Nov. 13, 2012
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Teams: #7/#8 Notre Dame (6-3-0/3-1-0-0) vs. #13/#13 Michigan (4-4-1/2-3-1-1)
– The Games: Thursday, November 15, 2012 – Yost Arena (6,637) – 7:35 p.m. Friday, November 16, 2012 – Yost Arena (6,637) – 7:35 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: The Notre Dame-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. Television: Thursday’s game will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden and Dave Starman calling the action and Shireen Saski rinkside. Friday’s game will be televised by Comcast with Brendan Thomas and Sean Ritchlin calling the action. That game can be seen on Channel 3 on the South Bend Comcast cable system.
– Internet: Audio: The audio for the Michigan series will be available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com. 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.
FIRST OF FOUR: Notre Dame and Michigan will meet for the first two games of a four-game season series on Thursday-Friday, Nov. 15-16 at Yost Arena. Both games will start at 7:35 p.m. Thursday’s game will be televised live by CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski calling the action. Friday’s game will be carried by Comcast in Michigan and can be seen on Comcast Cable Channel 3 in South Bend. That came will have Brendan Thomas and Sean Ritchlin handling the play-by-play from Ann Arbor. Notre Dame brings a 6-3-0 overall record into the series and is 3-1-0-0 in the CCHA, good for a third-place tie with nine points. Michigan opens the week with a 4-4-1 overall mark and is 2-3-1-1 in conference play for eight points and a tie for seventh place. Notre Dame is coming off a 3-1 loss to top-ranked Boston College on Nov. 9 while Michigan split a series with Michigan State, winning, 5-2, in the series opener, before falling, 7-2, on Saturday, Nov. 10. Notre Dame and Michigan will meet again at the Compton Family Ice Arena on February 8-9, 2013 to close out the regular-season series.
IRISH VERSUS WOLVERINES: Michigan is Notre Dame’s oldest rivals as the two teams first met in the 1921-22 season and have played each other 130 times overall. The Wolverines come into this weekend’s series with a 74-51-5 lead in the all-time series. At Ann Arbor, Michigan is 42-23-3 versus the Irish while at South Bend, Notre Dame has a 24-23-2 advantage. The Wolverines also have a big edge in games on neutral ice as they are 9-4-0 versus the Irish. The two teams met four times in 2011-12, twice in the regular season and twice in the postseason. In the regular season games, played at the Compton Family Ice Arena, the teams split the series with Notre Dame winning, 3-1, on Jan. 20, and Michigan taking the second game on Jan. 21, 2-1. The Irish and Wolverines them met in the second round of the CCHA playoffs at Yost Arena with Michigan sweeping the series, two games to none. Game one went to double overtime (83:11) with Michigan winning, 2-1, before taking game two, 3-1. The Wolverines have won three in a row in the series and five of the last six, dating back to 2010-11. Since Jeff Jackson took over as coach at Notre Dame in 2005-06, the Irish are 10-12-0 versus Michigan.
TOUGH STRETCH: Notre Dame’s series against #13/#13 Michigan continues the Irish streak of 11 consecutive games against ranked teams that started on Oct. 18 versus Minnesota Duluth. The Irish are currently 4-3-0 in that streak after falling last Friday at #1/#1 Boston College, 3-1. Here is a look at Notre Dame’s recent schedule against ranked teams. (Rankings are USA Today/USCHO.com. Rankings listed for games played are team’s rankings on the day of the game. Rankings for games to be played are from 11/12 polls).
