLVERINES: The Feb. 27th game between Notre Dame and Michigan will be the 100th all-time meeting in the series. In the first 99 contests, Michigan holds a 55-39-5 edge. At Notre Dame, the Wolverines are 18-17-2. Since the Irish returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, Michigan is 29-4-3 versus Notre Dame, including 9-2-2 at the Joyce Center. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games at Yost Arena with Michigan winning 4-2 and the Irish taking a 4-3 win in the second game of the series. In the last four meetings at the Joyce Center, the Irish are 0-3-1. Notre Dame’s last home win versus Michigan came Jan. 30, 1999 in a 3-2 victory. In the last 10 meetings between the two schools, the Wolverines are 6-2-2 versus the Irish.
SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS: Since giving up a power-play goal at 10:26 of the first period at Northern Michigan on Jan. 23, Notre Dame has killed 33 consecutive opponent power plays (57:30 minutes) over a seven-game, two-period span. Included in that run were nine power plays in the weekend series with Ferris State. For the season, the Irish have killed 121 of 136 opponent chances. Of the 15 power-play goals surrendered, 10 have come in five games (two in each game). Over the remaining 25 games, the Irish have given up just five other power-play goals. Notre Dame has killed 89.0% of opponent power plays this season to lead the CCHA and rank third-best in the nation. Notre Dame’s all-time best penalty killing rate at the Division I level is 86.1% and was set during the 1969-70 season.
HOT GOALTENDER: Freshman goaltender David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.) is back in his early-season groove over his last seven starts. The talented puckstopper has given up just nine goals in those seven games (beginning on Jan. 10 vs. Bowling Green). In the seven games, Brown is 5-1-1, has played 423:06 minutes with a 1.28 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage, stopping 209 of 218 shots. For his strong month of January, Brown received honorable mention for Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) rookie-of-the-month honors. For the year, Brown is 11-5-3 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
FERRIS STATE RECAP: The Irish swept their first CCHA series since late November with 4-2 and 4-1 wins versus the Bulldogs last weekend. In Friday’s 4-2 win, the Irish took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Matt Amado (So., Surrey, B.C.) and Aaron Gill (Sr., Rochester, Minn.). Derek Nesbitt scored the Bulldogs lone goal of the period. In the second period, Ferris State would get the only goal as Trevor Large scored on a blast from the high slot at 17:08 to tie the game at 2-2. The Irish got a couple of breaks in the third period and turned them into goals. T.J. Jindra (Fr., Faribault, Minn.) scored short-handed from his own blue line when his clearing attempt into the Ferris State zone hit a stanchion near the right wing circle and deflected into an open goal as Bulldogs’ goaltender Mike Brown had gone behind his net to stop the puck. Just 49 seconds later, Josh Sciba (Fr., Westland, Mich.) came out of the penalty box and took a lead pass from Brett Lebda (Sr., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and beat Brown on a breakaway for the 4-2 win. Notre Dame outshot Ferris State, 44-29 in the game. Mike Brown had 40 saves for the Bulldogs with Irish goaltender David Brown making 27. On Saturday night, the Notre Dame defense went on the offensive. Neil Komadoski (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) and Tom Galvin (Sr., Miller Place, N.Y.) each had career-high three-point games to lead the Irish to a 4-1 win. Komadoski scored a pair of power-play goals, including the game winner and added an assist. Galvin scored once and added two assists in the win. Freshman Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) scored the fourth Irish goal of the game, snapping a 14-game goal-less streak. The Irish took a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Galvin and Komadoski (PPG) before Ferris’s Mike Kinnie cut the lead to 2-1. After a scoreless second period, Komadoski scored his second power-play goal at just 1:45 into the final period and Bartlett closed the scoring at 14:55. Both teams had 30 shots on goal in the game. David Brown made 29 saves for the Irish. Mike Brown made 11 saves in 22:22 of playing time as he was injured when he took a shot in the throat in the second period. Tom Muller finished the game, making 15 saves for the Bulldogs.
