March 2, 2009
Farmington Hills, Mich. – The Central Collegiate Hockey Association announced today that Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) has been selected as the CCHA’s goaltender of the week for the week ending March 1.
Notre Dame’s All-American and Hobey Baker candidate stopped 34-of-35 shots (.971 save percentage) on the weekend to lead the Irish to a sweep of the home-and-home series versus Michigan State. On Fri., Feb. 27, Pearce stopped all 15 shots he faced in recording his sixth shutout of the year in the 5-0 Notre Dame win at the Joyce Center. The following night, the senior goaltender stopped 19-of-20 shots in the 2-1 win at Munn Arena. The win was the first for the Irish on the Spartans’ home ice since Feb. 9, 2002.
This marks the fourth time this season that Pearce has been named the CCHA goaltender of the week. The shutout, his sixth of the season, ties the Notre Dame single-season record held by David Brown `07 and set during the 2006-07 season. Pearce now has 10 shutouts for his career and that ranks him second all-time for the Irish.
The Friday night blanking was the second in a row for Pearce as he shutout Nebraska-Omaha the previous weekend. When Jay Sprague scored at 14:09 of the second period, it snapped his 169:38-minute shutout streak that started in the third period of the Feb. 20 game at Nebraska-Omaha. The streak was the second longest of Pearce’s career as he had one of 171:26 earlier this season.
For the season, Pearce is 26-5-3 overall with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage to go with the six shutouts. He leads the nation in wins (26), is third in winning percentage (.809), fourth in goals-against average (1.72), third in minutes played (2,026:46), seventh in save percentage (.929) and tied for first in shutouts with six.
Pearce’s 26 wins are the second-best single-season total at Notre Dame, trailing just David Brown’s mark of 29 set in 2006-07. He is the only goaltender in the program’s 41-year history to have two 20-win seasons. For his career, Pearce is tied for second with 55 career wins. He is one behind Lance Madson’s `90 school record of 56 career wins.
Notre Dame, ranked second in the nation, won the 2008-09 CCHA regular-season title with a record of 21-4-3-3, good for 48 points in the league standings. The championship was the second in the last three years for the Irish who have a first-round bye in the opening round of the CCHA playoffs. the CCHA regular season with a 21-4-3-3 record, winning the second CCHA regular season title in the last three years.
The second round of the best-of-three playoff series will begin at the Joyce Center on Friday, March 13 at 7:35 p.m. Notre Dame will face the lowest remaining seeded team from the first round of the playoffs.