WHO: #9/10 Notre Dame (27-11-0) vs. #7/8 North Dakota (24-13-1)
WHEN: Thursday, March 24 at 6 p.m. ET
WHERE: MVP Arena in Albany, New York
WATCH: ESPNU
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
SETTING THE STAGE
- The University of Notre Dame hockey team will be the No. 3 seed at the 2022 NCAA Albany Regional and will face No. 2 seed North Dakota at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 24 in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Championship at MVP Arena (ESPNU).
- It will mark the first NCAA meeting between Notre Dame and North Dakota.
- The other first round game at the 2022 Albany Regional will feature No. 1 seed Minnesota State versus No. 4 seed Harvard.
- The 2022 Albany Regional Final is slated for Saturday, March 26 (time TBA).
- The additional 2022 NCAA Regional sites include Allentown, Pennsylvania (March 25 & 27), Loveland, Colorado (March 24 & 26) and Worcester, Massachusetts (March 25 & 27).
- The four regional winners will advance to the 2022 Frozen Four on April 7 and 9 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
ND IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- Notre Dame is making the 13th NCAA tournament appearance in program history, including the 12th under head coach Jeff Jackson.
- Notre Dame has a program-best streak of six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances intact.
- It is the second-longest active NCAA appearance streak, trailing only Minnesota Duluth (7).
- Last season, the Irish were unable to compete due to COVID-19 protocols after making the tournament field and heading to the Albany Regional (Notre Dame had been the No. 4 seed and would have played No. 1 seed Boston College).
- Prior to the 2019-20 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fighting Irish advanced to a regional final for the third consecutive season in 2018-19, having won regional final games in 2017 and 2018 to advance to back-to-back Frozen Fours.
- The Fighting Irish have now made nine of the last 11 NCAA tournaments, which is tied with North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth for the second-most (Denver leads with 10).
- In addition to 2017 and 2018, the Irish also made Frozen Four appearances in 2008 and 2011.
- Notre Dame was a No. 3 seed three previous times and is 3-3-0 as a No. 3 seed, including 2011 (advanced to the Frozen four), 2016 and 2019.
- Seniors Nick Leivermann, Cam Burke, Graham Slaggert and Jake Pivonka each played two NCAA games in 2019, while Spencer Stastney played one (none of those five players recorded a point in the NCAA Tournament).
- Matthew Galajda was injured during the 2019 ECAC championship game and was unable to play in the 2019 NCAA Tournament for the Big Red.
- Jeff Jackson will be making his 18th-career appearance as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament.
- The 18 career appearances are the top total among head coaches in the field this season.
- In addition to the 12 appearances now with Notre Dame, Jackson took Lake Superior State to the NCAA tournament six times including NCAA Championships in 1992 and 1994.
- Formerly the Times Union Center, the regional will take place where Irish head coach Jeff Jackson won his first NCAA Championship as head coach of Lake Superior State in 1992
- The Lakers downed Wisconsin 5-3 in the championship game and current Notre Dame sophomore forward Ryder Rolston’s father, Brian, had the game-winning goal in that contest.
FIGHTING IRISH – FIGHTING HAWKS SERIES HISTORY
- Notre Dame and North Dakota have met 37 times with the series tied 17-17-3, but the last meetings came on Nov. 23-24, 2012 in a two-game series in South Bend, Indiana.
- The teams split that series, with North Dakota taking game one 2-1 before the Irish rebounded with a 5-2 game two win.
- In that victory, current New York Islanders captain Anders Lee had two goals and an assist for a three-point night while the Irish roster featured future NHLers Lee, Thomas DiPauli, T.J. Tynan, Steven Fogarty, Robbie Russo, Stephen Johns and Bryan Rust.
- The teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament, with their only neutral site meeting coming on Jan. 3, 2010 in the championship game of Notre Dame’s Shillelagh Tournament, which was played at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
- Notre Dame and North Dakota skated to a 3-3 overtime tie that day and the Irish went on to win a five-round shootout, 2-1, to claim the Shillelagh Tournament Championship.
- The two teams played a majority of the games (28) as members of the WCHA from 1971-81 with the Irish holding a 14-13-1 edge in those games.
STASTNEY’S STARRING ROLE
- In the 21 games since the Irish returned from break on Jan. 1, senior defenseman Spencer Stastney has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points, notching at least one point in 14 of the 21 games.
- Stastney is now tied as Notre Dame’s second leading scorer with a career-high 27 points on seven goals and 20 assists.
- Stastney’s previous career highs were five goals (2020-21), 17 assists (2019-20) and 20 points (2019-20).
- Stastney is the only defenseman in the country with multiple shorthanded goals this season (2).
- Stastney is averaging 0.56 assists per game, which ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
- Stastney has also blocked 62 shots, which ranks third in the Big Ten.
- Stastney was named the team’s Most Valuable Player as voted by his teammates following the conclusion of the Big Ten Playoffs.
QUICK HITS
- Matthew Galajda has started each of the past nine games for the Irish, posting a 7-2-0 record to go along with a .943 save percentage and a 1.80 goals-against average while only yielding 10 even strength goals in the nine games.
- The Fighting Irish are 19-1-0 when scoring first this season and 23-1-0 when scoring at least three goals.
- Notre Dame is 6-2-0 in overtime this season, with the OT game-winning goals coming from Cam Burke (at Michigan Tech), Ryder Rolston (at Michigan), Max Ellis (at Michigan and at Penn State), Spencer Stastney (at Ohio State) and Landon Slaggert (vs. Minnesota)
- Adam Karashik (0-2-2) and Jack Adams (2-0-2) enter NCAA play on two-game point streaks.
— ND —