Jan. 1, 2002

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* Next Games: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-7-4/5-4-3) vs. Michigan Wolverines (11-6-3/8-3-2 in CCHA)
* Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat., Jan. 4-5, 2002 – Joyce Center (2,713) – 7:05 p.m.
* Broadcast Information: The games can be heard live on WDND South Bend’s ESPN Radio 1620 with Dave Mager calling the action. The broadcast can also be heard via the internet at www.und.com. Friday’s game will be televised live by FoxSports Detroit.

START OF SIX-GAME HOMESTAND: The Notre Dame Fighting start the 2002 portion of the schedule with six consecutive home games beginning this weekend with a pair against the #8/#8 Michigan Wolverines. The Irish returned to the .500 mark last weekend with their first two-game road sweep since Oct. 17-18, 1997 when they won two games at St. Cloud State. The Irish finished the month of December with a 5-1-0 record and since starting the season with an 0-4-2 record are 7-3-2 over the last 12 games. Notre Dame enters the weekend series tied for sixth-place in the CCHA with 13 points. The Irish are tied with Northern Michigan and Ohio State with 13 points in 12 league games. They trail fourth-place Alaska Fairbanks and Nebraska-Omaha by one point and are just two points behind third-place Ferris State with 15 points. Michigan is five points ahead in second-place while the Irish trail first-place Michigan State by eight points in the standings. Notre Dame has three games in hand versus Ferris State, two games in hand on Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska-Omaha and Michigan State and just one game in hand on Michigan. The Wolverines are 8-3-2 in the CCHA and 11-6-3 overall after finishing third at the Great Lakes Invitational last weekend where they lost 5-4 to North Dakota in overtime and then beat Michigan Tech, 7-4. Friday night’s game with Michigan will be televised live on FoxSports Detroit as part of the CCHA’s Game of the Week package. Notre Dame will face Northern Michigan (Jan. 11-12) and Nebraska-Omaha (Jan. 18-19) to round out the six-game homestand. The Irish have played just six of their first 18 games at home this season.

HAVING HIS CEY: Freshman goaltender Morgan Cey (Wilkie, Sask.) was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week for his play in the week ending Dec. 30, 2001. Cey led the Irish to a pair of wins at Princeton to give the Irish their first road sweep since 1997. The 6-3, 174-pound puckstopper stopped 48 of 51 shots in the 2-1 and 4-2 wins to record a 2-0 mark with a 1.50 goals against average and a .945 save percentage. Over his last five games, the former Flin Flon Bomber is 4-1 with a 1.81 goals against average and a .931 save percentage.

IRISH VERSUS WOLVERINES: The two teams have met 95 times in the all-time series with Michigan having a 53-38-4 edge. At the Joyce Center, Michigan leads the series with a 17-16-1 record. The Wolverines have been especially tough on the Irish since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in 1992-93. Since then, Michigan owns a 27-3-2 mark versus the Irish and is 8-2-1 at the Joyce Center. The two teams met twice last season. On Jan. 23 at Yost Arena, Michigan blasted the Irish by a 9-0 score. On Feb. 16 at Yost Arena, the Irish rallied from a 4-2 deficit to pull out a 4-4 tie with the Wolverines. The last time the Irish defeated Michigan was also the last time they won at the Joyce Center – Jan. 30, 1999, a 3-2 decision for the Irish. Notre Dame is 1-3-1 in the last five games with Michigan and 2-6-2 in the last 10 contests.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN: Michigan comes into the weekend with an 11-6-3 overall record and an 8-3-2 mark in the CCHA which is good for second place, three points behind first-place Michigan State. The Wolverines split last weeked at the Great Lakes Invitational, dropping a 5-4 overtime game to North Dakota before defeating Michigan Tech 7-4 in the third-place game. Michigan will be without four key players for this series as top scorer Mike Cammalleri is at the World Junior Championships playing for Canada while Mike Komisarek, Dwight Helminen and Eric Nystrom are playing in the same tournament for the United States. For more information on the Wolverines, check their website at www.mgoblue.com.

HEAD COACH DAVE POULIN: Irish head coach Dave Poulin is now in his seventh season behind the Notre Dame bench. He owns an 88-128-33 (.420) overall record and is 62-94-29 (.414) in CCHA contests. Against Michigan, Poulin-coached teams are 2-15-2.

