Oct. 26, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. –
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• The Series: #12/#12 Notre Dame (3-2-0/1-0-0) at Ferris State (1-2-1/0-0-0)
• Date/Site/Time: Fri., Oct. 26 • Ewigleben Ice Arena (2,493) • 7:05 p.m. Sat., Oct. 27 • Ewigleben Ice Arena (2,493) • 7:05 p.m.
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1490 South Bend's SportsCenter. Mike Lockert will call the action for the Irish.
• Internet: Irish hockey can be heard on the internet at the Notre Dame website - www.und.com. Home Irish hockey games not being televised will be streamed live at www.und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.
ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO: Notre Dame opened it’s three-game road week on Tuesday, Oct. 23, traveling to Bowling Green. The Irish rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in the game to take a 4-2 win at the BGSU Ice Arena. The win was the first of the season for the Irish on the road. Games two and three of the week come on Fri.-Sat., Oct. 26-27 as Notre Dame visits Big Rapids, Mich., for a weekend series with the Ferris State Bulldogs. Both games at Ewigleben Arena start at 7:05 p.m. The Irish will bring a 3-2-0 overall record into the game and are 1-0-0 in the CCHA. Ferris State has opened the year with a 1-2-1 mark after four games and will be playing in its’ CCHA opener. Notre Dame and Ferris State have met 56 times in the all-time series with the Bulldogs holding a 34-17-5 edge in the games played. All-time, the Irish are 7-13-2 at Ewigleben Arena. In a scheduling fluke, the Irish have played just three of the last 20 meetings with Ferris State in Big Rapids, dating back to the 1999-00 season. Notre Dame’s last win at Ferris State came on Feb. 11, 2006, a 3-2 victory. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games at the Joyce Center with the Bulldogs winning, 5-2, and the Irish taking a 2-0 decision.
THE LAST TIME: The Irish played three games in a week was the 2004-05 season, during the week of Jan. 16-22. Notre Dame traveled to Green Bay, Wis., on Tues., Jan. 18 to play Michigan Tech, then faced Wisconsin on Jan. 21-22 in South Bend and Chicago. Notre Dame dropped all three games, losing to Michigan Tech, 6-2 and then suffered a pair of 2-0 shutouts at the hands of the Badgers.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Notre Dame special teams played a key role in the Irish win at Bowling Green. The Irish were 1-for-8 on the power play and killed off all five Falcon power-play chances in the game. For the year, Notre Dame has scored at least one power-play goal in all five games, scoring on 7-of-32 chances for a 21.9% success rate. Since giving up a power-play goal to Wisconsin with 35 seconds left in the 4-1 loss on Oct. 12, the Irish have killed off 21 consecutive opponent power-play chances. For the season, Notre Dame has stopped the opposition with the man advantage on 23-of-24 occassions for a 95.8% success rate. The Irish even scored a goal short-handed against Bowling Green as Erik Condra (Jr., Livonia, Mich.) scored unassisted in the third period on Tuesday night.
BOWLING GREEN RECAP: Notre Dame ran its unbeaten streak to nine games (8-0-1) versus Bowling Green over the last three seasons with a 4-2 win on Tuesday night in Ohio. After falling behind 1-0 on a Dan Sexton goal, Notre Dame’s Mark Van Guilder (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) tied the score at 17:43 of the first with a power-play goal. The Falcons would retake the lead just 1:50 into the second period when Derek Whitmore picked up his third goal of the year. The Irish tied the game at 2-2 just over one minute later at 2:51 when Garrett Regan (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) jammed a rebound past Jimmy Spratt. Notre Dame took the lead for good at 18:46 when Evan Rankin (Sr., Portage, Mich.) pounced on a rebould for his first goal of the year. Erik Condra closed the scoring with a short-handed goal at 4:35 of the third period for the 4-2 final. The Irish out shot Bowling Green, 30-20, in the game. Jordan Pearce (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) made 18 saves for the Irish, including 10 in the third period. Spratt had 26 stops for the Falcons.
