Junior right wing Bryan Rust scored the game winner at 1:22 of overtime to give the Irish a 1-0 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three quarterfinal series.

Irish To Battle Western Michigan In CCHA Showdown Friday And Sunday

Oct. 31, 2012

Notre Dame, ind. –

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– The Teams: #8/#7 Notre Dame (5-1-0/2-0-0-0) vs. #11/#11 Western Michigan (3-1-0/0-0-0-0)

– The Games: Fri., Nov. 2, 2012 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 7:35 p.m. Sun., Nov. 4, 2012 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 5:05 p.m.

– Broadcast Information: Radio: Both games of the Notre Dame-Western Michigan series 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: The audio and video for the Western Michigan series will be streamed live on the Notre Dame website at UND.com. This service is free of charge. Statistics: Gametracker is available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com. Livestats can be found at ccha.com or collegehockeyinc.com. Twitter: Follow Irish hockey on Twitter at ND_hockey.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY SERIES: Notre Dame and Western Michigan will renew their rivalry this weekend in a Friday-Sunday series as the two teams will square off at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 4. Game time for Friday’s tilt is set for 7:35 p.m. while Sunday’s action will begin at 5:05 p.m. In between, the Notre Dame football team will battle the University of Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish bring a 5-1-0 overall record and a 2-0-0-0 mark in the CCHA into the series and are on a three-game winning streak after taking a pair of games last weekend at Northern Michigan by 5-2 and 3-2 verdicts. Notre Dame enters the week ranked eighth in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and seventh in the USCHO.com rankings. Western Michigan, ranked 11th in both polls, is 3-1-0 overall and has yet to play a CCHA game. The Broncos had a bye last week and have recorded a home split with St. Lawrence and two wins versus Canisius at Lawson Arena. This weekend’s games will be the first road action for Western Michigan this season.

IRISH VERSUS BRONCOS: Notre Dame and Western Michigan have met 80 times in the all-time series with the Broncos holding a 40-32-8 advantage to date. At Notre Dame, the Irish lead the series, 21-14-2, while at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Western is 25-11-6. The Broncos have the lone win on neutral ice. Last season, the two teams met four times with Western Michigan winning the series, 2-1-1. In the two games played at the Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame won, 3-2, on Nov. 15 and then dropped a 3-2 decision on Jan. 13. At Western Michigan, the teams tied, 2-2 in overtime, with the Broncos taking the shootout, 2-0. They then took a 3-1 game on Jan. 14 to take the series. In the last 10 games, Western Michigan has a 5-3-2 edge in the series.

SHARING THE WEALTH: Through the first six games of the 2012-13 season, 11 different Notre Dame players have scored the team’s 17 goals with six players having two goals. Eighteen of the team’s 21 skaters to play to date have scored at least one point with no one on the team having more than five points. Five different players have scored game-winning goals for the Irish.

TOUGH STRETCH: This weekend’s series puts Notre Dame at the midway point of a six-week, 11-game stretch of contests versus nationally ranked teams. The run started the week of Oct. 18-19 when Notre Dame faced #13/#13 Minnesota Duluth at home and split with the Bulldogs, losing, 3-1 and then winning, 4-1. Last weekend, the Irish traveled to #15/#16 Northern Michigan where they picked up a pair of wins versus the Wildcats, winning, 5-2 and 3-2. The rest of the scheduled, based on this week’s rankings includes two games with #11/#11 Western Michigan (Nov. 2 and 4), one game at #1/#1 Boston College (Nov. 9), two games at #7/#8 Michigan (Nov. 15-16) and then two home games against #6/#5 North Dakota (Nov. 23-24).

HOCKEY-FOOTBALL WEEKEND: Notre Dame and Boston College will continue its traditional Friday-Saturday hockey-football series next weekend when the Irish visit Chestnut Hill, Mass., for a 7:00 p.m. hockey game on Friday, Nov. 9 at Conte Forum. The following day, Sat., Nov. 10, the Notre Dame football team faces the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Field. That game time has yet to be determined. Since the 1995-96 season, the two teams have met 13 times, playing hockey on Friday night and football on Saturday. This could be the last year of meeting that way with Notre Dame joining Hockey East next season and playing the Eagles every year in a two-game series.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN RECAP: Saturday, Oct. 27 – Freshman center Steven Fogarty (Edina, Minn.) scored two goals and senior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) kicked out 26 shots to lead Notre Dame to a 3-2 win at the Berry Events Center to give the Irish a weekend sweep of the Wildcats. Senior left wing Nick Larson (Apple Valley, Minn.) also lit the lamp for Notre Dame. Cohen Adair and Darren Nowick scored for Northern Michigan. After a scoreless first period, the Irish scored first at 3:13 of the second stanza as Larson beat goaltender Jared Coreau between his pads from the right circle for his first of the year. Adair answered back at 7:56 of the second when he beat Johnson on a wrap-around goal for his third of the year. The Irish would retake the lead at 9:02 of the second when Fogarty scored his first collegiate goal off an assist from defenseman Andy Ryan (Fr., Brighton, Mich.) who recorded two assists in the game. Fogarty then notched the eventual game winner at 18:33 on the power play when he beat Coreau with a bad-angle shot for his second goal of the night. Northern cut the lead to one goal at 5:46 of the third when Nowicki scored his second of the season to make it 3-2. Notre Dame outshot the Wildcats, 32-28, for the game. Coreau finished with 29 saves.