PRINCETON RECAP: On Fri., Dec. 28, the Irish took a 2-1 win versus Princeton at Hobey Baker Rink. The Irish got first-period goals from David Inman (Sr., Toronto, Ont.) and Michael Chin (Jr., Urbana, Ill.) and goaltender Morgan Cey made that stand up until Princeton pulled their goaltender and scored at 18:40 to make it a 2-1 game. The Irish fired 43 shots at freshman goaltender Trevor Clay in the game. Cey made 21 saves for the Irish. Notre Dame killed all six Princeton power play chances while going 1-for-5 (Chin’s goal) with the man-advantage. On Saturday, the Irish faced Princeton at the Sovereign Bank Center in Trenton, N.J. and took a 4-2 win and the weekend sweep. John Wroblewski (Jr., Neenah, Wis.) paced the Irish with the first two-goal game of his career and while Chin got his second power play goal of the weekend and Sam Cornelius (Sr., Edina, Minn.) got the game-winner at 2:27 of the third period. For the third game in a row, the Irish had 40 or more shots on goal as they peppered Princeton goaltender Dave Stathos with 44 shots in the game. Cey stopped 27 of 29 shots in the win. The Irish killed all three Princeton power play chances while scoring twice with the man-advantage. The two wins over Princeton snapped the Tigers’ nine-game winning streak against the Irish. Notre Dame had never beaten Princeton in the series that began during the 1984-85 season.

ROAD SWEEPS: Notre Dame’s two wins over Princeton marked the first time since the Irish swept a series on the road since Oct. 17-18, 1997 when they won two games at St. Cloud State (4-3 in ot and 4-1).

SAM’S THE MAN: Senior left wing Sam Cornelius, playing in just his third game of the season, scored the winning goal in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Princeton. After Jon Maruk (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) outmuscled the Princeton defense to drive to the goal, Cornelius was there to jam the rebound past Dave Stathos just 2:27 into the third period to give Notre Dame a 3-1 lead. A converted defenseman, Cornelius has now scored three goals in his career with two of them being game-winners. His first game-winner came during his freshman year (1998-99) versus Ferris State.

A LITTLE CHIN MUSIC: Junior right wing Michael Chin continued his strong play with a power play goal in each game versus Princeton. His goal in Friday’s contest was the game-winner while his goal on Saturday gave the Irish a 2-1 lead in the second period. Both goals were identical coming off faceoffs as Connor Dunlop (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) won draws back to Tom Galvin (So., Miller Place, N.Y.). Galvin’s shots on goal were stopped and Chin was there to score on the rebound. The junior now has career-highs in goals (8) and points (14). His previous best came as a freshman when he had six goals and seven assists for 13 points. Chin also set a career-high when he had nine shots on goal in the 2-1 win on Dec. 28. For the series, Chin had 15 shots on goal.

GETTTING IT DUN(LOP): With three assists on the weekend at Princeton, center Connor Dunlop now has career-highs in assists (18) and points (23). His previous assist total was 13 set as a freshman in 1999-00 and his best point total was 19 set last season. Dunlop is tied for sixth in the CCHA in scoring with five goals and 18 assists for 23 points and his 18 assists tie him for third among the league leaders.

USA…USA…USA: Notre Dame center Rob Globke and defenseman Brett Lebda are currently playing for the United States Junior National team at the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic. For Globke, this is his second trip as he was a member of last year’s team that finished fifth. He had two goals and no assists in the seven games. Through the first five games of the tournament, Lebda has scored two goals with no assists while Globke has a goal and an assist. The Irish have had at least one player on the National Junior team in each of the last six years and along with Boston College have had 11 players in that period.

NOTRE DAME PLAYERS ON JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM:
(since ’96-’97):
Ben Simon – 1996-97, 1997-98
Joe Dusbabek – 1997-98
Dan Carlson – 1998-99
Brett Henning – 1999-2000
Connor Dunlop – 1999-2000, 2000-01
David Inman – 1999-2000
Rob Globke – 2000-01, 2001-02
Brett Lebda – 2001-02

CAREER YEAR: Junior center John Wroblewski recorded the first two-goal game of his career in Notre Dame’s 4-2 win over Princeton. Wroblewski scored the first goal of the game on the power play and then added an empty net goal. On the year, Wroblewski has career highs in goals (7) and points (11) while his four assists equal his career high.