10/18 vs. #13/#13 Minnesota Duluth L, 1-310/19 vs. #13/#13 Minnesota Duluth W, 4-110/26 at #15/#16 No. Michigan W, 5-210/27 at #15/#16 No. Michigan W, 3-211/2 vs. #11/#11 Western Michigan L, 2-311/4 vs. #11/#11 Western Michigan W, 4-011/9 at #1/#1 Boston College L, 1-3
11/15 at #13/#13 Michigan11/16 at #13/#13 Michigan11/23 vs. #5/#6 North Dakota11/24 vs. #5/#6 North Dakota
BOSTON COLLEGE RECAP: Friday, Nov. 9 – Notre Dame traveled to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to face top-ranked Boston College and the two teams played a tight, close-checking, defensive game with the Eagles prevailing, 3-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 7,884 at Kelley Rink. Boston College got two goals from Johnny Gaudreau and a single goal from Pat Mullane in the win. Freshman left wing Thomas DiPauli (Woodridge, Ill.) scored the lone Irish goal in the game. BC goaltender Parker Milner and Notre Dame’s Steven Summerhays (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) each made 19 saves on the night as the Eagles out shot the Irish, 22-20, in the game. After a scoreless first period, the Eagles broke through at 4:41 of the second on a breakaway goal by Mullane. The lead would go to 2-0 at 16:30 when Gaudreau scored his first of the night as he capped a 2-on-1 by snapping a shot under the cross bar to give BC the two-goal lead. The Irish would cut the lead in half in the third as freshman center Steven Fogarty (Edina, Minn.) kept the puck in at the blue line and fed it to right wing Peter Schneider (So., Vienna, Austria) who whipped a shot at Milner. The BC netminder made the stop but DiPauli jammed the rebound through his pads at 7:10 to make it a 2-1 game. The goal was DiPauli’s second of the season. The score would stay that way until the final minute when Gaudreau scored into an open net for the final of 3-1. The Eagles were 0-for-6 on the power play while Notre Dame was 0-for-5.
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: Following the series at Michigan, Notre Dame returns home to open a six-game homestand from Nov. 23 to Dec. 8. The Irish will open with a pair of games on Nov. 23-24 against North Dakota at the Compton Family Ice Arena. This will be the first time since Jan. 16-17, 1981 that North Dakota will play at Notre Dame. That was the final year for the Irish as members of the WCHA.
UPCOMING 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.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Boston College entered the game last Friday with Notre Dame owning the top power play in the country (10-for-25, 40.0% success rate). The Irish stopped the Eagles on all six chances and now have given up just four power-play goals in nine games. They are 33-for-37 on the penalty kill for an 89.2% success rate. That ranks them first in the CCHA and seventh nationally. Notre Dame was 0-for-5 with the power play and is now 5-for-43 for the year for an 11.6% average.That ranks the Irish ninth in the CCHA and ties them for 45th nationally.
MOVEMBER MOMENTS: Members of the Notre Dame hockey team are participating in the annual “Movember” event that encourages men to grow a “Mo” (moustache) during the month of November to raise awareness and funds for men’s health, specifically prostate and testicular cancer inititiaves. The fund-raising efforts are being spearheaded by junior defenseman Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.). To date 22 members of the team are registered. To make a donation, check the website at http://us.movember.com/mospace/5672569.
WORK HORSE: Dating back to last Feb. 24, Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays has started 13 of Notre Dame’s last 15 games. During those 13 starts, Summerhays is 8-5-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average, a .943 save percentage and four shutouts. His shutout win versus Western Michigan (4-0) on Nov. 4 was the 20th win of his Notre Dame career. He is now 20-15-1 for his career with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. This season, Summerhays is tied for the CCHA lead in wins (5) and leads the league in goals-against average (1.64), is third in save percentage (.932) and is tops in shutouts (2).
LIGHTNING STRIKES: When Notre Dame scores in a game, the Irish waste little or no time in getting on the scoreboard at the start of a period. Of their 24 goals to date, nine have come in the first four minutes at the start of the period with a 10th coming inside five minutes.
10/12 - T.J. Tynan (vs. Maine) 2:59 of 3rd10/13 - Peter Schneider (vs. UNO) 1:14 of 1st10/19 - Jeff Costello (vs. UMD) 3:03 of 2nd10/19 - David Gerths (vs. UMD) 4:39 of 3rd10/26 - David Gerths (at NMU) 1:27 of 1st10/26 - Austin Wuthrich (at NMU) 1:30 of 2nd10/26 - Peter Schneider (at NMU) 3:51 of 3rd11/2 - Anders Lee (vs. WMU) 0:42 of 3rd11/4 - Steven Fogarty (vs. WMU) 2:46 of 1st11/4 - Anders Lee (vs. WMU) 1:03 of 2nd
SHARING THE WEALTH: Through the first nine games of the 2012-13 season, 11 different Notre Dame players have scored the team’s 24 goals with Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) leading the way with five. Freshman Steven Fogarty is second with three while seven others have two each. Nineteen of the team’s 21 skaters to play to date have scored at least one point with Lee leading the way with nine points. Five different players have scored game-winning goals for the Irish with Fogarty leading the way with a pair.
