Jan. 30, 2013
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Teams: #11/#9 Notre Dame (16-10-0/12-6-0-0) at Ohio State (10-11-5/9-6-3-1)
– The Games: Friday, February 1, 2013 – Value City Arena (17,500) – 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, February 2, 2013 – Value City Arena (17,500) – 7:05 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame’s series versus Ohio State 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/Video: Live audio streaming for the Ohio State series is available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com free of charge. Live video streaming will be available on the Ohio State website (www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com) via the Big Ten Digital Network and Buckeye Vision. There is a charge for this service. Statistics: Livestats can be found at GameTracker, ccha.com or collegehockeyinc.com. Twitter: Follow Irish hockey on Twitter at ND_hockey.
STRETCH DRIVE: Now that the Irish have gotten January out of their system, the Notre Dame hockey team turns its attention to the final 10 games of the 2012-13 season. The stretch drive begins this weekend, Feb. 1-2, when the Irish travel to Ohio State for a pair of 7:05 p.m. games against the Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Notre Dame was 2-6-0 in January and comes off a split with Ferris State (3-1 loss on Jan. 25 and a 5-2 win on Jan. 26) that snapped a five-game losing streak. The Irish are 16-10-0 overall and have a 12-6-0 mark in the CCHA, good for 36 points and third place in the league standings. The Irish are three points behind first-place Western Michigan (39) and two behind second-place Miami (38). The 36 points puts Notre Dame just two points ahead of fourth-place Alaska and Ferris State (34) with two games in hand on both those teams. Sixth-place Ohio State (31) is just five behind the Irish and the Buckeyes also have played 18 conference games. OSU is coming off a sweep of Lake Superior State last weekend, taking 3-2 and 6-1 wins over the Lakers at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes are 10-11-5 on the season and 9-6-3-1 in the CCHA. With 10 games left on the docket for Notre Dame, it will be a race to the finish over the next five weekends.
IRISH VERSUS BUCKEYES: Notre Dame and Ohio State have met 69 times in the all-time series since the Irish became a Division I program in 1968-69. The Buckeyes lead the series with a 31-29-9 advantage. At Columbus, Ohio, they are 16-14-5 against Notre Dame. Last season, the teams met four times, all in South Bend. Ohio State played the final games at the Joyce Center on Oct. 14-15, dropping a 5-2 decision in the opener and then beat the Irish, 4-3, in the last game at the Joyce. The teams met again in March at the Compton Family Ice Arena in the first round of the CCHA playoffs with Notre Dame taking 2-0 and 4-2 wins. The last time that the Irish won at Value City Arena came in their last visit there – Jan. 22, 2011 – a 4-1 victory.
RANKINGS: Notre Dame enters the weekend series with Ohio State ranked 11th in the USAToday/U.S. Hockey Magazine poll. The Irish are ranked ninth in the USCHO.com poll.
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: The Irish follow their visit to Ohio State with their only home games of the month on Feb. 8-9 when they play host to the Michigan Wolverines at the Compton Family Ice Arena . Friday’s game is set for 7:35 p.m. and will be televised by the CBS Sports Network. Saturday’s game will begin at 7:05 p.m. and will be televised by Comcast.
JANUARY BLAHS: Notre Dame finished the month of January with a 2-6-0 record. The Irish were outscored in the month by a 24-16 margin that included scoring just one goal in five of the six losses. Notre Dame was just three-for-32 on the power play (9.4%) and 31-of-37 on the penalty kill (83.8%) during January. During the opening month of 2013, the Irish had a five-game overall and CCHA losing streak from Jan. 12 through Jan. 25. That was preceeded by a nine-game CCHA winning streak from Nov. 4 to Jan. 11.
FERRIS STATE RECAP: Friday, Jan. 25 – Ferris State sophomore goaltender CJ Motte stopped 32-of-33 Notre Dame shots and the Bulldog offense got a pair of goals from Kyle Bonis and a game winner from Dom Panetta in the win. Anders Lee (Jr., Edina, Minn.) scored the lone Irish goal of the night; his league-leading 14th of the season but it wasn’t enough. Junior goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) made 22 saves on the night. For the fourth straight game, Notre Dame scored the first goal of the night and for the fourth straight night, the Irish came up short on the scoreboard. Lee made it 1-0 at the 6:34 mark of the first period when he tucked the rebound of a Sam Calabrese (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill.) shot through Motte’s pads for his 14th goal of the year. The Irish held on to the one-goal lead until the Bulldogs capitalized on a power-play chance at 3:18 of the second. Bonis picked up his first of the game when he beat Summerhays from the bottom of the right circle for his 12th of the year to make it 1-1. The lead went to 2-1 at 12:19 as Ferris State forced a turnover along the right boards. Dakota Klecha’s cross rink pass found Panetta’s stick at the top of the crease and he deflected it inside the right post past Summerhays for his second of the season and the eventual game winner. The Bulldogs sealed the win at 19:25 as Bonis got his second of the game, scoring on a length of the ice shot into an empty net for his 13th of the season and the final of 3-1.
