Oct. 16, 2014
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Games: Notre Dame (0-2-0) vs. Lake Superior State (0-4-0)
– Date/Site/Times: Fri., Oct. 17, 2014 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 7:35 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 18, 2014 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 6:05 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Both games of the Lake Superior State series can be heard live on New Country 99.9 FM in South Bend and at UND.com (WatchND). Darin Pritchett, the voice of the Irish, will call the action. Television: Both games of the series will be televised live by the NBC Sports Network with Dave Strader and Anson Carter calling the action.
– Internet: Audio: Live audio streaming for both games of the Lake Superior State series is available at the Notre Dame website at UND.com (WatchND) free of charge. Statistics: Livestats can be found at GameTracker on the Notre Dame website UND.com. Twitter: Follow Irish hockey on Twitter at @NDHockey.
BACK TO ACTION: The University of Notre Dame returns to regular-season series action this weekend when the Irish play host to Lake Superior State in a two-game series on Oct. 17-18 at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The series opens at 7:35 p.m. on Oct. 17, with the game televised by the NBC Sports Network. Game two of the series will be played at 6:05 p.m. on Oct. 18, with NBC Sports Network carrying all the action. Veteran NHL broadcaster Dave Strader will handle the play-by-play while Anson Carter is back for his second season analyzing the action from “Inside the Glass.” Notre Dame opened the 2014-15 campaign last weekend, hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament with Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth and Rensselaer participating. The Irish finished fourth in the tournament after losses to Rensselaer (3-2) and Minnesota Duluth (3-0). Minnesota, the top-ranked team in the nation, won the tournament with wins over Minnesota Duluth (4-3) and Rensselaer (3-0). Lake Superior State has already played four games and the Lakers are 0-4-0, after dropping series to Michigan Tech (Oct. 4-5) and at Robert Morris (Oct. 10-11) last weekend.
IRISH VERSUS LAKERS: Notre Dame faces former CCHA-rival Lake Superior State this weekend in a pair of games at the Compton Family Ice Arena. For 23 seasons (1981-83, 1992-2013), the Irish and the Lakers competed regularly in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). During that time, the two teams met 64 times with Notre Dame holding a 32-25-7 advantage in those games. Last year, for the first time, the two teams met as non-CCHA members, with the Irish taking both contests in January by 6-3 and 4-2 scores. That gives Notre Dame an all-time mark of 34-25-7 versus Lake Superior. At Notre Dame, the Irish are 20-9-4 all-time against the Lakers. Since Jeff Jackson took over behind the Irish bench in 2005-06, he owns an 18-3-3 mark against his former team. Notre Dame has won four straight in the series and since the 2010-11 season is 9-2-0 versus Lake Superior State. Just 12 players on the Irish roster this season have seen action versus the Lakers.
FOR OPENERS: With the 3-2 loss to Rensselaer in the season opener on Oct. 10, the Irish are now 26-20-1 in home openers all-time, including 1-2-0 in openers at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The Irish are 23-22-2 in the opening game of a season home or away. Notre Dame also lost its first-ever home opener at the Compton Family Ice Arena, dropping a 3-1 decision to Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 18, 2012.
RANKINGS: With two losses last weekend, Notre Dame has fallen out of the national hockey rankings after starting the season ranked 13th in the USA Today/U.S. Hockey Magazine rankings and 12th in the USCHO.com polls. The Irish are receiving votes in both polls this week.
A LOOK AHEAD: The University of Notre Dame will continue its eight-game, regular-season home stand next weekend, Oct. 24-25, when the Irish play host to the University of Niagara Purple Eagles from Atlantic Hockey. Game one of the series will be played at 7:35 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 24. The second game will be played at 7:05 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 25. Friday’s game will be televised live by the NBC Sports Network. Saturday’s game will be available via live streaming at NBCSports.com. Notre Dame and Niagara have met once in the all-time series. That came on Oct. 14, 2000, in the third-place game of the Maverick Stampede held at Nebraska-Omaha. The teams played to a 3-3 overtime tie.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEKEND: Fri., Oct. 10 vs. Rensselaer – Rensselaer junior center Mark Miller tucked the rebound of a Zach Schroeder shot past University of Notre Dame netminder Chad Katunar (So., Victoria, B.C.) at 4:32 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and give Rensselaer a 3-2 win in the second semifinal game of the Ice Breaker Tournament. Miller’s goal came 51 seconds after Irish freshman defenseman Jordan Gross (Maple Grove, Minn.) had tied the game at 2-2 in the final stanza in front of a sellout crowd of 5,022. Mario Lucia (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) scored his first of the season in the opening period to stake Notre Dame to a 1-0 lead. Viktor Liljegren and Jacob Laliberte put Rensselaer ahead 2-1 with second-period goals. Katunar made a career-high 26 saves on the night in just his fourth career start. Jason Kasdorf stopped 31 of 33 shots in the RPI goal.