TAKE THE HIGHWAY: Notre Dame opened its road schedule with a 4-2 win at Bowling Green on Oct. 23. Going back to last season, the Irish have now won six straight road games. The last road loss for Notre Dame came on Jan. 19, 2007 at Western Michigan, a 3-2 decision. A year ago, the Irish were 12-4-1 (.735) away from the Joyce Center. The 12 road wins equaled a school record (1979-80 and 1997-98) for road wins. Only the 1983-84 team’s 10-3-1 road mark (.750) is better.
CCHA OPENERS: This is Notre Dame’s 17th season in the CCHA. The Irish joined the conference in 1981-82, left following the `82-’83 season and then returned in 1992-93. The win over the Falcons in the CCHA opener gives Notre Dame an 8-7-2 all-time mark in conference lid lifters.
TAKING OVER: After serving as David Brown’s back up in goal for his first two seasons, junior goaltender Jordan Pearce has become Notre Dame’s go-to-guy. Pearce has started all five games for the Irish this season and has a 3-2-0 record with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage with one shutout. He is expected to make his sixth consecutive start Friday night versus Ferris State.
THE SPECIALIST: Senior center Mark Van Guilder leads the Irish in goals and shots on goal through the first five games. He has scored four times on 19 shots. Three of Van Guilder’s goals have come on the power play as he leads the team in that category.
NEW FACES: While Van Guilder and Garrett Regan (his third of the year) scored versus Bowling Green, a pair of seniors got their first goals of the season against the Falcons. Evan Rankin picked up the game winner late in the second period with his first goal of the year and Erik Condra got his first on an unassisted, short-handed goal in the third period. The short-handed goal was the second of Condra’s career.
EARLY SCORING STRUGGLES: Through the first five games of the season, Notre Dame has scored just two goals in the first period while giving up five. A year ago, one of the keys to the success of the Irish was their first-period scoring as Notre Dame out scored opponents by a 43-13 margin. The Irish also scored the first goal of the game in 32-of-42 games, going 26-4-2 in those contests. The Irish have excelled in the second period this year, scoring nine goals to one for the opposition.
DENVER RECAP: The Irish are coming off a weekend split with the fifth-ranked University of Denver on Oct. 18-19 at the Joyce Center. In Thursday’s game, Notre Dame rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits to hand the fifth-ranked Pioneers a 4-3 loss in front of 2,413 at the Joyce Center. The Irish got goals from Garrett Regan (Jr., Hastings, Minn.), Kyle Lawson (So., New Hudson, Mich.), Ryan Thang (So., Edina, Minn.) and Ben Ryan (Fr., Brighton, Mich.) in the win. Ryan got the game winner at 7:23 of the third period. Kyle Ostrow, Tyler Bozak and Brock Trotter scored for Denver. The Pioneers out shot Notre Dame by a 20-18 margin. Jordan Pearce (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) made 17 saves for the Irish while Peter Mannino had 14 in the Denver goal. On Friday night, the Pioneers turned the tables, taking a 3-1 victory in front of a standing-room only crowd of 2,763 at the Joyce. Chris Nutini scored the opening goal of the game for Denver when he lashed a slapshot that deflected past Pearce at 15:55 of the first to give the Pioneers the 1-0 lead. Denver out shot the Irish, 11-1, in the opening stanza. The Irish would tie the game with a power-play goal at 10:55 of the second period when Thang converted an Erik Condra centering pass for his second goal of the weekend. Denver got the game winner at 12:24 of the third period on a goal by Anthony Maiani and Tom May added an empty-net goal at 19:43 to close the scoring. The Pioneers out shot the Irish by a 28-20 margin in the game. Pearce finished with 25 saves while Mannino had 19 on the night for Denver.