Friday, October 26 – Notre Dame junior goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) stopped 22-of-24 Northern Michigan shots and got goals from David Gerths (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa), Austin Wuthrich (So., Anchorage, Alaska), Bryan Rust (Jr., Novi, Mich.), Peter Schneider (So., Vienna, Austria) and Anders Lee (Jr., Edina, Minn.) in the win. The Irish took a 1-0 lead just 1:27 into the game when Gerths scored his second goal in as many games. The Wildcats answered back with goals by Ryan Daugherty and Stephan Vigier to lead 2-1 after one period. Wuthrich tied the game at 1:30 of the second period and Rust scored the eventual game winner at 4:01 for a 3-2 Irish lead. Schneider and Lee added third-period goals for the 5-2 final. Notre Dame out shot Northern Michigan by a 38-24 advantage. Jared Coreau made 33 saves in the Wildcat goal. The Irish were 0-for-3 on the power play while Northern Michigan was 0-for-2.

ROAD SWEEP: Notre Dame’s sweep at Northern Michigan (Oct. 26-27) was the first CCHA road sweep for the Irish since Oct. 27-28, 2011 when they won a pair of games at Bowling Green by 3-1 and 3-2 scores. That sweep was the lone road sweep for Notre Dame in the 2011-12 season.

TIME CHANGE: Notre Dame’s game on Friday, Dec. 7 versus Michigan State has had the start time changed from 7:35 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised live by the NBC Sports Network.

BRIGHT KIDS: University of Notre Dame athletic programs again rank as the best in the country in graduation rates, based on Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures released by the NCAA — including first-place ratings in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and ice hockey. Among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, Notre Dame had the highest percentage of its sports with 100 percent scores (for the seventh time in eight years), with a .863 figure (19 of 22). In hockey, Notre Dame achieved a 100 GSR rating, to rank first (tied with Bowling Green) among Division I-A football-playing institutions. Here are the FBS institutions with scores of 65 or higher in that category:

Score        Institution100          Notre Dame, Bowling Green96           U.S. Air Force Academy94           Michigan85           U.S. Military Academy, Boston College, Connecticut83           Miami (Ohio)73           Western Michigan65           Michigan State

The four-year GSR data is based upon the entering classes from 2002 to 2005. In addition to men’s and women’s basketball and hockey, other Notre Dame programs recording 100 GSR scores in the 2012 listings were baseball, men’s cross country/track, women’s cross country/track, men’s fencing, women’s fencing, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s softball, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.

HOT HAND: Junior center David Gerths has now scored goals in two of his last three games after scoring on Oct. 19 versus Minnesota Duluth and again on Oct. 26 against Northern Michigan. His goal against Minnesota Duluth snapped a 49-game goal-less drought that started on Feb. 19, 2011 and extended through the entire 2011-12 season. He now has 10 career goals.

WORK HORSE: Dating back to last Feb. 24, Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays has started 10 of the last 12 games for the Irish. During his 10 starts, Summerhays is 7-3-0 with a 1.46 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage and three shutouts. Four of those games came in the 2012 CCHA first-and- second-round playoffs against Ohio State and Michigan. Two of the losses came to Michigan in the second round, a 2-1 loss in double overtime and a 3-1 loss in game two. For his career, Summerhays is 19-13-1 with a 2.43 goals-against and a .903 save percentage with three shutouts. For this season, he is 4-1-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage and one shutout.

THE OTHER GUY: Senior goaltender Mike Johnson saw his first action in goal for the Irish on Oct. 27 when he made 26 saves in the 3-2 win over Northern Michigan. The win was the 40th-career victory for Johnson, making him one of just seven Notre Dame goaltenders to win 40 or more games in his career. For his career, he has appeared in 92 games, making 86 starts and is 40-33-12 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage with two shutouts. SHOOTING THE PUCK: Through the first six games of the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has outshot its opposition in five of the six contests. The Irish are averaging 33.3 shots per game to 26.3 for their opponents. In games that the Irish have more shots, they are 4-1-0. When they are out shot, the Irish are 1-0.

