Junior center Kevin Deeth is second among Notre Dame scorers after five games with a goal and four assists.

No. 12 Irish Travel To Oxford, Ohio To Face No. 1 Ranked Miami RedHawks

Nov. 6, 2007

Notre Dame, Ind. –

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• The Series:  #12/#12 Notre Dame (6-3-0/4-1-0) at #1/#1 Miami (8-0-0/6-0-0)
• Date/Site/Time: Fri.-Sat., November 9-10 • Steve Cady Arena (4,000) • 8:05 p.m./7:05 p.m.
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live onFriday night on WWLV 1620 AM with Saturday's game on ESPN Radio 1490 SouthBend's SportsCenter. Mike Lockert will call the action for th Irish.
• Internet: Irish hockey can be heard on the Internet at the Notre Dame website - www.und.com. Home Irish hockey games not being televised will be streamed live at www.und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.

IRISH BATTLE TOP-RANKED REDHAWKS: The Notre Dame hockey team makes its first-ever visit to Miami’s new Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio on Fri.-Sat., Nov., 9-10 to face the nation’s No. 1 ranked Miami RedHawks. The two-game series begins on Friday night at 8:05 p.m. with Saturday’s game set for 7:05 p.m. The Irish enter the weekend with a 6-3-0 overall record and are 4-1-0 in the CCHA. Notre Dame is coming off a series sweep at home last weekend against Lake Superior State (7-3, 4-1). The RedHawks have gotten the 2007-08 season off to a fast start and are 8-0-0 overall and 6-0-0 in the conference. Miami won a pair of games last weekend at Northern Michigan, taking a 9-2 decision on Friday night and a 3-2 victory on Saturday. The RedHawks lead the nation in scoring with 40 goals (5.00 goals per game) while giving up just 12 goals in the first eight contests (1.50 goals-against average). The two teams have met 50 times in the all-time series with Miami holding a 28-14-8 edge. At Miami, the RedHawks own a 15-7-2 record against the Irish. The last Notre Dame victory at Miami came on March 16, 2003, a 5-0 Irish win in game three of the first round of the CCHA playoffs. Since that win, Notre Dame is 0-5-1 at Oxford, Ohio. Last season, the two teams met twice at the Joyce Center with the Irish winning one (4-1) and the teams settling for a 2-2 tie in the second game of the series.

STRONG WEEKENDS: Notre Dame’s top two scorers – junior Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) and senior Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) – had their best weekends of the season in the sweep of Lake Superior on Nov. 1-2. Condra recorded six points on the weekend, scoring three goals with three assists while Van Guilder had a five-point weekend with two goals and three assists. Condra had the second five-point game of his career on Nov. 1, when he picked up two goals and three assists in the 7-3 win over the Lakers. Van Guilder chipped in two goals and two assists in that win. In the Nov. 2, 4-1 win, Condra scored one goal and Van Guilder added an assist to finish off their series scoring.

HELPING THE CAUSE: Sophomore center Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.) joined Notre Dame’s scoring parade versus Lake Superior. After having just two assists in the first seven games, Deeth set up three goals in the 7-3 win and then added an assist on Kyle Lawson’s (So., New Hudson, Mich.) game winner in the 4-1 win. That gave the speedy center a four-point weekend.

VERSUS THE BEST: The last time that Notre Dame faced the top-ranked team in the country came on Oct. 20, 2006 when the Irish faced Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Mass. Notre Dame won that game, 7-1. Here’s a list of Irish wins over No. 1 ranked teams in the 40-year history of the program.

10/20/06 - at Boston College, 7-110/22/04 - vs. Boston College, 3-210/23/03 - at Boston College, 1-01/3/99 - at North Dakota, 4-311/20/78 - at Minnesota, 3-21/13/78 - vs. Denver, 5-31/18/74 - vs. Michigan Tech, 7-12/24/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 4-32/23/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 8-5

TOUGH SCHEDULE: Five of Notre Dame’s first 11 games will come against teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation. This weekend, the Irish travel to Oxford, Ohio for a pair of games against No. 1 ranked Miami. Earlier this season, the Irish opened the year with a 4-1 loss to #14/#15 Wisconsin (10/12), before splitting a pair with #5/#5 Denver on Oct. 18-19. The Irish won 4-3 in the series opener before falling 3-1 on Friday night to the Pioneers. The Irish are 1-2-0 against ranked teams this season. They were 10-2-1 a year ago.