Sun., Oct. 12 vs. Minnesota Duluth – Minnesota Duluth junior goaltender Matt McNeely stopped all 23 shots he faced and the Bulldogs got goals from three different players on the way to a 3-0 win over Notre Dame in the third-place game of the Ice Breaker Tournament. Center Dominic Toninato paced the Bulldogs’ attack with a goal and an assist and was selected to the all-tournament team after scoring three goals with an assist on the weekend. Alex Iafallo and Tony Cameranesi also scored for Minnesota Duluth. Freshman goaltender Cal Petersen (Waterloo, Iowa) took the loss in goal, making 26 saves in his first official collegiate action. Two of the three goals Petersen surrendered came on the power play. Minnesota Duluth out shot Notre Dame by a 29-23 margin in the contest. The loss dropped the Irish to 0-2-0 on the season for the first time since 2005-06, Jeff Jackson’s first season at Notre Dame. McNeely’s shutout was just the second by a visiting goaltender at the Compton Family Ice Arena in three-plus seasons. The first came on Jan. 24, 2014 when Northeastern’s Clay Witt blanked the Irish at home by a 4-0 score.
ICE BREAKER WRAP UP:Game 1 - Minnesota 4, Minnesota Duluth 3Game 2 - Rensselaer 3, Notre Dame 2Third-Place - Minnesota Duluth 3, Notre Dame 0Championship - Minnesota 3, Rensselaer 0
All-Tournament TeamG- Adam Wilcox, MinnesotaD - Mike Reilly, MinnesotaD - Brady Skjei, MinnesotaF - Dominic Toninato, Minnesota DuluthF - Kyle Rau, MinnesotaF - Hudson Fasching, MinnesotaMVP - Fasching, Minnesota
NEW KIDS: Eight freshmen saw action in the Notre Dame lineup during the 2014 Ice Breaker Tournament. Rookie goaltender Cal Petersen made his first career start versus Minnesota Duluth and stopped 26 of 29 shots in a 3-0 loss. On defense, Jordan Gross, Nathan Billitier (Rochester, N.Y.) and Luke Ripley (Kitimat, B.C.) saw action in both games. Gross scored his first collegiate goal in the 3-2 loss to Rensselaer and had seven shots on the weekend while blocking a pair of shots. Billitier had a pair of shots in his two games and Ripley had three shots while picking up four penalty minutes. At forward, Dawson Cook (Cadillac, Mich.), Anders Bjork (Mequon, Wis.) and Jake Evans (Toronto, Ont.) played in both games while Connor Hurley (Edina, Minn.) made his collegiate debut in the Minnesota Duluth game. The four combined for seven shots on goal in the two contests.
CAREER BEST: Sophomore goaltender Chad Katunar made a career-high 26 saves in the 3-2 loss to Rensselaer. Making just his fourth career start, Katunar’s previous career best was 17 saves in a 7-1 win over Alabama Huntsville on Jan. 10, 2014.
FIRST START: Freshman Cal Petersen made his first career start for the Irish in the 3-0 loss to Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 12. The Waterloo, Iowa native stopped 26 of 29 shots in the game. Two of the three goals he surrendered came on the power play.
FIRST TIMER: Freshman defenseman Jordan Gross wasted little time in getting his first career goal in his first collegiate game. His goal at 3:41 of the third period tied the game at 2-2 in the eventual loss to Rensselaer.
POWER OUTAGE: Through the first two games of the season, Notre Dame has gone scoreless on the power play and is zero for 11 with just six shots on goal. The opposition is three for 11 (.273) with 16 shots on goal in their man-advantage chances.
PRESEASON ACTION: Notre Dame opened the 2014-15 season at home on Oct. 5, dropping a 5-4 decision to the University of Waterloo. Sophomore center Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) led the Irish with two goals and an assist. Junior Thomas DiPauli (Caldaro, Italy) added a goal and an assist with senior Peter Schneider (Vienna, Austria) scoring a late power-play goal. Notre Dame jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period only to see the Warriors score four unanswered goals to take a 5-3 advantage prior to Schneider’s goal. Sophomore Chad Katunar got the start, playing 29:24, giving up one goal on four shots. Freshman Cal Petersen played the final 29:57, making nine saves while surrendering four goals to take the loss.
MEET THE CAPTAINS: University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson named his team captains for the 2014-15 season on Sept. 3. Junior center Steven Fogarty (Edina, Minn.) will serve as the team captain while senior Peter Schneider and junior Sam Herr (Hinsdale, Ill.) were selected as alternate captains. In making the selections, Jackson said, “I’m really happy with this group of captains for the coming season. All three – Steven (Fogarty), Peter (Schneider) and Sam (Herr) have strong character and with two juniors as captains, it becomes a two-year process for them leading the team. All three have the heart and voice of the team. They will do a great job for us.” Fogarty is a two-time monogram winner and follows a long line of Irish captains from Edina, Minn., joining the likes of Anders Lee, Ryan Thang and Dan Carlson in recent years. Fogarty played in 33 games last year, scoring three goals with eight assists for 11 points. Schneider is the lone senior and is coming off a junior campaign that saw him record career highs in goals (8), assists (8) and points (16). He is strong in the classroom with a 3.95 grade point average with a double major in finance and economics plus a minor in actuary. Herr had a breakout season as a sophomore, playing in all 40 games with 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points, all career highs. He had four power-play goals and four game winners and was +14 on the season.