300 AND COUNTING: Notre Dame’s 4-2 win on Feb. 13 over Ferris State was the 300th win in the history of the Joyce Center. Notre Dame is now 301-245-42 (.549) on home ice.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defenseman Tom Galvin was selected as the CCHA’s defensive player of the week for the week ending Feb. 15. Galvin had a goal and three assists and was +3 on the weekend as the Irish swept Ferris State. The senior blueliner was on the ice for six Notre Dame goals in the series and just one for Ferris State. He assisted on one goal in the 4-2 win on Feb. 13 and then had a career-high three-point game (1g, 2a) in the 4-1 win on Feb. 14. He also played a key role in helping Notre Dame’s penalty killers kill all nine Ferris State power plays on the weekend.
HOME SWEET HOME: The weekend sweep of Ferris State ran Notre Dame’s home unbeaten streak to 12 games (10-0-2). The last time the Irish lost on home ice came on Oct. 17, a 5-3 loss to Bowling Green. For the year, the Irish are 10-1-2 at the Joyce Center. The 10 wins are the most for the Irish at home since the 1999-2000 campaign when Notre Dame was 11-7-3 at the Joyce Center. The Irish have two more regular-season home games this year.
GOALS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES: Going into the Ferris State series, the Irish had scored 15 goals in their previous eight games. Of those 15 goals, 12 came off the sticks of Rob Globke (Sr., West Bloomfield, Mich.), Aaron Gill and Mike Walsh (So., Northville, Mich.). Versus Ferris State, the Irish scored eight goals with only Aaron Gill scoring on the weekend. Sophomore Matt Amado had his first goal since Dec. 5. T.J. Jindra had his first since Nov. 21 and Josh Sciba had his second in three games in Friday’s game. On Saturday, Tom Galvin had his first goal of the season. Neil Komadoski had two goals (first since Nov. 8) and the first two-goal game of his career and Mike Bartlett had his first since Dec. 6.
TWO-FOR-TWO: Freshman T.J. Jindra’s short-handed goal in the Feb. 13 game versus Ferris State was his second goal of the season and also was his second game-winning goal of the year. His previous game-winning goal came on Nov. 21 versus Lake Superior State.
ON THE SIDELINES: Notre Dame defenseman Derek Smith (Jr., Marysville, Mich.) is sidelined indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome. He has not played since suffering a concussion on Jan. 4, 2003.
GOLDEN GLOBKE: Senior right wing Rob Globke is tied for third in the CCHA with 16 goals this season and leads the Irish with 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points. He is just six points off his career-high of 36 (21g, 15a) set last season. He has led the Irish in goals in two of his first three seasons. Globke was named the CCHA offensive player of the week for the week ending Jan. 18. At Wisconsin, Globke accounted for two goals and two assists and was +2 for the weekend as the Irish tied (2-2) and downed the fourth-ranked Badgers (3-1). Globke was the first Notre Dame player to receive offensive player of the week honors since Dan Carlson (’01) was named on Feb. 7, 2000.
GAME-WINNING GLOBKE: Rob Globke picked up his CCHA-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 18. He ranks second in the country with the five game-winners. For his career at Notre Dame, Globke now has 13 game-winning goals. That ties him for first on the all-time game-winning goal list with Brian Urick (’99) and current head coach Dave Poulin who recorded 13 game winners from 1978-82.
TWO FOR THE CENTURY MARK: Seniors Rob Globke and Aaron Gill each went over the 100-point mark in their careers during the 2003-04 season. This marks the first time since the 1998-99 season that two Notre Dame players crashed the Irish “Century Club.” That season, Brian Urick and Aniket Dhadphale each recorded the 100th point of their careers. This season, Globke became the 40th player in Notre Dame hockey history to go over 100 points in his career with two assists versus Western Michigan (Dec. 6). His assist in the 4-2 win over Ferris State (Feb. 13) ties him for 32nd all-time with Ray DeLorenzi with 114 points. Globke is just one of 18 players in school history to have 60 or more goals in a season and now is tied for 16th all-time with 65 career goals. Gill made it 41 players on the list with his goal on Feb. 6 at Miami. For his career, Gill now has 44 goals and 58 assists for his 102 career points. He is second in scoring this season with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points.
