Feb. 3, 2016
By Dan ColleranGame Notes vs. Vermont 
OVERVIEW
— After Boston College snapped Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak at 12 games last Friday night (Jan. 29), the Irish will be looking to bounce back this weekend when they head out on the road for a weekend series at Vermont.
— With four weeks left in the regular season, Notre Dame (10-2-2, 22 points) heads to Burlington, Vermont in third place in the Hockey East standings, while Vermont is in sixth (5-7-2, 12 points).
— The Irish are 5-2-4 on the road this season, including a 4-1-1 record in road Hockey East contests (not including an 8-2 neutral site win over UConn at the Barclays Center on Nov. 1).
DETAILS — GAME 27
Match-up: Notre Dame at Vermont
Date: Friday, Feb. 5, 2016
Time: 7:05 p.m. (ET)
Site: Burlington, Vermont
Arena: Gutterson Fieldhouse (4,035)
Television: None
Live Streaming: CatamounTV
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats: hockeyeastonline.com
Live Updates: @NDHockey
All-Time Series: ND leads 3-2-1 (6 games)
DETAILS — GAME 28
Match-up: Notre Dame at Vermont
Date: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016
Time: 7:05 p.m. (ET)
Site: Burlington, Vermont
Arena: Gutterson Fieldhouse (4,035)
Television: None
Live Streaming: CatamounTV
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
BOUNCING BACK
— The Irish are 2-1-1 this season following a loss, with Notre Dame’s only back-to-back losses coming at then fifth-ranked UMass Lowell (3-1 on Nov. 21) and to then eighth-ranked Harvard (4-1 on Nov. 27).
THE CATAMOUNTS AT A GLANCE
— The Catamounts (11-14-2, 5-7-2 HEA) enter the weekend in sixth in the Hockey East standings and did not play last weekend.
— Most recently, Vermont posted wins at UConn (4-2 on Jan. 22) and UMass (6-4 on Jan. 23).
— With starter Mike Santaguida sidelined, freshman Packy Munson has taken over in the Vermont net and started each of the last 11 games, posting a 7-4-0 record to go along with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.
— Junior forward Mario Puskarich leads the team with 22 points on seven goals and a team-high 15 assists.
— Sophomore forward Jarrid Privitera leads the team with 10 goals, while just five players have reached double-digit point totals so far this season.
— Vermont Associate Coach Kevin Patrick is a 1992 graduate of Notre Dame (102 GP, 11-16-37).
THE SERIES
— The Irish and Catamounts have only met six times, with four of the six meetings coming over the past two seasons as part of Hockey East play (Notre Dame is 2-1-1 in those four games).
— The previous two meetings were mid-season, neutral site contests.
— Notre Dame’s first ever Hockey East series was played at Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse (Nov. 1-2, 2013), with the Irish splitting that series as UVM took game one 2-1 (now playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bryan Rust scored the lone Irish goal).
— The Irish won game two of that series, 3-2, on back-to-back third period tallies by Sam Herr for their first Hockey East victory.
CAREER STATS vs. VERMONT
Mario Lucia 4 GP, 2-0-2
Sam Herr 4 GP, 2-0-2
Thomas DiPauli 2 GP, 2-0-2
Jake Evans 2 GP, 1-0-1
Anders Bjork 2 GP, 0-1-1
Steven Fogarty 4 GP, 0-0-0
Jordan Gross 2 GP, 0-0-0
Tony Bretzman 2 GP, 0-0-0
Andy Ryan 4 GP, 0-0-0
Ben Ostlie 4 GP, 0-0-0
Dawson Cook 2 GP, 0-0-0
Connor Hurley 2 GP, 0-0-0
Luke Ripley 2 GP, 0-0-0
Justin Wade 2 GP, 0-0-0
Cal Petersen 2-2 (GP-GS), 1-0-1, 1.92 GAA, .950 Sv.%
UNBEATEN STREAK SNAPPED AT 12
— With a 4-0 win on Jan. 29, fifth-ranked Boston College snapped Notre Dame’s 12-game unbeaten streak (9-0-3) that had dated back to Nov. 28.
— The 12-game unbeaten streak was the fifth-longest in program history and the longest unbeaten stretch since Notre Dame went 17-0-3 from Oct. 31 2008 – Jan. 17, 2009.
PETERSEN NAMED HEA’S JANUARY GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH
— Sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Ã… Petersen posted a 5-1-3 record in January to go along with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage.
— For his career, Petersen has now been named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month twice (February, 2015).
— Petersen has also totaled eight weekly Hockey East awards, including being named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week three times this season (Nov. 2, Jan. 4 & Jan. 25).
FAST STARTS
— Notre Dame has taken a 1-0 lead in 21 of its 26 games this season (80%).
— The Irish are 14-2-5 when scoring first.
— Notre Dame is out-scoring opponents 29-11 in the first period (17-6 in Hockey East play).