Saturday, Jan. 26 – Senior right wing Kevin Nugent (New Canaan, Conn.) scored his first career goal to snap a 2-2 tie and help lead Notre Dame to a 5-2 win over Ferris State in the second game of the weekend series. For Nugent, the goal was the game winner and his first in 64 career contests. He was joined on the scoresheet by David Gerths (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa), Thomas DiPauli (Fr., Woodridge, Ill.), Mario Lucia (Fr., Plymouth, Minn.) and T.J. Tynan (Jr., Orland Park, Ill.) as the Irish closed January with a big win. Travis Ouellette and Cory Kane scored for the Bulldogs. For the fifth straight night, Notre Dame scored the first goal of the game with Gerths getting the only marker of the first period at 5:53. Defenseman Stephen Johns (Jr., Wampum, Pa.) drilled a shot on goal that Gerths was able to deflect past Ferris State netminder Charles Williams for his fourth goal of the season. As has been the case during the recent losing streak, the Irish struggled to get that second goal of the night and the Bulldogs took advantage, scoring twice to build a 2-1 lead. Ouellette evened the score just 19 seconds into the second period on a power play as he took a pass in the slot from defenseman Jason Binkley and made a move on Steven Summerhays for his eighth goal of the season to make it 1-1. Ferris State took advantage of a Notre Dame turnover in the neutral zone and turned it into the Bulldogs second goal of the night as Kane and Matthew Kirzinger combined with Kane finishing the play by beating Summerhays from the low slot for his seventh of the season at 10:03 to give FSU the 2-1 lead. Just two minutes later, DiPauli answered back with his fourth goal of the year that tied the game, 2-2, at 12:03. Nugent put Notre Dame ahead to stay at 14:49 with his first ever as he snapped a wrist shot from the left wing circle that beat Williams to his glove side and just inside the far post to make it 3-2. Lucia, who had a three-point night (1g, 2a), pounced on a Ferris State turnover in the slot and whipped a shot past Williams just 57 seconds into the third period for his eighth of the season to make it 4-2. The Irish then closed out the scoring at 17:39 as Tynan scored on a five-on-three power-play goal for his eighth of the year and the 5-2 final. The man-advantage goal snapped a 0-for-14 streak on the power play over the last four games for Notre Dame On the night, Notre Dame out shot Ferris State, 29-24. Summerhays finished with 22 saves while Williams had 24 stops in the Bulldogs’ cage. The Irish were 1-for-2 on the power play while Ferris State was 1-for-3.
PENALTY SHOT: Junior center Anders Lee was awarded a penalty shot in the 5-2 win over Ferris State. He was pulled down by defenseman Simon Denis at 6:45 of the second period. His shot was stopped by goaltender Charles Williams. For Notre Dame, Lee’s penalty shot was the first in the Compton Family Ice Arena since Nov. 11, 2011 when Riley Sheahan was awarded one and scored on the shot in a 5-4 win over Alaska. There have now been three penalty shots at the Compton Family Ice Arena since it opened in Oct. of 2011. Boston College’s Chris Kreider scored on the second one on Nov. 18, 2011 in a 3-2 Notre Dame overtime win.
FIRST TIME: It took 64 games but senior right wing Kevin Nugent made the most of his first career goal when he scored the game winner in Notre Dame’s 5-2 win over Ferris State on Jan. 26. He also added an assist in the game for the first multiple-point game of his career. His goal at 14:49 of the second period snapped a 2-2 tie on the way to the win. Nugent now has a goal and three assists for four points, all career highs. One of three Notre Dame players to follow his father to Notre Dame, Kevin’s father, Kevin Nugent `78 played from 1974-78 for the Irish and had 54 goals and 75 assists for 129 career points.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME: Freshman left wing Mario Lucia recorded the first three-point game (1g, 2a) of his Notre Dame career in the 5-2 win over Ferris State on Jan. 26. Lucia, who missed the first nine games of the season with a broken leg, now has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 17 games since returning to the lineup on Nov. 15 at Michigan. He currently has a four-game point streak (3g, 3a) that started on Jan. 18. He was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week twice in December and was the Rookie of the Month for December.
SCORING FIRST: Notre Dame has scored the first goal of the game in 18 of its first 26 contests this season and is now 14-4-0 in those games. The Irish have now scored the first goal in each of the last five games but are just 1-4-0 in those games. When they don’t light the lamp first, the Irish are just 2-6-0 in those games.
