Nov. 4, 2014
Notre Dame, Indiana – University of Notre Dame junior left wing Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minnesota) has been selected as the Hockey East/Warrior player of the month for October. In seven games during the opening month of the season, Lucia scored seven goals and added two assists for nine points.
Lucia scored his seven goals on just 19 shots for a 36.8% shooting percentage and was +5 for the month. Included in his seven lamplighters were one game-winning goal and his first career hat trick on Oct. 18, in a 5-1 win over Lake Superior State. During October, he scored at least one point in six of the team’s seven games and finished the month on a five-game point streak (6g, 2a, 8 pts).
The 6-3, 204-pound forward finished the month as Hockey East’s top point producer and the conference’s top goal scorer, helping Notre Dame to a 5-2-0 record in October, including five straight wins to end the month.
The high-scoring left wing opened the season with a goal in his first game, a 3-2 loss to Rensselaer on Oct. 10, in the opening game of the Ice Breaker Tournament. Lucia was held off the score sheet in his second game of the year, the third-place game at the Ice Breaker, as the Irish were blanked 3-0 by Minnesota Duluth.
His five-game streak started on Oct. 17 with a goal in a 5-3 win over Lake Superior State. He then picked up his hat trick the following night, scoring three times, including the game winner, while taking five shots on goal. He was +4 for the night in the win over the Lakers.
He followed his four-goal weekend against Lake Superior with three points (1g, 2a) in the sweep of Niagara University. Lucia assisted on one goal in the 6-3 win on Oct. 24 and then added a goal and an assist in the 7-0 shutout of the Purple Eagles.
The junior then closed out the month on Oct. 31, with a goal that gave Notre Dame a 2-0 first-period lead versus Vermont in the Hockey East opener.
For the season, Lucia leads Notre Dame in scoring with eight goals and two assists for 10 points in eight games. His 10 points currently lead Hockey East in scoring, as do his eight goals. Nationally, he is fifth in points (10) and his eight goals are second in the nation.
Lucia is fourth on the Irish in shots with 22 while his 36.4% shooting percentage leads the team.
After opening the season with eight straight home games, the Irish take to the road this weekend for a pair of games at top-ranked Minnesota. The Irish and the Golden Gophers will battle at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7 in the opening game of the series. After taking Saturday off, the teams will face off at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9 to close out the two-game series.