Nov. 7, 2012
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Teams: #8/#7 Notre Dame (6-2-0) vs. #1/#1 Boston College (6-1-0)
– The Game: Friday, November 9, 2012 – Kelley Rink (7,884) – 7:00 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: The Notre Dame-Boston College game will be broadcast live on Real Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. Darin Pritchett, the voice of the Irish, will call the action.
– Internet: Audio: The audio for the Boston College game will be available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com. Video: Live video streaming for the Boston College game will be available on the Boston College website at bceagles.com. There is a charge for this service. Statistics: Gametracker is available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com. Livestats can be found at ccha.com ocollegehockeyinc. com.Twitter: Follow Irish hockey on Twitter at ND_hockey.
HOLY WAR RENEWAL: Notre Dame and Boston College will tangle on the ice at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9th at BC’s Kelley Rink as part of the two Catholic Division I teams’ annual hockey-football weekend. The football half of the weekend takes place at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10th at neighboring Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Friday’s hockey game will mark the 14th time since 1995-96 that the two schools have played the hockey-football series. The Irish enter Friday’s game with a 6-2-0 overall record and sit atop the CCHA standings with a 3-1-0-0 record. The Irish are coming off a split with #11/#11 Western Michigan as they lost 3-2 to the Broncos on Nov. 2 and then knocked off Western, 4-0, on Nov. 4 at the Compton Family Ice Arena. Notre Dame is ranked eighth in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and seventh in the USCHO.com poll. The Eagles are 6-1-0 on the season and are first in Hockey East with the same 6-1-0 record. They will bring a six-game winning streak into Friday’s contest. Boston College enters the game ranked first in both of the national polls. The Eagles won twice last weekend, taking a 4-2 win at Maine on Nov. 2 and then defeated Massachusetts at home on Nov. 4, 3-2.
IRISH VERSUS EAGLES: Notre Dame and Boston College have met 31 times in the all-time series with Boston College holding a 16-13-2 edge in those games. At Chestnut Hill, the series is even at 7-7-1. The two teams met last season at Notre Dame with the Irish winning, 3-2, with 1.1 second left in overtime on a goal by Bryan Rust (Jr., Novi, Mich.). The game served as the “Dedication Game,” for the new Compton Family Ice Arena on the Notre Dame campus. Friday’s game will be the first game in the series played at Boston College since Nov. 7, 2008, a 4-1 Irish win. The last three meetings all have been played at Notre Dame. Since the 2003-04 season, the Irish are 6-2-0 against the Eagles. In that span, Boston College has come into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation four times (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2010), and each time Notre Dame has won the game (2003 – at BC, 1-0; 2004 – at ND, 3-2; 2006 – at BC, 7-1 and in 2010 – at ND, 2-1). Of course in 2008, the two teams met in the Frozen Four title game in Denver, Colo., with the Eagles winning, 4-1, to claim the national championship.
HOCKEY-FOOTBALL WEEKEND: For the 14th time in the 32-game series, Notre Dame and Boston College will meet in the traditional Friday-Saturday hockey-football series. This year, the two games will be played at Chestnut Hill, Mass., with hockey being played Friday, Nov. 9 at Kelley Rink and football on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Alumni Stadium. Since the 1995-96 season, the two hockey teams have met 16 times with 13 of the meetings coming in the hockey-football setup. The Eagles are 6-5-2 in those games against the Irish on the ice. This could be the last time the two teams tangle in this scheduling format. Beginning in 2013-14, Notre Dame will join Hockey East and will face Boston College twice every season in conference play. The Irish also will be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in all their other sports, except football, but will be playing ACC schools on the gridiron (five games per year on a rotating basis).
IRISH WINS VERSUS NO. 1: Friday night’s game will be the first time the Irish have faced the top-ranked team in the nation since Oct. 23, 2010 when they faced #1/#1 Boston College at the Joyce Center, knocking off the Eagles by a 2-1 margin. Notre Dame owns 12 wins over No. 1 ranked teams with four of those wins coming against Boston College. Here’s a list of previous Irish wins versus top-ranked teams.
10/23/10 - vs. Boston College, 2-14/10/08 - vs. Michigan, 5-4 ot (at Frozen Four)10/9/07 - at Miami, 2-110/21/06 - vs. 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
TOUGH STRETCH: Friday’s game against #1/#1 Boston College will be the seventh game of an 11-game streak of consecutive games for the Irish against nationally ranked teams. Notre Dame is 4-2-0 in the first six contests. Here is the recent schedule that began on Oct. 18-19 versus Minnesota Duluth. (Rankings are USA Today/USCHO.com. Rankings listed for games played are team’s rankings on the day of the game. Rankings for games to be played are from 11/5 polls).
