Jan. 8, 2016
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Goals for the University of Notre Dame hockey came fast and furious Friday night against regional foe Western Michigan as the Irish scored three goals in the first period and four in the second to cruise to a commanding 7-1 victory over the Broncos in front of 5,027 fans at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Notre Dame (10-4-6) had seven different student-athletes find the back of the net against two different Broncos goaltenders.
“The things we talk about all the time were evident tonight,” said Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson. “I thought our team speed showed up. We keep on stressing that it’s all based on our passing and puck support but it’s also based on our puck pressure because that’s what creates transition. It’s got to be defense leads to offense and I thought our back pressure, our back checking and our gaps were really good, which allowed us to create turnovers and that translated to fast.”
Only four goals were scored between the two teams in a 3-1 Notre Dame win during the last meeting at the end of November, but the Irish put up plenty more goals in Friday’s win.
Senior captain Steven Fogarty, senior Sam Herr and sophomore Dawson Cook all tallied goals in the first period to give the home fans plenty to cheer about.
After the first intermission, Notre Dame salted away the victory with a flurry of goals over the course of about six minutes. From 11:38 to 17:15 in the second frame, the Irish pounded the Broncos’ net to the tune of four goals. Sophomore Anders Bjork, freshman Andrew Oglevie, senior Mario Lucia (power play) and freshman Dylan Malmquist all tallied goals for the Irish in that time frame.
The Irish held a commanding advantage in shots, 46-19, including a remarkable 38-9 margin in the first two periods.
Malmquist led the Irish with a goal and two assists. Fogarty added a goal and an assist, while freshman Dennis Gilbert and sophomore Jake Evans totaled two assists each.
Irish goalie Cal Peterson totaled 17 saves and allowed one goal in 52:24 of ice time. Junior Chad Katunar recorded a save and 7:29 of ice time.
Western Michigan used two goalies. Lukas Hafner suffered the loss after allowing four goals in 51:38 of action. Collin Olson allowed three goals in 8:22.
The two teams resume their weekend series at 8:05 p.m. (ET) Saturday in Kalamazoo, Michigan at Lawson Ice Arena. Fans can follow the action on CBS Sports Network or by listening to Darin Pritchett on New Country 99.9 FM or WatchND.tv.
Goals
— Captain Steven Fogarty put the Irish up 1-0 at 6:06 of the first period by beating Western Michigan goalie Lukas Hafner glove side (upper right) after nice passing from freshmen Dennis Gilbert and Dylan Malmquist. Gilbert fought through a crowd just over center ice to bullet a pass to Malmquist coming down the middle. Malmquist took the puck nearly all the way before passing at the last minute to Fogarty, who fired from the middle of the faceoff circle for his seventh of the season.
— Senior Andy Ryan rifled a shot from the point after a pass by Jake Evans. Senior Sam Herr redirected the shot in front and the puck trickled past the glove of Hafner to give Notre Dame a 2-0 lead at 14:39 of the opening period.
— Notre Dame went up 3-0 with just 33 seconds left in the first period after Dawson Cook put the puck home off a Jack Jenkins wrap around shot attempt. Junior Ben Ostlie had the primary assist on the play as he had a shot on goal following the save on Jenkins.
— Making his first appearance since earning a bronze medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championship, sophomore Anders Bjork returned in style by delivering a beauty of a goal to put Notre Dame up 4-0 at 11:38 of the second period. Off passes from Evans and freshman Bobby Nardella, Bjork moved down the right side and put it high to force a Western Michigan change in goal.
— Less than two minutes later, at 13:20 in the second period, three freshmen combined to give Notre Dame a 5-0 lead. Gilbert and Malmquist both got off shots that were saved by new goaltender Colin Olson before Andrew Oglevie collected the puck and put it home.
— On the power play the Irish increased their lead over the Broncos to 6-0 as senior Mario Lucia sat in front of the net and finished off a pass from sophomore Connor Hurley via senior Thomas DiPauli. Lucia’s power play goal at 16:19 in the second period was his third power-play goal this season and the 19th of his career.
— Malmquist continued his impressive night by winning a face off on Western’s side of the ice before scooping up a loose puck in front of the Bronco goal and putting it past Olson to continue the Irish onslaught. Fogarty assisted Malmquist’s goal at 17:15 in the second period.
— Western Michigan got on the board at 12:24 of the third period on a power play goal from Griffen Molino. Molino flicked it past Irish goalie Cal Peterson after passes from Matheson Iacopelli and Paul Stokyewych.
Notes
— Notre Dame moved its unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2).
— Cal Petersen made his 20th-consecutive start in the Irish goal to open the 2015-16 season and his 33rd in a row dating back to last season.
— After winning a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2016 World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland, Anders Bjork returned to the Irish lineup. He scored Notre Dame’s fourth goal to extend his Irish point streak to five games (3-3-6).
— Steven Fogarty scored his seventh goal of the season to put the Irish up 1-0. Notre Dame is now 7-0-2 on the season when Fogarty records at least one point.
— Notre Dame scored first for the 16th time this season (out of 20 games) and are now 10-2-4 when doing so.
— Freshman forward Jack Jenkins notched his first career assist when Dawson Cook the Irish a 3-0 lead near the end of the first period.
— Freshman forward Dylan Malmquist scored a goal and added two assists for a career-high three points.
— With a pair of assists, Jake Evans notched his fifth multi-point game of the season and the seventh of his career.
— All 18 forwards scored at least one point in the win.
–ND–