Jan. 2, 2018
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll | USCHO.com Poll
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Winners of 13 consecutive games to close out the first semester, the Notre Dame hockey team took over the top spot in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll while also moving up to No. 2 in the USCHO.com poll. Both polls were released Tuesday, Jan. 2.
The top-ranked Fighting Irish return from break this weekend with a Big Ten home-and-home series against Michigan. Game one will be played at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, Jan. 5, in Ann Arbor, Michigan (Big Ten Network), while the Irish will host the Wolverines at 3:05 p.m. ET Sunday, Jan. 7, at the Compton Family Ice Arena (NBC Sports Network). To purchase tickets, click here.
Notre Dame is 10-0-0-0 in Big Ten play so far this season and are in the midst of a 13-game winning streak, which is the longest active winning streak in the country. It is also Notre Dame’s longest winning streak under head coach Jeff Jackson and the longest winning streak during a season in which the Irish competed in an NCAA Div. I conference.
Sophomore goaltender Cale Morris has started each game during the current 13-game winning streak, posting a 1.38 goals-against average and a .960 save percentage to go along with four shutouts. On the season, Morris leads the country with a .954 save percentage and is tied for the national lead with 15 wins (15-1-0).
Senior captain Jake Evans, one of the NCAA’s leading scorers with 28 points on the season, helped Team Canada capture the 2017 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, over the break. He played all four games for Team Canada and was one of four NCAA players to make the team.
The number one ranking marks the seventh time in program history the Irish have been ranked at the top for at least a week during a season.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).