POWER OUTAGE: T.J. Tynan’s power-play goal at 17:39 of the third period in the 5-2 win over Ferris State snapped an 0-for-14 run for the Irish with the man advantage since Jan. 15. Tynan also had the previous Notre Dame power-play goal as that came at 17:01 of the third period on Jan. 15 in a 4-2 loss at Bowling Green.
LEAGUE LEADER: Junior center Anders Lee scored his 14th goal of the season in the 3-1 loss to Ferris State on Jan. 25. He continues to lead the CCHA in that category and is tied for third in points with 23 (14g, 9a). Nationally, his 14 goals tie him for sixth in the country in goal scoring and he is two behind St. Lawrence’s Greg Carey who leads the nation with 16 goals.
WORK HORSE: Dating back to last Feb. 24, Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays has played in 29 of the last 33 games, making 28 starts. During those 29 games, Summerhays is 17-11-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and five shutouts. His shutout win versus Western Michigan (4-0) on Nov. 4 was the 20th win of his Notre Dame career. He is now 29-21-1 for his career with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. This season, Summerhays is second in the CCHA in wins (14) and is fourth in goals-against average (1.81). He is seventh in save percentage (.926) and tied for the league lead with three shutouts.
SHORT-HANDED: The Irish opened up the January portion of the schedule giving up just one power-play goal in 22 chances over the first four games of the month. Over the last four games, Notre Dame has given up five power-play goals in 15 chances for a .667 success rate. For the season, the Irish are 94-for-107 for an .879 penalty-killing success rate. That ranks Notre Dame third in the CCHA and ninth in the nation on the penalty kill.
FOUR STRAIGHT: Notre Dame’s most recent four-game home stand was played to four standing room sellout crowds of 5,022. Through 14 home games this season, the Irish have had seven standing-room sellouts. In the two seasons that the Compton Family Ice Arena has been open, the Irish have had 33 home games with 18 of them being sellouts of 5,022.
SHARING THE WEALTH: Through the first seven games of January, Notre Dame’s third and fourth lines scored just one goal. In the 5-2 win over Ferris State, the Irish got three goals from the third and fourth line as David Gerths, Thomas DiPauli and Kevin Nugent lit the lamp. Through the first 26 games of the season, the Irish have been good at spreading the scoring around. In those games, 17 different Notre Dame players have scored the team’s 74 goals with Anders Lee leading the way with 14. T.J. Tynan and Mario Lucia are next with eight goals each. Nineteen of the team’s 22 skaters have scored at least one point with Lee leading the way with 23 points while Tynan follows with 21. Nine different players have scored game-winning goals for the Irish with Tynan and Bryan Rust leading the way with three.
CLIMBING THE LADDER: Junior center Anders Lee became the 48th player in the history of the Notre Dame hockey program to score 100 points in his career as he did it on Jan. 18 with a goal and two assists versus Alaska. He enters the Ohio State weekend tied for 45th overall with 55 goals and 46 assists for 101 points in 110 games. He joins teammate T.J. Tynan who reached the “Century” mark on November 15th. Tynan is now 34th on the scoring list with 44 goals and 72 assists for 116 points in 109 career games.
"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
31. Alex Pirus (1973-76) 57 66 123 John Schmidt (1978-82) 28 95 12333. Jeff Brownschidle (1977-81) 30 92 12234. T.J. Tynan (2009 - ) 44 72 11635. Ryan Thang (2006-10) 57 58 11536. Kevin Deeth (2006-10) 35 79 114 Ray DeLorenzi (1971-74) 55 59 11438. Aaron Gill (2000-04) 49 62 111 Connor Dunlop (1999-03) 25 86 11140. Jack Brownschidle (1973-77) 31 78 10941. Tim Reilly (1981-86) 43 65 10842. Billy Maday (2008-12) 45 60 105 Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 61 44 10544. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 10345. Anders Lee (2009 -) 55 46 101 Matt Hanzel (1985-89) 50 51 101 Kevin Hoene (1968-71) 50 51 10148. Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 100
BACK IN THE LINEUP: Junior left wing Jeff Costello (Milwaukee, Wis.) returned to the Notre Dame lineup on Jan. 25 after missing five games due to an injury suffered on Jan. 8 at Minnesota. On the season, Costello has played in 18 games and has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points and is +10 on the year. His 10 assists this season are a career high for Costello.
SWEPT AWAY: The two losses at home to Alaska (Jan. 18-19) marked the first time that the Irish have been swept at the Compton Family Ice Arena since Dec. 2-3, 2011 when Northeastern took 9-2 and 2-1 wins over the Irish. The last time the Nanooks swept Notre Dame in South Bend came on March 3-4, 2006, when they won both games of a first-round playoff series against the Irish.
HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Junior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) has been selected as one of 11 nominees for the BNY Mellon Wealth Management College Hockey Humanitarian Award. The award honors college hockey’s top citizen and will be presented during the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa., on April 12. Johnson has been active in all the community service projects that the Notre Dame hockey team has been involved in during his four seasons at Notre Dame. As a senior in 2012-13, he oversees the team’s community service efforts and is in his second season as one of the hockey team’s liaisons to Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). This past summer and through the first half of this season, he participated in the Irish Experience Camp. The camp works with disadvantaged kids, teaching them to set goals and how to work towards them. As a junior, he was a member of Life Work’s Dream Teams that visited area schools, serving as mentors to elementary school children. Throughout his career at Notre Dame, Mike has been active in the Irish Youth Hockey League (IYHL), working with local youth hockey groups, teaching and helping grow the game in the local area. He has participated in team activities like the Junior Diabetes Walk, the Buddy Walk for kids with Downs Syndrome and has participated in Habitat for Humanity.
HOBEY HOPEFULS: Three members of the Notre Dame roster are under consideration for the Hobey Baker Award. Centers Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan along with goaltender Steven Summerhays are among the 78 players listed on the Hobey Baker voting website. Fans can vote for their top players at hobeybakeraward.com, now through March 10. From there, a top 10 list will be announced. That list will be paired to the Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists on April 3 with the winner announced on April 12 at the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa.
RUST NEVER SLEEPS: Junior right wing Bryan Rust (Novi, Mich.) is off to the best start of his Notre Dame career. In 26 games this season, Rust ranks third in scoring with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists. He has two power-play goals and three of his goals have been game winners. Rust leads the team with a +15 rating and he is second on the team with 70 shots on goal. As a sophomore, Rust had five goals and six assist for 11 points. His best season was his freshman campaign when he had six goals and 13 assists for 19 points and he is just one point off those totals now.
INTO THE TOP 10: Junior center T.J. Tynan scored his fifth career short-handed goal in the Jan. 18 loss to Alaska. The goal moved the speedy center iceman into a tie for 10th on Notre Dame’s all-time short-handed goals list.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Notre Dame junior goaltender Steven Summerhays made 30 saves in the Jan. 11, 1-0 win, over Michigan State to record his third shutout of the season and the fifth of his career. He is the first Irish goaltender to record three shutouts in one season since Jordan Pearce `09 had eight in the 2008-09 season. Summerhays has recorded all five of his shutouts in his last 29 starts, dating back to Feb. 24 of last season. His first career shutout came versus Michigan State, a 2-0, 25-save performance on that date.
CAREER YEAR: Sophomore defenseman Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) now has career highs in goals (5), assists (12), points (17) and power-play goals (4) this season and he has done it in just 26 games. As a freshman, Russo had four goals and 11 assists for 15 points in 40 games. He is tied for the lead among CCHA defensemen (along with Michigan’s Jacob Trouba) in scoring this season with his 17 points. His four power-play goals are tops on the team.
30 OR MORE: Through the first 26 games of the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has outshot its opposition in 20 of them, getting 30 or more shots in a game 16 times. The Irish are averaging 30.9 shots per game to 24.9 for their opponents. The 41 shots against North Dakota on Nov. 24 was a season high for Notre Dame. The 20 shots that the Irish registered on Jan. 19 against Alaska tied Notre Dame for its season low in shots in a game. The previous time came on Nov. 9 against Boston College.
PUCKS TO THE NET: Through the first 26 games this season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition 20 times and is 13-7-0 in those games. In games that opponents get more shots, the Irish are 3-3-0. For the year, Notre Dame is averaging 30.9 shots per game while the opposition is getting 24.9 per game.
VETERANS: The 2012-13 Notre Dame team is a definitely a veteran unit. Looking at the Irish roster, there are currently eight players that have played 100 or more games in their careers. Four others have played 90 or more games and, barring injury, should play in their 100th games this season.
THE OTHER GUY: Senior goaltender Mike Johnson made his first start since Dec. 1 in the Jan. 15 game versus Bowling Green. The Verona, Wis., native was injured against Lake Superior State on Dec. 1 at the 14:23 mark of the second period with a 4-1 lead in a game the Irish would win, 6-1. Versus Bowling Green, Johnson made 27 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Falcons. For the year, he is now 2-1-0 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. For his career, he has appeared in 94 games, making 88 starts and is 41-34-12 with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage with two shutouts. His 41 wins make him just one of seven Notre Dame goaltenders to win 40 or more games in his career.
WELCOME BACK: Notre Dame has added sophomore forward Garrett Peterson (Manhattan, Ill.) to the roster for the second half of the season. Peterson sat out the first semester for personal reasons. As a freshman during the 2011-12 season, the 5-11, 196-pound center/right wing played in 20 games with two goals and two assists for four points. He was whistled for eight penalties resulting in 24 minutes and led the Irish with a +6. Peterson has played in three games since his return to the Notre Dame roster.