10/18 vs. #13/#13 Minnesota Duluth L, 1-310/19 vs. #13/#13 Minnesota Duluth W, 4-110/26 at #15/#16 No. Michigan W, 5-210/27 at #15/#16 No. Michigan W, 3-211/2 vs. #11/#11 Western Michigan L, 2-311/4 vs. #11/#11 Western Michigan W, 4-0
11/9 at #1/#1 Boston College11/15 at #11/#12 Michigan11/16 at #11/#12 Michigan11/23 vs. #6/#6 North Dakota11/24 vs. #6/#6 North Dakota
WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES RECAP: Friday, Nov. 2 – Western Michigan goaltender Frank Slubowski stopped 35 shots and got a pair of goals from Dane Walters and one from Chase Balisy as the Broncos defeated Notre Dame, 3-2, in Friday night’s game at the Compton Family Ice Arena. Notre Dame trailed 2-0 after two periods and 3-1 in the game before rallying twice in the third period. Junior center Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) scored one goal and added an assist while defenseman Robbie Russo (So., Westmont, Ill.) scored on the power play for the Irish. Junior goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) had 22 saves on the night. After a scoreless first period, the Broncos took a 2-0 lead in the second as Walters scored twice in less than five minutes early in the period. Walters made it 1-0 at 1:28 of the second when he deflected a shot by defenseman Jordan Oesterle past Summerhays for his first goal of the season. The senior captain got his second of the night at 6:21 when he scored on the power play for a 2-0 Bronco lead. The Irish offense came to life in the third period when Lee combined with Jeff Costello (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) on a nifty chip pass at center that put Lee in on Slubowski alone with Lee beating the Western Michigan goaltender with a backhander for his third goal of the season. The Broncos restored the two-goal lead with their second power-play goal of the night as Balisy scored his first of the year at 5:05 to make it 3-1. The Irish connected with their first power-play chance at 7:28 when Russo scored from the left circle to cut the lead to 3-2. That would be as close as the Irish would get as Slubowski held them off the rest of the way as he made 16 of his 35 saves in the third period. Western was 2-for-4 on the power play while Notre Dame was 1-for-8.
Sunday, Nov. 4 – Notre Dame limited Western Michigan to just 14 shots on goal as junior goaltender Steven Summerhays collected his second shutout of the season in a 4-0 win over the Broncos. Anders Lee paced the attack with a pair of goals while Jeff Costello and Steven Fogarty (Fr., Edina, Minn.) added single goals in the win. Junior Bryan Rust assisted on three of Notre Dame’s four goals in the game. Fogarty got the scoring started just 2:46 into the game when he scored on the power play for his third goal of the year to give the Irish a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame scored twice in the second with Lee getting his first of the night at 1:03, as he flipped the rebound of a Rust shot past WMU goaltender Frank Slubowski. Just over three minutes later at 4:11, Costello beat Slubowski with a backhander from the right circle for his second of the year to make it 3-0. Lee then closed out the scoring at 18:55 of the third period as he scored an empty net, short-handed goal, backhanding the puck, 180-feet down the ice as the Irish killed a Western power play. The goal was Lee’s team-best fifth of the season. Notre Dame out shot the Broncos, 35-14, in the game. The Irish were 1-for-3 on the power play while Western Michigan was 0-for-3.
CCHA HONORS: Anders Lee was named the CCHA Postgame Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 4. Lee scored three goals and added an assist in the weekend split with Western Michigan. In the Nov. 2 game, the Edina, Minn., native had a goal and an assist with eight shots on goal and was +1 in the 3-2 loss to Western Michigan. In the 4-0 win on Sunday, Nov. 4, Lee scored twice, including a short-handed, empty-net goal that sealed the win in the final minute. He had four shots on goal in the game and was +3. This marks the first time in his Notre Dame career that Lee has been the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week.
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame returns to the road next week for a pair of CCHA games at Michigan. The two teams will play at Yost Arena on Thursday-Friday, Nov. 15-16 at 7:35 p.m. each night. The Nov. 15 game will be televised by the CBS Sports Network while the Nov. 16 game can be seen on Comcast in Michigan.
UPCOMING TIME CHANGE: Notre Dame’s game on Friday, Dec. 7 versus Michigan State has had the start time changed from 7:35 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised live by the NBC Sports Network.
SHARING THE WEALTH: Through the first eight games of the 2012-13 season, 11 different Notre Dame players have scored the team’s 23 goals with Anders Lee leading the way with five. Freshman Steven Fogarty is second with three while six others have two each. Nineteen of the team’s 21 skaters to play to date have scored at least one point with Lee leading the way with nine points. Five different players have scored game-winning goals for the Irish with Fogarty leading the way with a pair.
WORK HORSE: Dating back to last Feb. 24, Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays has started 12 of the last 14 games for the Irish. During his 12 starts, Summerhays is 8-4-0 with a 1.46 goals-against average, a .945 save percentage and four shutouts. His shutout win versus Western Michigan (4-0) on Nov. 4 was the 20th win of his Notre Dame career. He is now 20-14-1 for his career with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. This season, Summerhays is tops in the CCHA in wins (5), goals-against average (1.58), save percentage (.935) and shutouts (2).
LIGHTNING STRIKES: When Notre Dame scores in a game, the Irish waste little or no time in getting on the scoreboard at the start of a period. Of their 23 goals to date, nine have come in the first four minutes at the start of the period with a 10th coming inside five minutes.