PENALTY SHOTS: After not being involved with a penalty shot either for or against for over two seasons, Notre Dame has had two called this season. On Dec. 8 at Bowling Green, Irish goaltender Morgan Cey stopped BG’s Greg Day at 9:52 of the second period. That was the first penalty shot called against the Irish since Mar. 13, 1999 when Matt Eisler stopped Michigan’s Bill Muckalt in a 4-2 Notre Dame win in the CCHA playoffs. Earlier this season (Oct. 12), sophomore Rob Globke scored on a penalty shot versus Union College’s Brandon Snee at 3:41 of the third period in the 7-4 loss to Union College. That was the first penalty shot by an an Irish player since Feb. 5, 1998 when Brian Urick was stopped by Ohio State’s Jeff Maund.

PENALTY KILLING PROWESS: The Irish closed out December by killing nine consecutive Princeton power plays to improve their penalty killing success to 87.2%. During the month of December, the Irish penalty killers killed off 35 of 38 opponent power play chances for a 92.1% success rate. The Irish go into the Michigan series ranked second in the CCHA and eighth in the country.

STREAKING IRISH: Connor Dunlop has a six-game point streak (2-8-10) … Rob Globke has a four-game point-streak (3-3-6) … defenseman Tom Galvin has points in two straight games (0-2-2) and has points in six of his last seven games (2-5-7) … Michael Chin has a two-game goal and point scoring streak (2-0-2) and has points in 10 of his last 11 games (7-6-13).

SCORING BY CLASS: The Notre Dame junior class leads the Irish in scoring through 18 games this season.
Juniors 23 goals, 35 assists, 58 points
Sophomores 18 goals, 32 assists, 50 points
Freshmen 9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points
Seniors 11 goals, 11 assists, 22 points

INMAN-GLOBKE-CHIN: Irish coach Dave Poulin assembled the line of David Inman, Rob Globke and Michael Chin prior to the Lake Superior series and the trio paid instant dividends. In the 7-0 shutout, they combined for two goals and five assists. The following night the threesome had three goals and one assist. Versus Bowling Green, the trio combined for two goals and five assists and seven points. In four games together, the Irish line has seven goals, 11 assists and 18 points. They have 47 shots on goal and are +15. With Globke off to the World Junior Championships, junior Jake Wiegand (Northville, Mich.) has moved into the center spot on that line.

END OF THE LINE: Earlier this season, Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey recorded a career-best shutout streak of 111:24 between Nov. 17 and Dec. 7. Cey held Western Michigan off the scoreboard the final 13:40 of the third period on Nov. 17 and then followed that with a Dec. 1 shutout of Lake Superior State. The streak was snapped when Bowling Green scored at 17:44 of the second period in the 6-3 win over Bowling Green on Dec. 7.

CAREER BESTS: Michael Chin, Yan Stastny and Tom Galvin all had career-best games in the 6-3 win over Bowling Green (Dec. 7). Chin (a goal and two assists) and Stastny (three assists) each had career-high three-point games. Galvin had the first two-goal game of his career.

GAME-BY-GAME RECORDS (2001-02):
When Notre Dame scores first 7-3-2
When opponents score first 0-4-2
When Notre Dame leads after one period 5-3-0
When Notre Dame trails after one period 1-2-3
When score is tied after one period 1-2-1
When Notre Dame leads after two periods 6-2-1
When Notre Dame trails after two periods 0-4-2
When score is tied after two periods 1-1-1
When Notre Dame outshoots opponent 7-2-1
When opponent outshoots Notre Dame 0-4-3
When shots are even 0-1-0
Notre Dame at home 3-2-1
Notre Dame on the road 4-5-3
Notre Dame on neutral ice 0-0-0
Notre Dame in overtime 0-0-4
Notre Dame in October 0-4-2
Notre Dame in November 2-2-2
Notre Dame in December 5-1-0
Notre Dame in January 0-0-0

THE IN(MAN) THING: Senior forward David Inman is in the midst of the best season of his Notre Dame career. He ranks second on the team in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points which ties him for 13th in the CCHA scoring race. The 10 assists equal his career-high set in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. His 19 points are just one off his career-best of 20 set during those two years. The Toronto, Ont. native also had a career-high 10 shots on goal in the Dec. 8 game at Bowling Green. On Nov. 2, he recorded the second four-point game of his career in the 5-4 Irish win at Northern Michigan. The first time came on Feb. 12, 2000 when he turned in a four-point effort (2g-2a) versus Nebraska-Omaha. In the 7-0 win over Lake Superior State, Inman continued his strong play this season with a goal and two assists. For his career, he now has five two-goal games and six games with two assists.