GILL GOALS: Senior center Aaron Gill has scored six goals in his last nine games. He scored twice in Notre Dame’s 2-2 tie at Wisconsin (Jan. 17) and then added a single goal in the 4-3 overtime loss at Northern Michigan (Jan. 23). He gave the Irish a 1-0 lead versus UAF (Jan. 30) after being stopped on Jan. 24 in the 1-0 shutout loss at Northern Michigan. Goal number five came in the 5-2 loss at Miami on Feb. 6 and he added his 12 of the season in the 4-2 win over Ferris State. He leads the Irish with seven power-play goals on the season. Gill is second in scoring for the Irish with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points. His assists and points are career highs.
DEFENSIVE DUO: Notre Dame’s defensive duo of Neil Komadoski and Tom Galvin turned in career-high three point games in the 4-1 win over Ferris State on Feb. 14. Komadoski recorded a pair of power-play goals (his first two-goal game) and added an assist for his three points. Galvin had one goal and two assists for his three-point night. On the weekend, Komadoski was on the ice for seven of Notre Dame’s eight goals and just one for Ferris State. Galvin was on the ice for six of eight Notre Dame goals and just one for the Bulldogs. On the year, the duo is tied for the team lead in scoring among defensemen with 18 points. Komadoski has four goals and 14 assists while Galvin checks in with one goal and 17 assists.
LEBDA’S LINE: Senior defenseman Brett Lebda continues to make his move on the top 10 scoring spot among Irish defensemen. He goes into the Michigan weekend with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points this season. For his career, Lebda now has 25 goals and 52 assists for 77 career points. Notre Dame has had 10 defensemen in its history record 80 or more points in their careers. Lebda needs just three more points to move into the top 10. He trails Steve Curry (1970-74) who had 80 points (19g, 61a) and Benoit Coitnoir (1995-99) is ninth with 88 points (28g, 60a).
TERRIFIC TRIO: Notre Dame’s corp of senior defensemen continues to have a strong final season for the Irish. Neil Komadoski (4-14-18) and Tom Galvin (1-17-18) lead the trio with 18 points (0-15-15). Brett Lebda (5-11-16) follows with 16 points. Not surprisingly, during their Notre Dame careers, all three defenders have led the Irish defensemen in scoring in one season. Lebda (7-19-26) led as a freshman, Galvin (4-19-23) led as a sophomore and Komadoski (1-23-24) led last year.
BARN BURNERS: Three of Notre Dame’s games in January came down to final-second decisions. On Jan. 31, Brett Lebda scored with 28.5 seconds left for a 2-2 tie with Alaska Fairbanks. On Jan. 23, Northern Michigan’s Darin Olver scored with 34 seconds left in overtime to give the Wildcats a 4-3 win. On Jan. 9, Bowling Green’s James Unger scored with 28 seconds left in overtime to give the Falcons a 5-4 win.
OVERTIME HEARTBREAK: Notre Dame is now 0-2-4 this season in six games that have gone to overtime. Prior to the Jan. 9, 5-4 overtime loss at Bowling Green, the Irish had gone eight straight overtimes with the game ending in a tie (0-0-8) between last season and the early part of the current campaign. Notre Dame’s last regular-season overtime win was Jan. 25, 2002 at Miami, a 4-3 win. Since that win, the Irish are 1-3-10 in overtime with the one win and one of the losses coming in the CCHA playoffs. Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish have been involved in 39 overtime games and are 5-4-30 in those contests.
ONE-GOAL GAMES: Five of Notre Dame’s games in January were decided by one goal with the Irish going 2-3-0 in those games. After winning their first three one-goal games (all three being 1-0 wins), the Irish dropped three in a row (two in overtime and one by a 1-0 score). The Irish are 4-3 this season in one-goal decisions. Notre Dame has been involved in four 1-0 games this season and is 3-1 in those contests.
POWER-PLAY POINTS: The Irish recored their fifth game this season with two power-play goals in the 4-1 win over Ferris State on Feb. 14. The Irish have scored at least one power-play goal in 21 of their 30 games this season.
PUTTING THE “P” IN POWER: Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh is quickly becoming one of the top power forwards in the CCHA. He scored his 10th goal of the season in the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks. The goal was his fourth game-winning goal of the year and the fifth of his career. The four game winners ties him for second in the CCHA and seventh in the nation. Walsh believes that the quickest way to get from point A to point B is a straight line as he barges and charges to the net. After battling through an injury and illness filled freshman year, Walsh has become a key contributor to the Irish attack. With10 goals and nine assists, he is third on the team with 19 points. Four of his 10 goals this season are game winners. For his career, Walsh has scored 11 goals with five of them being game-winning goals.