10/12 - T.J. Tynan (vs. Maine) 2:59 of 3rd10/13 - Peter Schneider (vs. UNO) 1:14 of 1st10/19 - Jeff Costello (vs. UMD) 3:03 of 2nd10/19 - David Gerths (vs. UMD) 4:39 of 3rd10/26 - David Gerths (at NMU) 1:27 of 1st10/26 - Austin Wuthrich (at NMU) 1:30 of 2nd10/26 - Peter Schneider (at NMU) 3:51 of 3rd11/2 - Anders Lee (vs. WMU) 0:42 of 3rd11/4 - Steven Fogarty (vs. WMU) 2:46 of 1st11/4 - Anders Lee (vs. WMU) 1:03 of 2nd
MR. CONSISTENT: Junior center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) started the season by scoring points in each of his first four games. For the first time in his career, he has now been held without a point in four straight games. He has only been held without a point in three games, twice in his career. MR. CLUTCH: Freshman center Steven Fogarty collected his third goal of the season in the 4-0 win over Western Michigan on Nov. 4. The goal came on the power play and was the game winner. He leads the Irish in both categories with two power-play markers and two game winners.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Through the first eight games of the season, Notre Dame has surrendered just four power-play goals in 31 chances for an 87.1% success rate. That ties the Irish for second in the CCHA and ties them for 19th nationally. Notre Dame has scored just five power-play goals on 38 chances for a 13.2% rating. That ties the Irish for ninth in the CCHA and 43rd nationally.
THE OTHER GUY: Senior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) saw his first action in goal for the Irish on Oct. 27 when he made 26 saves in the 3-2 win over Northern Michigan. The win was the 40th-career victory for Johnson, making him one of just seven Notre Dame goaltenders to win 40 or more games in his career. For his career, he has appeared in 92 games, making 86 starts and is 40-33-12 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage with two shutouts.
SHOOTING THE PUCK: Through the first eight games of the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has outshot its opposition in seven of them, getting 30 or more shots seven times. The Irish are averaging 34.0 shots per game to 24.6 for their opponents. In games that the Irish have more shots, they are 5-2-0. When they are out shot, the Irish are 1-0.
BRIGHT KIDS: University of Notre Dame athletic programs again rank as the best in the country in graduation rates, based on Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures released by the NCAA — including first-place ratings in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and ice hockey. Among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, Notre Dame had the highest percentage of its sports with 100 percent scores (for the seventh time in eight years), with a .863 figure (19 of 22). In hockey, Notre Dame achieved a 100 GSR rating, to rank first (tied with Bowling Green) among Division I-A football-playing institutions. Here are the FBS institutions with scores of 65 or higher in that category:
Score Institution100 Notre Dame, Bowling Green96 U.S. Air Force Academy94 Michigan85 U.S. Military Academy, Boston College, Connecticut83 Miami (Ohio)73 Western Michigan65 Michigan State
The four-year GSR data is based upon the entering classes from 2002 to 2005. In addition to men’s and women’s basketball and hockey, other Notre Dame programs recording 100 GSR scores in the 2012 listings were baseball, men’s cross country/track, women’s cross country/track, men’s fencing, women’s fencing, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s softball, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
ROAD SWEEP: Notre Dame’s sweep at Northern Michigan (Oct. 26-27) was the first CCHA road sweep for the Irish since Oct. 27-28, 2011 when they won a pair of games at Bowling Green by 3-1 and 3-2 scores. That sweep was the lone road sweep for Notre Dame in the 2011-12 season.
IRISH CENTURY CLUB: Junior center T.J. Tynan is still looking for one more point to join Notre Dame’s “Century Club” as the 47th player in the program’s history to reach 100 points for his career. Tynan enters the game with Boston College with 38 goals and 61 assists for 99 points in his first 91 games. He has been held off the scoresheet in each of his last four games. Following him is center Anders Lee who has played in 92 career games and has 46 goals and 41 assists for 87 points.
"Century Club"Name (Seasons) G A Pts1. Brian Walsh (1973-77) 89 145 2342. John Noble (1969-73) 81 145 2263. Eddie Bumbacco (1970-74) 103 117 2204. Ian Williams (1970-74) 92 119 211
37. Aaron Gill (2000-04) 49 62 111 Connor Dunlop (1999-03) 25 86 11139. Jack Brownschidle (1973-77) 31 78 10940. Tim Reilly (1981-86) 43 65 10841. Billy Maday (2008-12) 45 60 105 Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 61 44 10543. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 10344. Kevin Hoene (1968-71) 50 51 10145. Matt Hanzel (1985-89) 50 51 10146. Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 100-- T.J. Tynan (2009 - ) 38 61 99-- Anders Lee (2009 -) 46 41 87
CALL HIM THE CAPTAIN: Junior center Anders Lee has been selected as the lone captain of the 2012-13 Notre Dame hockey team. The talented forward served as an alternate captain during the 2011-12 season. As a sophomore, he led the Irish with 17 goals and added 17 assists to finish second in scoring with 34 points. In his first two-plus seasons at Notre Dame, Lee has played in 92 career games with 46 goals and 41 assists for 87 points.