GALVIN-IZED: Defenseman Tom Galvin has proven to be an offensive force on the Notre Dame blueline this season. The sophomore defenseman ranks fourth on the team in scoring with three goals and 10 assists for 13 points which ranks him seventh among CCHA defensemen in scoring. Galvin turned in an assist in each of Notre Dame’s wins versus Princeton and has points in six of his last seven games (2-5-7). Galvin had the first two-goal game of his career on Dec. 7 versus the Falcons, getting the game-winner early in the second period.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: After 12 CCHA league games, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lead the league in scoring with and average of 3.83 goals per game. That puts the Irish 0.40 goals ahead of second-place Michigan State in the goal scoring department. In 16 games overall, the Irish rank third among CCHA teams with 3.44 goals per game, just 0.03 behind second-place Ferris State and 0.09 behind league-leading Michigan State. After scoring just 12 goals in their first five games (2.40 gpg), the Irish have scored 43 goals in their last 11 games (3.91 gpg). Over their last six games the Irish have scored 26 goals (4.33 per game).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defenseman Evan Nielsen (Jr., Evanston, Ill.) was selected the CCHA’s Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 2. Nielsen anchored a Notre Dame defense that turned in a 7-0 shutout and a 5-2 win over Lake Superior State, allowing just 39 shots in the two games. He was also part of a penalty-killing unit that killed off 14 consecutive Laker power play chances. The Irish captain also joined the offensive attack scoring a goal and adding an assist in the 7-0 win. For the weekend, Nielsen was a +5. He is the first Notre Dame player to take defensive player of the week honors since Feb. 20, 2000 when Tony Zasowski was selected for the honor.

GLOBKE GOALS: Sophomore forward Rob Globke snapped a 10-game personal goal-scoring drought in the weekend series with Lake Superior. After scoring two goals on Oct. 12 versus Union College, the Irish sniper did not score a goal until the Dec. 1 game with the Lakers when he picked up a goal and an assist. In the Dec. 2 game, Globke found the back of the net twice for his second multiple-goal game of the season. On the year, Globke now has five goals and six assists for 11 points.

SHARE THE WEALTH: Versus Lake Superior State, the Irish spread the offense around in both weekend wins. In the Dec. 1, 7-0 shutout win, 12 different players picked up points led by David Inman’s three-point (1g, 2a) night. In Sunday’s (Dec. 2) 5-2 win, 11 different players made the scoresheet with Rob Globke (2 goals) and Connor Dunlop (2 assists) leading the way.

CEY CAN YOU SEE: Freshman goaltender Morgan Cey recorded his first Notre Dame shutout by making 20 saves in Notre Dame’s 7-0 win over Lake Superior (12/1). The shutout was the first by an Irish goaltender since Dec. 4, 1999 when Tony Zasowski blanked Michigan State, 1-0. The shutout was the 27th in Notre Dame history and the 10th by an Irish goaltender in CCHA play. The 7-0 margin of victory was the largest shutout by an Irish goaltender against a CCHA team.

MARGIN OF VICTORY: The seven goals scored by Notre Dame in the 7-0 shutout of Lake Superior State is the largest margin of victory the Irish have ever had in a CCHA contest. The seven-goal win was the biggest by Notre Dame since a 10-2 win over St. Francis Xavier on Oct. 14, 1994.

FRESHMAN FIRSTS:

Derek Smith - 1st goal (11/2 at No. Michigan)        - 1st assist (11/10 vs. Ferris State)Cory McLean - 1st assist (11/17 at West. Michigan)Yan Stastny - 1st goal (12/1 vs. Lake Superior)        - 1st assist (10/20 at Ohio State)Alex Lalonde - 1st goal (11/16 at West. Michigan)        - 1st assist (11/10 vs. Ferris State)Brad Wanchulak - 1st goal (10/20 at Ohio State)        - 1st assist (10/21 at Ohio State)Morgan Cey  - 1st win - (11/2 at No. Michigan)        - 1st shutout - (12/1 vs. Lake Superior)

TURNING ON THE POWER: The Irish are 15 for 91 on the power play this season (16.5%). Over the last 10 games, Notre Dame is 12-for-56 (21.4%) with the man-advantage. For the first time in almost two seasons (54 games), the Irish turned in back-to-back games with two or more power play goals. Notre Dame was two-for-10 versus Ferris State (Nov. 9) and followed with a two-for-seven performance on (Nov. 10). The last time the Irish scored two or more power play goals in back-to-back games was Feb. 12 and Feb. 18, 2000. Notre Dame was four-for-10 versus Nebraska-Omaha (Feb. 12) and two-for-three versus Bowling Green (Feb. 18). David Inman leads the team with five power play goals while Aaron Gill has three. Michael Chin and John Wroblewski each have two goals with the man-advantage while Brett Lebda, Connor Dunlop and Alex Lalonde each have one.