2003-04 IRISH AWARD WINNERS:
David Brown – CCHA rookie of the week
(Oct. 19, Nov. 1, Dec. 2)
CCHA defensive player of the week
(Jan. 12)
HCA rookie of the month (October)
Honorable mention HCA rookie of the month (January)
Morgan Cey – All-tournament team at Everblades
Collegiate Hockey Classic (Dec. 28)
Tom Galvin – CCHA defensive player of the week
(Feb. 15)
Rob Globke – CCHA offensive player of the week
(Jan. 19)
Neil Komadoski – Nominee for college hockey’s
Humanitarian Award
LEAGUE LEADERS: Notre Dame and Michigan are tied for first in the CCHA for the lowest goals against as each team has given up just 71 goals this season for 2.37 per game. That ties them for seventh in the nation.
BEATING THE BEST: Notre Dame’s 1-0 shutout win at Boston College on Oct. 24 came versus the Eagles while they were ranked first in the nation in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The last time the Irish beat a top-ranked team came on Jan. 3, 1999 when they won 4-3 at North Dakota.
IRISH WINS VERSUS #1 TEAMS:
10/24/03 – at Boston College, 1-0
1/3/99 – at North Dakota, 4-3
11/10/78 – at Minnesota, 3-2
1/13/78 – vs. Denver, 5-3
1/18/74 – vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1
2/24/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
2/23/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 4-3
The last time the Irish faced a top-ranked team prior to Oct. 24 was on Nov. 10, 2000 when they played Boston College. Notre Dame lost that game by a 5-3 score.
IRISH SHUTOUTS: Prior to last season’s CCHA playoffs when Morgan Cey recorded back-to-back shutouts versus Miami, Notre Dame had never recorded back-to-back shutouts. Since Cey did it last March, both freshman David Brown (three in a row) and Cey have turned the trick this year. Notre Dame’s six shutouts are a single-season school record. The previous best was 1999-2000 when the Irish had three shutouts (Tony Zasowski had two and Jeremiah Kimento had one).
SCORELESS STREAKS: Morgan Cey (Jr., Wilkie, Sask.) saw his consecutive minutes of scoreless hockey come to an end at 158:53 when D’Arcy McConvey scored at 10:27 of the second period on Jan. 9. The streak was the longest of Cey’s career, passing his previous best of 149:17 (set between Mar. 14-20, 2003 in the CCHA playoffs). Cey’s 158:53 is the second longest in Irish history behind David Brown’s mark of 193:27 set this past October between Oct. 17-Nov. 8.
RISING TO THE OCCASION: With Morgan Cey sidelined twice this season due to knee injuries, freshman goaltender David Brown has played in 21 games with outstanding results. In 19 starts, Brown is 11-5-3 with a CCHA-leading 2.08 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Four of his 11 wins have been shutouts. He had an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) snapped on Dec. 6 in a 6-4 loss at Western Michigan. During his streak which covered nine games, Brown had a 1.96 goals against (17 goals in 521:30 minutes and a .932 save percentage (232 saves). Included in those nine games were three consecutive shutouts between 10/18 and 10/31. For good measure, Brown also threw in a fourth shutout on Nov. 14 versus the U.S. Under-18 team that does not count in the statistics. He also was named CCHA rookie of the week three times, CCHA defensive player of the week once, the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national rookie of the month for October and an honorable mention pick for HCA rookie of the month in January.
FUTURE IRISH: Dave Poulin and his hockey staff announced that four players have signed national letters-of-intent in the early-signing period to attend Notre Dame next season. The group includes three defensement and one forward.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: In 30 games this season, Notre Dame defensemen Brett Lebda, Tom Galvin, Neil Komadoski and Wes O’Neill (Fr., Essex, Ont.) have combined for 12 goals and 49 assists for 61 points. Komadoski (4-14-18) and Galvin (1-17-18) lead the group followed by Lebda (5g, 11a) with 16. O’Neill has two goals and seven assists for nine points on the year.