HOME OPENERS: Thursday (10/18) night’s win over Denver in the home opener gives Notre Dame a 22-17-1 record in Joyce Center openers. The Irish have won two straight home openers after beating Minnesota State, 6-1, last season.
LONG TIME COMING: Notre Dame’s 4-3 win over Denver on Oct. 18 snapped a 10-game (0-9-1) winless streak for the Irish against the Pioneers. The last time they had beaten Denver was Nov. 3, 1978, a 3-2 win at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame and Denver played in the WCHA for 10 years from 1971-81 before the Irish left for the CCHA. Prior to last weekend’s series, the two teams had met just three times with Denver going 2-0-1.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Three of Notre Dame’s first four games have come against teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation. The Irish opened the year with a 4-1 loss to #14/#15 Wisconsin (10/12), before splitting a pair with #5/#5 Denver last weekend. The Irish won 4-3 in the series opener before falling 3-1 on Friday night to the Pioneers. The Irish are now 1-2-0 against ranked teams this season. They were 10-2-1 a year ago.
BIG WIN: Notre Dame’s win over Denver on Oct. 18 was the first this season for the Irish against a nationally-ranked team as they are now 1-2-0 on the year. A year ago, Notre Dame was 10-2-1 against ranked teams. The Pioneers were the highest-ranked team that Notre Dame has beaten at the Joyce Center since beating fourth-ranked Michigan State, 4-1, on Nov. 17, 2006.
CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT: Notre Dame’s most improved player for 2006-07, Garrett Regan, continued his strong play early this season when he scored his third goal of the season in the 4-2 win at Bowling Green. Regan also had a big game versus Denver on Oct. 18, scoring a power-play goal in the first period before setting up Ben Ryan’s game winner in the third period. Last season, Regan had 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points. This season, he’s scored three and added an assist for four points in the first five games.
THE REAL THANG: Sophomore left wing Ryan Thang had his three-game point and goal-scoring streak stopped at Bowling Green on Oct. 23. On the young season, Thang has goals versus Mercyhurst (10/13) and one in each game versus Denver (10/18-19). His longest career goal-scoring streak is a four-game run last season between Jan. 5 and Jan. 13. In his career, Thang now has 23 goals with 12 of them coming on the power play.
CAREER FIRST: Freshman right wing Ben Ryan recorded the first goal of his career in the 4-3 win over Denver on Oct. 18. Ryan’s goal at 7:23 of the third period proved to be the game winner and the goal came on the power play. Through the first four games of the season, Ryan leads the Irish in scoring with one goal and three assists for four points. Fellow freshman Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) also collected his first collegiate point in Friday’s game when he set up Garrett Regan’s first-period, power-play goal.
MORE RYAN: Freshman Ben Ryan leads Notre Dame in scoring after the first five games with a goal and five assists for six points. Ryan collected his second multiple-point game of the year on Tuesday at Bowling Green when he assisted on two Irish goals.
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE: Notre Dame saw its’ streak of eight consecutive sellouts snapped in the home opener on Oct. 18 as 2,413 fans saw the Irish defeat Denver, 4-3. A new sellout streak started the following night as a standing-room only crowd of 2,763 saw Notre Dame drop a 3-1 decision to the Pioneers. A year ago, the Irish sold out their final eight games of the season and 10 of the last 11. For the year, they had 11 sellouts (2,763) in 17 home dates and averaged 2,478 per game. Through two games this season, Notre Dame is averaging 2,588 fans per game.
IRON MAN: Senior center Mark Van Guilder has his sights set on Notre Dame’s all-time record for most consecutive games played. The record of 153 straight games was set by Tim Wallace `06 who played in every game of his career – 153 straight. Van Guilder has now played in every game of his career – 121 consecutive games played through the first four games this year.
