Oct. 13, 2016
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — A top-10 match-up awaits as No. 5/6 Notre Dame hits the road for the first time this season to play at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15.
Last season, Notre Dame opened its home slate by playing host to the then fifth-ranked Bulldogs for a pair of games on Oct. 23-24, which both ended in 3-3 ties.
GAMES 3 & 4
Matchup: Notre Dame at Minnesota Duluth
Date: Friday, Oct. 14 | Saturday, Oct. 15
Time: 8:07 p.m. (ET) | 8:07 p.m. (ET)
Site: Duluth, Minnesota
Arena: Amsoil Arena
Television (Friday): Fox College Sports
Play-by-Play: Zach Schneider
Analyst: Judd Medak
Television (Saturday): My9 (local)
Play-by-Play: Zach Schneider
Analyst: Judd Medak
Live Streaming: NCHC.tv (subscription)
Live Radio: WZOC 94.3 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Live Stats: HockeyEastOnline.com
Live Updates: @NDHockey
Series History: ND leads, 21-15-6
HOCKEY EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
— After a seven point weekend on four goals and three assists, junior alternate captain Anders Bjork was named the Hockey East Player of the Week (Oct. 10).
— Bjork scored the game-winning goal in each win over the Sun Devils.
— Bjork posted a career-high four points on two goals and two assists in Saturday night’s win.
— Bjork increased his multi-point game total to 13 in his Irish career.
BULLDOGS AT A GLANCE
— Minnesota Duluth has already played four games this season, including opening the season with a weekend home sweep of Michigan Tech (Oct. 1-2) by scores of 6-0 and 4-3.
— Last weekend the Bulldogs played to back-to-back ties at UMass Lowell (Oct. 7-8), including scores of 4-4 (game one) and 1-1 (game two).
— In the 4-4 tie with the River Hawks, Minnesota Duluth scored the game’s final three goals to erase a three-goal deficit over the last 21:44 of play.
— Sophomore defenseman Neil Pionk leads the Bulldogs with six points on the season, including three goals and three assists.
IN THE RANKS
— The Irish moved up to No. 5 (USCHO.com) and No. 6 (USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine) in the national polls.
— The last time Notre Dame reached as high as No. 6 in the polls was on Nov. 18, 2013 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
— The last time the Irish reached the top five in the polls was on Nov. 11, 2013 (No. 4 in USCHO.com and No. 3 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine).
— The Irish last beat a top-10 team in the final regular season game of 2015-16 when they topped ninth-ranked Boston University 1-0.
— Notre Dame’s last win over a top-five ranked team also came last season when it erased a two-goal, third period deficit to defeat third-ranked Boston College 4-3 on Dec. 10 (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts).
JACKSON’S THOUGHTS
On playing Minnesota Duluth most years ââ’¬¦
“The way they play, I think they make us better. They are always a top-10 program and they play the game hard. They have a lot of talent so are fast but they have some grit to them and they are hard to play against. But they are not cheap and they are well coached. It will be a big challenge for us.”
On the weekend ahead and Notre Dame’s special teams units ââ’¬¦
“The biggest things [for us] are going to be puck decisions … and trying to stay out of the penalty box. The power play is also going to be extremely important. We saw some areas there we need to improve [on night two against Arizona State]. We worked on it a fair bit this week. Both special teams units are a work in progress right now, we have a bunch of new guys on penalty kill and new power play guys so it is trying to evaluate who belongs there on a fulltime basis.”
NEXT UP
Next weekend Notre Dame returns home to the Compton Family Ice Arena for a weekend series versus Penn State (Oct. 21-22). To purchase tickets visit UND.com/BuyTickets.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).