WCHA TOP 50: Irish hockey great Bill Nyrop has been selected to the WCHA’s Top 50 all-time players list that will be announced throughout the 2001-02 season, the 50th anniversary of the league. Nyrop was included in the first list of 10 players announced on Nov. 29. The Irish were members of the WCHA from 1971 through 1981. Nyrop played at Notre Dame from 1970-74 and was Notre Dame’s first All-American – selected first team All-America and second team all-WCHA following the 1972-73 season. During his Notre Dame career, he played in 132 games with 17 goals and 72 assists for 89 points. Selected in the fourth round of the 1972 NHL Entry Draft, he played on three Stanley Cup championship teams (1976, 1977 and 1978) with the Montreal Canadiens. He died at the age of 43 in December of 1995.

CENTRAL SCOUTING RATINGS: The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting Service has released it’s preliminary rankings of college players who are eligible for the 2002 Draft which will be held in Toronto, June 22-23. Five Notre Dame players are among the 15 CCHA players listed in the top 50 collegiate players. Forward Rob Globke was ranked second behind Boston University’s Ryan Whitney. Defenseman Brett Lebda is ranked 36th, forward Alex Lalonde is ranked 40th, center Yan Stastny is ranked 42nd and defenseman Joe Zurenko is ranked 46th. The entire list can be found at centralscouting.nhl.com.

FIVE IN A ROW: Goaltender Morgan Cey started the first five games of his Notre Dame career to join Greg Louder (1990-94) as the only two goaltenders to play the first five games of their careers. Cey and Louder are the last two rookies to start a season opener in goal at Notre Dame. Cey made 28 saves in a 2-1 loss to Union College on Oct. 11. Louder made 36 saves in a 7-2 loss at Minnesota on Oct. 23, 1990. Cey’s streak was stopped after five games when junior Tony Zasowski made his first start of the season versus Northeastern. Louder went on to start all 33 games that season, missing just 30 minutes of play, while turning in a 16-15-2 record. For the year, Cey has started 15 of Notre Dame’s 18 games on the season.

ONE FOR ZASOWSKI: Goaltender Tony Zasowski picked up his first win of the season in Notre Dame’s 5-2 win over Lake Superior State. The junior goaltender made 17 saves. The start versus the Lakers was his third of the season. He recorded ties at Northeastern (Oct. 27) and versus Ferris State (Nov. 10). For the year, Zasowski is 1-0-2 with a 2.53 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

BRONCO BUSTER: The Western Michigan Broncos bring out the best in Notre Dame defenseman Neil Komadoski (So., St. Louis, Mo.). In the 4-4 tie (Nov. 16), Komadoski picked up the second multiple-point game of his career (two assists) with both coming versus Western Michigan. Last season, Komadoski had a pair of assists in the Jan. 12 game. In his career, the rugged defenseman has five points (1g, 4a) in six games versus the Broncos.

FOUR-POINT WEEKEND: Sophomore defenseman Tom Galvin (So., Miller Place, N.Y.) scored as many points in two games versus Ferris State (Nov. 9-10) as he did in 26 games last year. Galvin turned in the first two multiple-point games of his career with a pair of assists in each contest. Last season, the 5-9, 187-pound blueliner had four assists for the year. Galvin leads Notre Dame defensemen with three goals and eight assists for 11 points.

CAREER FIRSTS: T.J. Mathieson (So., Clarksville, Md.) and Kyle Dolder (So., Hutchinson, Minn.) each scored their first collegiate goals in the 5-2 win over Ferris State (11/9). For Dolder, his goal was also the first game-winning goal of his career. Defenseman Tom Galvin also had the first multiple point games of his career collecting two assists in each of the Ferris State games (11/9 and 11/10). Goaltender Tony Zasowski (Jr., Darien, Ill.) recorded the first assist of his Notre Dame career when he helped set up Brett Lebda’s second period goal in the 3-3 tie with Ferris State (11/10).

