March 8, 2018
By Dan Colleran
READ: Much Ado About Morris
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — University of Notre Dame sophomore goaltender Cale Morris has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2018 Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA men’s hockey.
Let’s Play Hockey and the Herb Brooks Foundation will announce five finalists for the award on Thursday, March 22, with the winner presented on Friday, April 6 at the 2018 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota.
After playing one period (19:43) in Notre Dame’s first game of the 2016-17 season in mop up duty for starter Cal Petersen in an eventual 9-2 win over Arizona State (Oct. 7), Morris has
burst onto the scene with an impressive sophomore season for the Irish.
The Hobey Baker hopeful and All-America candidate is 22-7-1 on the season to go along with a 1.92 goals against average and a .945 save percentage. His 22 wins are tied for the NCAA lead, while his .945 save percentage ranks second and his goals against average ranks sixth.
Morris has totaled 1,005 saves so far this season to lead all Richter Award semifinalists and his save total ranks third in the NCAA, trailing only Joey Daccord of Arizona State and Vermont’s Stefanos Lekkas. In Notre Dame’s single-season record book, Morris’ save percentage would rank first all-time, while his goals against average would be third and his total saves would be sixth.
Morris has put up his impressive numbers while playing 88.1% of the available minutes in Notre Dame’s net and while playing 19 games against teams currently ranked in the top-15 for offense (goals per game).
In a 2-2 overtime tie at Penn State (Feb. 3), Morris made a career-high 55 saves and he stopped an Andrew Sturtz penalty shot in overtime to preserve the tie and followed with two saves in the shootout to help the Irish grab the extra Big Ten point.
The accolades are starting to pile up for the Larkspur, Colorado native. Recently he was named one of three finalists for the Big Ten’s Goaltender of the Year and Player of the Year awards (March 7). Morris has also been named a Big Ten Star of the week eight times this season, including five First Star honors.
2018 Mike Richter Award Semifinalists
Matthew Galajda, Cornell
Dávid Hrenák, St. Cloud State
Tanner Jaillet, Denver
Jake Kielly, Clarkson
Connor LaCouvee, Minnesota State
Cale Morris, Notre Dame
Colton Point, Colgate
Cayden Primeau, Northeastern
Sean Romeo, Ohio State
Hunter Shepard, Minnesota Duluth
UP NEXT
Top-seeded Notre Dame hosts a Big Ten semifinal game against fourth-seeded Penn State on Saturday, March 10, at Compton Family Ice Arena. The puck drops at 5:30 p.m. ET and the contest can be seen live on ESPNU and WatchESPN. Tickets are available by clicking here.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).