FAST START: Notre Dame’s 5-1-0 start this season is the best start for the Irish since the 2010-11 season when they opened the year with a 5-1-0 record. The last time the Irish were 6-1-0 came in 2006-07 on the way to a 9-1-1 start that year. Only four Notre Dame teams have started the year with a 6-1-0 record – 1983-84 (15-0), 1989-90 (6-1-0), 1998-99 (6-0 before losing seventh game for 6-1) and 2006-07 (6-1-0).

TWO FOR THE SHOW: Freshman center Steven Fogarty became the first multiple-goal scorer for Notre Dame this season when he scored twice in the 3-2 win over Northern Michigan (Oct. 27). The goals were the first two of his collegiate career. His second goal of the night was his first career power-play goal and first game winner.

TWO HELPERS: Freshman defenseman Andy Ryan joined Fogarty in breaking through on the scoresheet for the first time in his collegiate career versus Northern Michigan (Oct. 27). Ryan recorded a pair of assists in the 3-2 win, first helping set up Nick Larson’s opening goal of the game and then getting a helper on Fogarty’s first career goal that gave the Irish a 2-1 lead.

IRISH CENTURY CLUB: Junior center T.J. Tynan has gotten off to a fast start this season with at least one point in four of his first six games (2g, 2a). The four points move him one step closer to joining Notre Dame’s “Century Club” as the 47th player in the program’s history to reach 100 points for his career. Tynan enters the Northern Michigan series with 38 goals and 61 assists for 99 points in his first 89 games. Following him is center Anders Lee who has played in 90 career games and has 43 goals and 40 assists for 83 points.

"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
37. Aaron Gill (2000-04) 49 62 111 Connor Dunlop (1999-03) 25 86 11139. Jack Brownschidle (1973-77) 31 78 10940. Tim Reilly (1981-86) 43 65 10841. Billy Maday (2008-12) 45 60 105 Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 61 44 10543. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 10344. Kevin Hoene (1968-71) 50 51 10145. Matt Hanzel (1985-89) 50 51 10146. Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 100-- T.J. Tynan (2009 - ) 38 61 99-- Anders Lee (2009 -) 43 40 83

CALL HIM THE CAPTAIN: Junior center Anders Lee has been selected as the lone captain of the 2012-13 Notre Dame hockey team. The talented forward served as an alternate captain during the 2011-12 season. As a sophomore, he led the Irish with 17 goals and added 17 assists to finish second in scoring with 34 points. In his first two seasons at Notre Dame, Lee has played in 90 career games with 43 goals and 40 assists for 83 points.

BY THE CLASSES: The Notre Dame roster has four seniors, 12 juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen on the roster this season. The Irish return 18 monogram winners from last season and have seven of their top 10 scorers back in 2012-13.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Through the first six games of the season, Notre Dame has been very successful on the penalty kill while struggling on the power play. When down a man, the Irish have killed 22-of-24 opponent power plays for a 91.7% success rate. That is second in the CCHA and tied for 12th nationally. Conversely, on the power play, the Irish are scoring at a 3-for-27 clip or 11.1%. That is seventh in the conference and tied for 44th nationally.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: Junior goaltender Steven Summerhays was selected as the CCHA goaltender of the week for his play during the week ending Oct. 14. Summerhays stopped 50-of-52 shots in games against Maine and Nebraska-Omaha in helping the Irish to the Ice Breaker Tournament title. An all-tournament selection in goal, Summerhays made 22 saves in a 1-0 win over the Black Bears on Oct. 12. In the title game, the junior stopped 28-of-30 shots as Notre Dame downed Nebraska-Omaha, 3-2. He also was named College Hockey Insider.com’s national player of the week.

NEVER BEFORE: Steven Summerhays’ 1-0 shutout win over the University of Maine on Oct. 12 marks the first time that the Irish have ever recorded a shutout in the opening game of a season. Notre Dame has never been shutout in the first game of the year.

IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS: Notre Dame has now played in 35 in-season tournaments in the 45-year history of the program. The Irish have now finished first a total of nine times. They have seven second-place finishes; finished third eight times and fourth on 11 different occasions.