— The 21 first goals is tied with North Dakota for the national lead, followed by Air Force (20), Providence (20) and St. Cloud (20).
PETERSEN CARRYING THE MAIL
— Sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen has started each of Notre Dame’s first 26 games of the season. Ã… Petersen leads the nation in minutes played (1568:19), percent of team minutes (98.3) and is tied for first in total saves (725).
— Dating back to last season, Petersen has started each of Notre Dame’s last 39 games.
— With 725 saves this season, Petersen is tied with Princeton’s Colton Phinney for the most saves in the country.
— In Hockey East play this season, Petersen is 10-2-2 with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.
— Petersen is one of only four Hockey East goaltenders to have played at least 90 percent of their team’s minutes in goal (entering the Feb. 5 weekend):
1. Cal Petersen, ND — 98.3%
2. Nick Ellis, PC — 94.0%
3. Kevin Boyle, UML — 92.9%
4. Thatcher Demko, BC — 91.8%
JACKSON RANKS
— Heading into the weekend, Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson ranks second in career winning percentage in NCAA Div. I (minimum five years):
.661 — Red Berenson, Michigan (826-402-88)
.659 — Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame (422-201-72)
.638 — Don Lucia, Minnesota (687-369-97)
.626 — Nate Leaman Providence (195-108-41)
.624 — Dean Blais, Omaha (389-223-58)
.620 — Dick Umilie, New Hampshire (567-328-101)
.619 — Jerry York, Boston College (1001-595-109)
PLAYOFF PICTURE
— With four weekends remaining in the regular season, the races for playoff positioning and the regular season championship are heating up.
— All 12 teams will make the Hockey East playoffs, with the top-four seeds earning first round byes and hosting best-of-three second round series (first round series will also be best-of-three).
— The top five teams of Boston College (24 points/15 HEA games played), UMass Lowell (23/16), Notre Dame (22/14), Providence (19/14) and Boston University (19/15) are currently separated by just five points.
100 POINTS & A SECOND HALF PUSH
— With a goal and an assist in Notre Dame’s 7-2 win over Merrimack (Jan. 15), senior forward Mario Lucia hit the 100-career points milestone 54-46-100.
— Lucia became the 49th Notre Dame player to reach 100 points and the first since the 2012-13 season when both Anders Lee (61-55-116) and T.J. Tynan (54-107-161) hit the 100-point mark.
— After scoring three goals in the first 19 games of the season, Lucia has scored six goals over the last seven games, beginning with the Western Michigan series (Jan. 8-9).
GROSS OFFENSE
— Sophomore defenseman Jordan Gross is providing an offensive spark for the Irish and ranks fourth on the team with 22 points (7-15-22).
— The seven goals match his freshman year total (42 GP, 7-21-28).
— Gross’ seven goals rank tied for sixth on the Irish (all skaters) and rank tied for sixth nationally in goals by defensemen.
— Gross’ 22 points are the third most in the country among defensemen, trailing only Ethan Prow of St. Cloud State (5-22-27) Jake Walman of Providence (13-13-26).
BALANCED ATTACK
— The balanced Irish attack features five players with at least 20 points this season and 12 players with at least 10 points on the season.
— Nineteen players have scored at least one goal this season.
— Anders Bjork (10-16-26) leads the team in points, followed by Jake Evans (5-20-25).
— Bjork also leads the team with 10 goals.
— Evans leads the team with 20 assists.
— In the 7-1 win over Western Michigan (Jan. 8), seven players scored and all 12 Notre Dame forwards finished with at least one point.
FOGARTY A SENIOR WITH CLASS
— Senior captain Steven Fogarty was selected as one of the 20 candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award, as announced by the organization on Jan. 29.
— To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
— The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in April.
HOME COOKING
— Notre Dame is 8-3-3 on the season at the Compton Family Ice Arena, including a 5-1-1 mark in Hockey East play.
— The Irish posted a 7-1 win over Western Michigan on Jan. 8 and followed up with a 7-2 victory over Merrimack on Jan. 15 for back-to-back home games with at least seven goals for the first time since opening the 1994-95 season with wins over St. Francis (10-2 on Oct. 14) and Waterloo (8-4 on Oct. 21).
IN THE POLLS
— In the rankings for the 12th consecutive week, the Irish stayed at No. 10 in the USCHO.com poll and also moved from No. 9 to No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
— Prior to Jan. 25, 2016, the Last time the Irish reached the top-10 of the USCHO.com poll was on March 24, 2014 when they were ranked ninth heading into NCAA Tournament play.
— Prior to Jan. 25, 2016, the last time Notre Dame reached the top-10 of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll was the 2014-15 preseason release of the poll, which also had the Irish at No. 10.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director 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 men’s golf programs. A native Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Prior to Providence, Colleran spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League. He is a 2006 graduate of Providence College, where he also earned an MBA in 2008.