BY THE CLASSES: Notre Dame’s 27-man roster includes six seniors, six juniors, five sophomores and 10 freshmen. The Irish return 11 monogram winners from last season with that group including seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender. BETWEEN THE PIPES: After having goaltender Steven Summerhays’ between the pipes for the better part of the last three seasons, the Anchorage, Alaska native graduated last May. He finished his career with a 57-36-5 record to go with a 2.19 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and 13 shutouts. As a senior, he turned in a 21-12-2 mark to go with a 2.04 goals-against and a .924 save percentage with seven shutouts, a mark that led the nation. For his Notre Dame career, Summerhays finished first in shutouts (13), second in wins (57), second in goals-against average (2.19) and third in save percentage (.914). This season, a youth movement has taken over in the Irish goal. Sophomore Chad Katunar is the top returnee as he saw action in five games as a freshman, making three starts. He was 2-1-0 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .881 save percentage. Freshman Cal Petersen led his Waterloo Black Hawks team to the USHLs Anderson Cup title as the regular-season champions. He tied for the league lead in wins (27) and finished in the top 10 among USHL goaltenders in goals-against average (2.50), save percentage (.915) and minutes played (2,228:40). He was selected to the USHL all-star game and was a second team all-USHL selection for the season. In June, Petersen was selected to receive USA Hockey’s Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year Award that is presented annually to the top U.S. goaltender at the international, professional, collegiate or junior level by USA Hockey. Junior Nick Stasack (West Springfield, Mass.) joins the roster this season as the third member of the goaltending trio. He played his prep school hockey at The Loomis Chaffee School and has spent two years with the Notre Dame club team.
ROOKIE HONORS: Freshman center Vince Hinostroza earned Hockey East all-rookie team honors for his play during the 2013-14 season. Hinostroza finished third in scoring for the Irish with eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points in 34 games. That ranked him third among rookie scorers in Hockey East. Hinostroza becomes the 16th Notre Dame player to be named to a conference all-rookie team and the first in Hockey East play. He joins current teammates Mario Lucia and Robbie Russo (Sr., Westmont, Ill.) who were named all-CCHA in their rookie seasons.
IT’S IN THE WATER: This year’s Notre Dame roster features seven Minnesota natives, including four from Edina. The four, junior Steven Fogarty, sophomore Ben Ostlie and freshmen Connor Hurley and Bo Brauer, were all teammates with the Hornets in recent seasons, winning Minnesota State titles in 2010 (Fogarty and Ostlie) and in 2013 (Hurley and Brauer). Those four are following a long list of former Hornets to Notre Dame, a list that includes former captains Anders Lee, Ryan Thang and Dan Carlson.
RETURNING SCORERS: While Notre Dame lost its top two scorers – T.J. Tynan and Bryan Rust – to graduation, the Irish do return a strong nucleus to build around. Sophomore Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) finished third in scoring with eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points. Junior Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.) finished the year fourth in team scoring and is the top returning goal scorer after scoring 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points. He led the Irish with seven power-play goals and added four game winners. Right behind Lucia is junior Sam Herr (Hinsdale, Ill.). The big left wing had a career year with 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points. He notched four power-play goals and added four game winners.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Freshman Anders Bjork becomes the fourth Notre Dame hockey-playing son to follow his father to Notre Dame. His dad, Kirt Bjork, was an All-America at Notre Dame during the 1982-83 campaign and is tied for 12th on Notre Dame’s all-time points list with 161, after notching 76 goals and 85 assists in 141 career games. He is currently a Director of Regional Development in Notre Dame’s Development office. Anders Bjork also has another family tie to Irish hockey, as his cousin is former Irish standout Erik Condra, who is currently a member of the Ottawa Senators. As the fourth son to follow his father to Notre Dame, Anders joins current Irish left wing Mario Lucia (Don Lucia) and graduated players Kevin Nugent (Kevin Nugent, Sr.) and Rory Walsh (Brian Walsh) to play at Notre Dame after their fathers.
HOME SWEET HOME: The 2013-14 season marked the second full year for the Irish playing in their state-of-the-art 5,022-seat on-campus arena. The building opened on Oct. 21, 2011, with a 5-2 win over Rensselaer. After going 12-7-0 in the inaugural season, the Irish were 14-6-0 in 2012-13 and added a 16-5-1 record in 2013-14. Notre Dame is 42-18-1 for a .697 winning percentage at the Compton Family Ice Arena. In five postseason games, the Irish are 5-0. In 19 games during the `11-’12 season, 91,793 fans went through the turnstiles for an average of 4,793 per game with 11 of the 19 games sellouts. In `12-’13 the building saw 97,696 fans watch hockey for an average of 4,885 per game with 11 of the 20 contests being sellouts. Last season (`13-’14), the Irish played 22 home games, attracting 105,941 fans for an average of 4,816 per game. Seven of the 22 games were sellouts. Over three seasons, 295,430 fans have watched Notre Dame play hockey at the Compton Family Ice Arena. After two games in 2014-15, the Irish are 0-2-0 on home ice this season.