MR. STEADY – CORY’S STORY: Junior right wing Cory McLean (Jr., Fargo, N.D.) is tied for third in scoring for the Irish this season with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points. His previous best was last season when he picked up 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points. McLean has not scored a goal in his last 15 games since scoring a goal in each game of the Western Michigan series (Dec. 5-6). McLean has had a pair of four-game point streaks this season.
HUMANITARIAN NOMINEE: Irish defenseman Neil Komadoski was one of 14 nominees for the prestigious College Hockey Humanitarian Award that goes to college hockey’s “top citizen.” The award for community service and leadership is presented along with the Hobey Baker Award at the NCAA Frozen Four each year. On Jan. 15, the five finalists – Patrick Foley (UNH), Dan Boeser (Wisconsin), Chanda Gunn (Northeastern), Derek Nisula (Babson) and Mark Persick (Canisius) – were selected. Komadoski has been involved in Notre Dame’s community service programs since his freshman year. He is a member of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for three years and is chairman of the SAAC community service sub-committee since the fall of 2002. He represented Notre Dame at the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Leadership Conference last May. His community service work has included participation in SAAC’s Pediatric Christmas Party in all four years since joining the Irish hockey program. He has also participated in Christmas in April (2001, 2002), Habitat for Humanity (2003) and the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk in the fall of 2002 and 2003. He has also worked with the Robinson Community Learning Center’ Children’s Ice Skate Day in the fall of 2002 and 2003.
IRISH ON TV: With the February 27th appearance on College Sports Television, the game will mark the eighth appearance of the year for the Irish hockey team on television. For the year, Notre Dame is 5-1-1 in televised games. The Irish have appeared on CSTV three times and are 2-1-0. They are 1-0-1 on Wisconsin television, 1-0 on Fox Sports Net Fairbanks and 1-0 on Fox Sports Net Detroit.
CONSECUTIVE GAME STREAK: Graduated defenseman Evan Nielsen (’03) set Notre Dame’s record for consecutive games played last season with 114 in a row from 2000-03. Coming into this weekend at Northern Michigan, seniors Rob Globke and Brett Lebda have each played in 88 consecutive games and are the leaders among active players. The only games Lebda has missed in his career came in 2001-02 when he missed four games while playing at the World Junior Championships. He has played 143 of 147 career games.
RIVALRY CLUSTERS: Notre Dame has split the first eight games played between cluster rivals Bowling Green and Northern Michigan as the Irish are 4-4-0 in those games. Overall, the Irish are 5-4-1 versus teams in their cluster. They are 1-0-1 versus Lake Superior State and play the Lakers the final weekend of the season. The Irish are 2-2 versus Northern Michigan and 2-2 versus Bowling Green. A year ago, the Irish were 7-4-1 in their cluster that included Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Ferris State.
HCA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman goaltender David Brown was selected as the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national collegiate rookie of the month for the month of October. Brown had an October to remember as he recorded a Notre Dame school record three consecutive shutouts in his first four career starts and a school-record shutout string of 193:27 consecutive minutes. His three shutouts also set a Notre Dame record for shutouts in a season. For the month, the 5-11, 188-pound puck stopper was 3-2-0 with a CCHA-leading 1.15 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage to go with the three shutouts. Among his three shutouts was a 1-0, 27-save performance on Oct. 24 versus the top-ranked Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The three shutouts came versus Bowling Green (10/18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31). He has been selected as the CCHA rookie of the month three times this season (10/19, 11/2, 12/1) and defensive player of the week once (1/12). Brown was also received honorable mention for HCA rookie of the month honors in January.
DOWN BY TWO: Prior to the Nov. 29 comeback versus Northern Michigan (the Irish trailed 2-0 in a 4-2 win), last time the Irish rebounded from a two-goal deficit to win a game was on Oct. 12, 2002 when the Irish fell behind Minnesota-Duluth, 2-0, and rallied for a 5-3 win at Duluth.
CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS: The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Central Scouting has released it’s mid-term report that ranks the top 270 draft eligible skaters and the top 30 goaltenders for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft next June. Irish defenseman Wes O’Neill is ranked 19th overall, third among U.S. College players behind North Dakota’s Drew Stafford (9th) and Michigan State’s A.J. Thelen (16). Freshman forward Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) was ranked 211th overall and 36th among collegiate players. Goaltender David Brown is ranked 29th overall and second among collegiate goaltenders behind top-ranked Al Montoya of Michigan.