CHAMPIONS: Notre Dame won its first-ever Ice Breaker Tournament (Oct. 12-13) at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The Irish opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over the University of Maine with T.J. Tynan getting the only goal and Steven Summerhays stopping all 22 shots he faced. In the championship game on Saturday, Summerhays stopped 28-of-30 shots while Peter Schneider, Anders Lee and Thomas DiPauli (Fr., Woodridge, Ill.) scored for the Irish in the 3-2 win over the Mavericks. Four Notre Dame players were selected to the all-tournament team led by Summerhays in goal and Tynan at forward. They were joined by defenseman Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) and forward Bryan Rust. Tynan was named the tournament’s most valuable player. The Irish have appeared in three Ice Breakers, finishing third in 1999 and second in 2010.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The Compton Family Ice Arena celebrated its first birthday on Thursday, Oct. 18 when the Irish faced Minnesota Duluth. On that date in 2011, the Notre Dame hockey team packed its equipment bags from the Joyce Center for the final time. The team walked across the parking lot to the CFIA that afternoon. The Irish played the first game there on October 21, 2011, defeating Rensselaer, 5-2, in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,022. Anders Lee scored the first goal at 9:21 of the first period and finished with a hat trick in the game.The Irish won their first five games at the Compton and finished the year with a 12-7-0 record, including a 2-0 mark in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

WINNERS: Four members of Notre Dame’s freshman class arrived on campus fresh off championship seasons in 2011-12. Thomas DiPauli joins the Irish after helping the `11-’12 USA Under-18 Team to a gold medal at the Under-18 World Championships last April. Sam Herr (Hinsdale, Ill.) was a member of the Green Bay Gamblers team that won the USHL’s Clark Cup championship with Herr being named the most valuable player of the tournament. Steven Fogarty and Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.) played with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL and helped their team to a record-setting season. The Vees won the BCHL Interior Division regular-season title while establishing a junior hockey record with 42 consecutive wins. They then won the Fred Doyle Cup as the BCHL playoff champions and added an RBC Cup title to their resumes, winning the Canadian junior title.

MEREDITH HONORED: Former Notre Dame hockey All-American Greg Meredith `80 was honored by the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association on Oct. 1, when he received the 2012 Harvey G. Foster Award. The Foster Award, established in 1982, recognizes distinguished involvement in civic and University initiatives, particularly work to support children, young adults and the disabled. Meredith was a senior captain and All-American who established a career goal scoring record for Notre Dame’s hockey team, and he went on to play four seasons with the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Flames and its affiliates when the team moved to Calgary. After retiring in 1984, he earned a master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School and began his business career with Salomon Brothers Inc. Since leaving Salomon Brothers in 1993, Meredith has started partnerships with firms such as NationsBank, HSBC and Proctor NBF Capital Partners, a venture formed with National Bank of Canada. In 1997, Meredith and his wife, Audrey, formed the Meredith Family Foundation. In honor of his late grandfather, John Proctor, the foundation’s core mission is to support the education and development of children and young adults as well as institutions providing services to people with disabilities. The foundation has provided funding for the Paul E. Meredith Scholarships at Notre Dame and supported South Bend-based programs at the LOGAN Center, the St. Joseph County Special Olympics and Camp Millhouse, a summer camp for people with serious disabilities. Meredith, a 2005 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award winner, is currently a member of the Mendoza College of Business Graduate Advisory Board. He has been married to Audrey for 20 years and they have two children. “I am deeply honored to be receiving this award from the Alumni Association. It is truly extraordinary to be recognized by such an accomplished group of Notre Dame men and women,” he said. “Recognition carries special meaning when it comes from an institution which has played such an important role in my life, and from people who share the core beliefs and spirit of that institution. This award is even more special to me when I think about the honor of joining a list of previous winners of this award, some of whom I know and all of whom I respect immensely for their accomplishments and their character.”

NOTRE DAME AND THE NTDP: Notre Dame and the USA National Under-18 Team met on Oct. 7, marking the fifth time that the Irish have faced them since the program began. Notre Dame and the U.S. National Developmental Program have had a strong relationship over the years. There are currently seven former USA Under-18 members on the Irish roster – senior Sam Calabrese, juniors Stephen Johns and Bryan Rust, sophomores Robbie Russo and Austin Wuthrich and freshmen Thomas DiPauli and Andy Ryan. Since the NTDP began in 1997, 31 players have gone on to play at Notre Dame. Another connection is head coach Jeff Jackson who served as the national coach and the senior director of the program from its beginning in 1996 through 2000.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: With the addition of freshman Mario Lucia to the Notre Dame roster in 2012-13, the Irish now have three sons who have followed in their father’s footsteps to play hockey at Notre Dame. Mario, follows his father, Don Lucia `81, who was a defenseman for the Irish from 1977-81. He is the head hockey coach at Minnesota. Current teammate, Kevin Nugent (Sr., New Canaan, Conn.) followed his dad – Kevin Nugent, Sr., `78 who played at Notre Dame from 1974-78 and was a teammate of Lucia’s for one season. The third father-son duo is goaltender Rory Walsh `06 who played for the Irish from 2002-06. He was the first to follow his dad – Brian Walsh `77, who played for the Irish from 1973-77 and was a teammate of Nugent’s for three seasons (1974-77).