FOUR BY FOUR: Connor Dunlop’s four-point and four-assist game on Nov. 2 at Northern Michigan were career-bests for the junior center. The four-point game extended his point-scoring streak to a personal-best of five consecutive games (1-9-10). The last Notre Dame player to get four assists in a game was defenseman Brett Lebda, who had four assists in a five-point game at Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 20, 2000.

LEBDA FOR THE DEFENSE: Sophomore defenseman Brett Lebda turned in the first two-goal game of his career in the 5-4 win over Northern Michigan. For the offensive-minded blueliner, the two goals were his first of the season. In the win over Northern, Lebda also had a career-high 10 shots on goal, passing his previous best of eight set in his rookie year versus Niagara at the Maverick Stampede.

PENALTY MARK: With 24 penalties for 78 minutes in the loss to Northern Michigan, the Irish set school records for both penalties and minutes. The previous record for penalties was 22 at Michigan State (3/4/00). The previous penalty-minute record was 77 and was also set versus Northern Michigan on Dec. 12, 1981. Rob Globke (So., West Bloomfield, Mich.) led the Irish with six penalties for 31 minutes.

IRON MEN: Sophomore defenseman Brett Lebda (So., Buffalo Grove, Ill.) saw his streak of 55 consecutive games snapped when he did not play for the Irish at Princeton. He is currently a member of the U.S. Junior National Team at the World Junior Championships. Lebda had the longest streak of consecutive games for the Irish since graduated right wing Ryan Dolder played in 103 consecutive games over a three-season period including every game in 1999-00 and 2000-01. Dolder’s teammate, Dan Carlson was the only other Irish player to played in every game over his last two seasons. Carlson finished his career playing in 101 consecutive games. For his career, Carlson played in 158 of a possible 160 games. The only two he missed came while playing at the World Junior Championships in 1998-99. Notre Dame’s consecutive game leaders (as of Dec. 31, 2001): Jake Wiegand – 55 games
Evan Nielsen – 54 games
John Wroblewski – 53 games
Neil Komadoski – 46 games
David Inman – 46 games

CLOSING THE DEAL: After going 50 games (42-0-8) without losing when taking a lead into the third period, the Irish lost two in a row with a third-period lead. The losses at Ohio State (10/21) and Boston College (10/26) snapped the 50-game unbeaten string that went back to Jan. 9, 1998. Prior to this season, that was the last time the Irish lost when leading after two periods. In that game, UAF’s Sean Fraser tied the game (2-2) with a power-play goal in the third minute of the final period before Chris Kirwan converted a breakaway with 0:45 left in overtime. Since the loss at Boston College, the Irish are now 4-0-0 in games that they lead after two periods of play.

BAD ENDINGS: Notre Dame has struggled in the third period this season giving up 24 goals while scoring 19. Eleven of the goals came in three games as the Irish surrendered five third-period goals in a 7-4 loss to Union College (Oct. 12), four third-period goals to Boston College in a 4-1 loss (Oct. 26) and two third-period goals in a 3-2 loss at Ohio State (Oct. 21).

FOR OPENERS: Notre Dame’s 2-1 season-opening loss to Union College on Oct. 11 makes the Irish 17-18-0 in season openers in the 35 years of hockey during the modern era at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is 0-3 in its last three season openers with the last win coming on Oct. 2, 1998, a 2-1 win over Wisconsin in the first game played at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Notre Dame is also 20-15 in its first 35 home openers. The Irish opened with a win at home last season, a 2-1 overtime win versus Wayne State.

FIVE-GOAL PERIOD: Union College exploded for five third-period goals in the 7-4 win over the Irish on Oct. 12. The last time the Irish surrendered five goals in a period was on Nov. 20, 1998 when Western Michigan scored five goals in the third period of a 9-5 Notre Dame victory.

NEW FACE: Freshman forward Ryan Mundt (Edgartown, Mass.) has been added to the Irish roster for the 2001-02 season. The 5-7, 150-pound Mundt played last season at Martha’s Vineyard High School where he led the team in scoring with 36 goals and 37 assists for 73 points. He is that school’s all-time leading scorer. He made the team after trying out in the preseason.

UNDERGRADUATE ASSISTANT COACH: Senior Brett Henning (Huntington, N.Y.) has been named an undergraduate assistant coach with the Notre Dame hockey team. Henning was a three-year regular for the Irish but was forced to retire from hockey after suffering a neck injury last September. A center iceman, Henning played in 89 games for the Irish with eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points. He recorded 30 penalties for 60 minutes and had four power play goals and one game winner.