SOME TRICK: Sophomore defenseman Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) recorded his first collegiate goal in the Nov. 28, 5-1 win over Northern Michigan. He made the most of it too, as the goal came short-handed in the second period and proved to be the game winner. Trick came out of the penalty box after a Wildcat centering pass eluded the point men. Trick beat Craig Kowalski with a backhander for his first goal in 36 career games.
IRISH VERSUS HOCKEY EAST: For the first time since Hockey East started in 1984-85, Notre Dame has recorded a pair of wins over Hockey East conference teams. On Oct. 24, the Irish defeated Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Mass. On Dec. 28, Notre Dame took a 1-0 decision versus Maine at the Everblades College Classic. In both 1-0 shutouts, sophomore left wing Mike Walsh got the game-winning goal.
DIRECTOR’S CUP STANDINGS: The University of Notre Dame stands 12th in the 2003-04 United States Sports Academy Division I Director’s Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors’Cup). Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 199 points. Michigan is first (413 points), followed by UCLA, Stanford, Maryland, BYU, North Carolina, Penn State, Washington, USC, and Wake Forest round out the top 10.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: Irish goaltender David Brown saw his streak of three consecutive shutouts end in the Nov. 8 game versus Michigan State. Jim Slater’s goal at 7:12 of the first period ended his consecutive-minute streak at 193:27. That is a new Notre Dame record. The last time Brown had given up a goal was on Oct. 17 versus Bowling Green with 4:22 left in the third period. He followed with shutouts versus Bowling Green (Oct. 18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31).
OH CANADA: Freshman defenseman Wes O’Neill was a member of Canada’s Under-18 Select team that played in last summer’s Under-18 Select World Cup tournament. O’Neill had a goal and four assists in helping Canada to a fourth-place finish. The former Green Bay Gambler also played for Team Ontario at the Under-17 World Championships in Feb. of 2003. There he had three goals and nine assists in six games. O’Neill was the second pick in the 2002 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Draft by the Kingston Frontenacs. He is the highest-drafted OHL player to decide to play college hockey.
CEY IT AIN’T SO: Goaltender Morgan Cey missed the first five games of the season after having knee surgery in July. He then missed seven games after re-injuring his knee on Nov. 7, requiring arthroscopic surgery. Prior to this season, Cey had started 71 of Notre Dame’s 79 games as a freshman and sophomore. He was 15-15-6 last season with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with two shutouts. Career-wise, Cey is 33-34-10 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with six shutouts. He is sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time wins list with 33. His 2.73 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and six shutouts make him the leader in all three categories at Notre Dame.
NHL DRAFTEES: Notre Dame has three players on the 2003-04 roster that have been selected in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. Senior Rob Globke was a second-round choice of the Florida Panthers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Selected 40th overall, Globke’s selection was the earliest any Notre Dame player has ever been chosen. Senior defenseman Neil Komadoski was selected in the third round of the 2001 draft by the Ottawa Senators. Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh was selected in the fifth round in 2002 by the New York Rangers. BRAIN POWER: Senior defenseman T.J. Mathieson (Clarksville, Md.) is a candidate for Rhodes, Mitchell and Marshall Scholarships for postgraduate studies. Mathieson owns a 3.812 grade-point average in aerospace engineering in Notre Dame’s School of Engineering. He is a two-time winner of Notre Dame’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award. He spent the past summer working at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati. There, he worked doing stress analysis of high-pressure turbines for commercial aircraft engines.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior center Aaron Gill will serve as the team captain for the Irish in 2003-04. As a junior, he finished fourth in scoring with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points. Four of his 13 goals came on the power play and he recorded his first career hat trick on Oct. 19 in an 8-5 win over Western Michigan. Serving as alternate captains this season are senior right wing Rob Globke and senior defenseman Neil Komadoski. Globke led the Irish in scoring last season with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points. Komadoski was Notre Dame’s top scorer from the blue line last year as he scored a goal and added 23 helpers. His 23 assists and 24 points were career-highs for the veteran defenseman.