DOUBLE-DUECE: Freshman left wing Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.) has missed all nine games for Notre Dame this season due to a broken leg suffered in preseason training in late August. Lucia has been cleared to skate and is expected to rejoin the Irish lineup for the series against North Dakota. The son of University of Minnesota head hockey coach and Notre Dame alum, Don Lucia `81, Mario played last season for the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) where he was a teammate of current freshman center Steven Fogarty. With Penticton, Lucia was second in scoring with 42 goals and 52 assists for 94 points in 56 games, helping the Vees to the BCHL regular-season and postseason titles and the RBC Cup as the Canadian Junior A champions.
BACK ON TRACK: The Irish will look to get junior center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) back on track this weekend in the scoring department. The high-scoring center started the season by getting two goals and two assists for four points in his first four games. Since then, he has gone scoreless in his last five games. This marks the first time in his career that he has gone five consecutive games without a point.
MR. CLUTCH: Freshman center Steven Fogarty collected his third goal of the season in the 4-0 win over Western Michigan on Nov. 4. The goal came on the power play and was the game winner. He leads the Irish in both categories with two power-play markers and two game winners.
CCHA HONORS: Anders Lee was named the CCHA Postgame Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 4. Lee scored three goals and added an assist in the weekend split with Western Michigan. In the Nov. 2 game, the Edina, Minn., native had a goal and an assist with eight shots on goal and was +1 in the 3-2 loss to Western Michigan. In the 4-0 win on Sunday, Nov. 4, Lee scored twice, including a short-handed, empty-net goal that sealed the win in the final minute. He had four shots on goal in the game and was +3. This marks the first time in his Notre Dame career that Lee has been the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week.
THE OTHER GUY: Senior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) 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 nine games of the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has outshot its opposition in seven of them, getting 30 or more shots in a game seven times. The Irish are averaging 32.4 shots per game to 24.3 for their opponents. In games that the Irish have more shots, they are 5-2-0. When they are out shot, the Irish are 1-1-0. The 20 shots that Notre Dame registered against Boston College was a season low for a game while the two shots the Irish had in the second period was a season-low for one period.
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.
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.
STRONG START: Notre Dame’s 6-3-0 start this season ties the Irish for the sixth-best start in the program’s history after nine games. The previous best starts for the Irish after nine games were:
2006-07: 7-1-11998-99: 7-1-11989-90: 7-2-01987-88: 6-1-22010-11: 6-2-12012-13: 6-3-02008-09: 6-3-02007-08: 6-3-02011-12: 5-2-2
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. 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-plus seasons at Notre Dame, Lee has played in 93 career games with 46 goals and 41 assists for 87 points.
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.
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.”
RANKINGS UPDATE: Notre Dame entered the 2012-13 season ranked 10th in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and 14th in the USCHO.com poll.
Week-by-week with the Irish this season:
2012-13 Irish National RankingsDate USA TODAY USCHO.comPreseason 10th 14th10/8 13th 14th10/15 10th 9th10/22 9th 9th10/29 8th 7th11/5 8th 7th11/12 7th 8th
TYNAN TIME: Junior center T.J. Tynan returns to the Irish lineup to defend his 2011-12 CCHA co-scoring title. Tynan tied for the scoring championship with Michigan State’s Torey Krug as each player had 29 points in 28 conference games in `11-’12. The Irish scoring machine had nine goals and 20 assists on the year to become the first Notre Dame player to win or share a CCHA scoring title. He is just the second Irish player to ever win a conference scoring title, following Eddie Bumbacco `74, who won the 1972-73 WCHA scoring championship with 31 goals and 34 assists for 65 points in 28 games. Tynan led Notre Dame in scoring for the second consecutive year, notching 13 goals with 28 assists for 41 points in 39 games in 2011-12.
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).