June 9, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. – Two Notre Dame hockey players – senior goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska) and senior right wing Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) – have been named Academic All-Americans on the At-Large Team by ESPN The Magazine in voting done by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Pearce was named first team Academic All-American while Condra was a second team selection. For Pearce, this is his second time selected, as he was a second team selection in 2008. The hockey duo gives Notre Dame 210 Academic All-Americans in the program’s history.
The at-large program includes women’s bowling, women’s crew, men’s and women’s fencing, women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s rifle, men’s and women’s skiing, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo and men’s wrestling. The women’s at-large team will be announced later this week.
Pearce becomes the second Notre Dame hockey player to be named Academic All-American twice in his career, joining Steve Noble (1996-97, 1997-98). He and Noble are also the only Irish hockey players to be named first team Academic All-Americans.
This is the first time that the Notre Dame hockey program has ever had two players selected Academic All-American in one season while Pearce and Condra give the Irish six players who have been named eight times as Academic All-Americans. They join: Noble (`96-’97, `97-’98), Forrest Karr (`98-’99), Andy Jurkowski (`99-’00) and Dan Carlson (`00-’01).
Senior Erik Condra becomes the first Irish hockey player selected as both an All-American in his sport and an Academic All-American. He was a second team AHCA All-American this season and a second team Academic All-American.
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Condra also becomes the first Notre Dame hockey player to be named All-American in his sport and Academic All-American in the same year. He was a second team AHCA/Reebok All-American this past season. In all, there have been 53 Notre Dame athletes selected as dual All-Americans a total of 66 times.
So far this season, Notre Dame has had a total of eight student-athletes selected as ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in their respective sports.
For Jordan Pearce, this caps a brilliant career at Notre Dame both on the ice and in the classroom. One of the top goaltenders in the nation, he turned in a 30-6-3 overall record with a 1.68 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage and eight shutouts. His 30 wins and eight shutouts led the nation in each category while his goals against was second and save percentage ranked fifth.
An honorable mention all-CCHA selection and a finalist for the CCHA player of the year, Pearce was the conference’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a member of the CCHA scholar-athlete team. He was chosen as the Notre Dame Monogram Club’s team Most Valuable Player and the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award. Along with Condra, he was one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
Pearce finished his career as Notre Dame’s all-time leader in wins (59), goals-against average (1.98), save percentage (.918) and tied for the lead in shutouts with 12.
He was named to the CCHA Scholar-Athlete team as a junior and is a two-time Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award winner and team MVP for the Irish, also capturing those honors as a junior in 2007-08. He was the CCHA’s top goaltender in `07-’08 when he led Notre Dame to the NCAA championship game versus Boston College.
In the classroom, Pearce finished his collegiate career with a 3.816 grade-point average and graduated on May 17 with degrees in anthropology and pre-professional studies (pre-med). In April, he signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
Erik Condra is making his first appearance on the Academic All-American team after being a second team all-District V selection, following his junior year in 2007-08. Notre Dame’s team captain in 2008-09, the talented right wing led the Irish icers in scoring for the fourth consecutive season, scoring 15 goals with 23 assists for 38 points. He led Notre Dame to its second Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) regular-season and post-season title in the last three years, as the Irish were 31-6-3 overall and spent seven weeks ranked number one in the nation.
A 2006 Ottawa Senators’ draft choice, Condra finished his career ranked 13th on the all-time points list with 158 points on 48 goals and 110 assists. His 110 assists are the seventh most in the program’s history as he is just one of 10 Notre Dame players all-time to have 100 or more assists. He also finishes his career third all-time in games played (159), fifth in game winning goals (11) and tied for fourth with six short-handed goals.
A second team AHCA/Reebok All-American in `08-’09, Condra was a second team all-CCHA selection, a finalist for the conference’s top defensive forward award and the winner of the CCHA’s Terry Flanagan Memorial Award for perseverance, dedication and courage as he overcame a serious knee injury suffered in the 2008 playoffs and returned in time to start last season.
Nationally, he was recognized by Lowe’s as a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award while at Notre Dame, he earned the highest honor given to a student-athlete when he was awarded the Byron V. Kanaley Award while also receiving the Francis Patrick O’Connor Award that honors male and female student-athletes who best display the total embodiment of the true spirit of Notre Dame as exemplified by their contributions and inspirations to their respective teams. To be considered, student-athletes must possess those qualities attributed to Pat O’Connor: caring, courage, confidence, encouragement, humility, honesty, humor, kindness and patience.
Condra graduated on May 17 with a 3.55 grade-point average with degrees in psychology and pre-professional studies (pre-med).
Pearce and Condra joined two other CCHA players to be selected Academic All-American for the 2008-09 season. Pearce was joined on the first team by Michigan State goaltender Jeff Lerg and Alaska forward Trevor Hyatt. Lerg was named the Academic All-American of the year on the At-Large Team. In all, nine Division I hockey players were selected to the first, second and third teams this season.