FIRST TIMERS: Sophomore right wing Stewart Carlin (Jeannette, Pa.) made his first career appearance versus Denver (10/19). Carlin did not play in any games last year and lined up at right wing in his first appearance, getting one penalty for two minutes. Fellow sophomore Dan Kissel (Crestwood, Ill.) made his first appearance of the season since being sidelined in the first week of practice with an injury.
RANKINGS UPDATE: Notre Dame opened the 2007-08 season ranked eighth in the nation by both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV polls. The Irish finished the 2006-07 season ranked fourth in the final USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll that included the NCAA tournament. The Irish finished the year first in the USCHO.com/CSTV polls that ended with the end of the CCHA Tournament. In all, Notre Dame was ranked for 20 consecutive weeks and was ranked No.1 for seven straight weeks from Feb. 5 to March 25. Week-by-week with the Irish this season:
2007-08 Irish National RankingsDate USA TODAY USCHO.com10/01 8th 8th10/08 7th 8th10/15 11th 11th10/22 12th 12th
CCHA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior center Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) was the CCHA offensive player of the week for the week ending Oct. 14. Van Guilder scored three goals in Notre Dame’s two games at the Lefty McFadden Invitational. In the 4-1 loss to Wisconsin, Van Guilder scored a second-period, power-play goal to tie the game at 1-1. In Saturday’s 4-0 victory versus Mercyhurst, Van Guilder scored a pair of goals, including one on the power play and one for the game winner. In the game, he set a career high with 12 shots on goal.
SNIPER SUPREME: Sophomore Ryan Thang and his linemates Erik Condra (Jr., Livonia, Mich.) and Kevin Deeth (So., Gig Harbor, Wash.) continue to put up points. Thang has scored three goals this season while Condra has a goal and three assists and Deeth has chipped in two helpers. As a line the last four games, the trio has four goals, five assists and nine points.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: Senior defenseman Brock Sheahan (Lethbridge, Alb.) was a finalist last season for the CCHA’s defensive defenseman award. This season, Sheahan is showin his offensive game as he already has three assists in the first five games of the season. For his career, Sheahan now has three goals and 20 assists for 23 points.
CAPTAINS: Senior right wing Mark Van Guilder will serve as Notre Dame’s captain for the 2007-08 season. Joining Van Guilder as alternate captains in `07-’08, are senior defensemen Brock Sheahan (Lethbridge, Alb.) and Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, Ill.). They will be joined by junior forward Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.). This is the first season for all four players to serve as captains at Notre Dame.
NEW KIDS: Six of Notre Dame’s freshmen made their Irish debuts at the Lefty McFadden Invitational (Oct. 12-13). Leading the way was right wing Ben Ryan who recorded three assists in his first two games. Also playing in both games were forwards Robin Bergman (Stockholm, Sweden) and Calle Ridderwall (Stockholm, Sweden) along with defensemen Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.). Joining those five was right wing Ryan Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn.) who played his first game against Mercyhurst in the second game of the weekend. Only goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) has yet to play among the freshman class.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame was 13-2-2 at home in 2006-07 for an .824 winning percentage. That was the best mark since the 2003-04 season when the Irish were 14-2-2 at the Joyce Center for an .833 winning percentage. Only two other Irish teams have had better home records – 1987-88 team was 18-2-0 (.900) and the 1969-70 team was 12-1-1 (.893).
THE KIDS WERE ALRIGHT: Notre Dame placed three players on the CCHA all-rookie team in 2007. Forwards Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.) and Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) were joined by defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.). Notre Dame became the third school in CCHA history to have three players on the all-rookie team, joining Michigan (five times) and Michigan State (once). The 1993-94 Michigan team set the record with four freshmen named to that team. Thang became the first Irish freshman to score 20 or more goals in a season since Dave Poulin `82 had 28 in his rookie year of 1978-79. His 20 goals were the sixth most by a Notre Dame freshman while his 41 points tied for eighth best. Deeth’s 17 goals tied him for the eighth-best total and his 39 points tied him for 10th among Irish freshmen.