LAKE SUPERIOR RECAP: The Irish recorded their first series sweep of the season versus Lake Superior State. Notre Dame took a 7-3 win on Thur., Nov. 1 and then followed with a 4-1 victory on Fri., Nov. 2. On Thursday night at the Joyce Center, the Irish got two goals each from Erik Condra and Mark Van Guilder while Robin Bergman (Fr., Stockholm, Sweden), Ryan Thang (So., Edina, Minn.) and Dan VeNard (Sr., Vernon Hills, Ill.) scored single goals in the win. Condra picked up three assists for a five-point game and Van Guilder added two helpers for a four-point night. Sophomore center Kevin Deeth also assisted on three goals in the win. The Lakers got goals from Nathan Perkovich, Rick Schofield and Josh Sim on the night. Thang (ppg) and VeNard scored first period goals to give the Irish a 2-1 lead. Bergman built the lead to 3-1 just 17 seconds into the second period and Van Guilder got his first of the night at 4:20 for a 4-1 lead. Schofield cut the lead to 4-2 at 8:08 of the second period before the Irish got power-play goals from Condra (14:47) and Van Guilder (16:19) for a 6-2 lead after two periods. Condra closed Notre Dame’s scoring just 40 seconds into the third period before Sim closed the scoring at 8:28. On the night, Notre Dame out shot Lake Superior, 27-15. Jordan Pearce (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) made 12 saves while Pat Inglis had 20 for the Lakers. The Irish were 3-for-5 on the power play while Lake Superior was 1-for-4. On Friday night, Notre Dame’s special teams paced the Irish offense with one short-handed goal and a pair of power-play tallies. Christian Hanson (Jr., Venetia, Pa.) scored the opening goal of the game short-handed and was followed by power-play goals from defenseman Kyle Lawson and right wing Evan Rankin (Sr., Portage, Mich.) while Condra added the lone even strength goal of the game. Hanson scored late in the first period (19:19) while Lawson’s goal came at 4:54 of the second to give the Irish a 2-0 lead. Perkovich cut that lead to 2-1 with his second power-play goal of the weekend to end the second period with the Irish protecting a one-goal lead. Freshman goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.), making his first collegiate start, held the fort until the midway point of the third period when Condra got his third goal of the weekend for a 3-1 lead. Rankin finished the scoring at 12:22 of the third with a power-play marker and his third goal of the season. Phillips finished with 16 saves in getting his first career win. Notre Dame out shot Lake Superior by a 36-17 margin in the victory.

TURNING ON THE POWER: After going just 1-for-24 on the power play in the three previous games, Notre Dame was able to turn on the power on the power play in the weekend series against Lake Superior State. The Irish went 3-for-5 in Thursday’s 7-3 win and then scored twice on five chances in Friday’s 4-1 victory to go 5-for-10 in the series. That improved Notre Dame to 12-for-58 for a 20.7% success rate.

PENALTY KILLERS: For the first time all season, Notre Dame has surrendered power-play goals in back-to-back games as Lake Superior scored once in each game last weekend. In Thursday’s 7-3 win, the Lakers snapped a streak of 31-consecutive power plays killed when Nathan Perkovich scored at 12:20 of the first period. Notre Dame went on to kill the three other Lake Superior chances in the game. In Friday’s 4-1 victory, Perkovich again scored with the man advantage (5X3) as the Lakers were 1-for-7 on the power play in the game. On the season, the Irish have given up three power-play goals on 45 chances for a 93.3% success rate when short-handed.

CONDRA CAPERS: Right wing Erik Condra recorded the second, five-point game of his career in Thursday’s 7-3 win over Lake Superior. Condra scored twice and added three assists for five points on the night. His previous five-point game came on Jan. 5, 2007 at Robert Morris when he had a goal and four assists. Condra currently leads the Irish in scoring with four goals and six assists for 10 points in the first nine games of the season.

ON THE MARK: Senior center Mark Van Guilder recorded the second four-point game of his career on Thursday night against Lake Superior State. Van Guilder scored twice and set up two others in the game. His previous four-point night came at Bowling Green on Feb. 17, 2006 as a sophomore when he had three goals and an assist against the Falcons. The Notre Dame captain leads the Irish in goals (6) and power-play goals (4) this season.

LINING UP: Notre Dame’s trio of Condra, Van Guilder and freshman Robin Bergman (Stockholm, Sweden) played on the same line for the first time this season against Lake Superior State. The trio combined for six goals and eight assists for 14 points over the two games. Bergman scored his first collegiate goal in the 7-3 win and had the first multiple-point game of his career in that game. He added an assist in the 4-1 win on Friday night for a three-point weekend. Condra had (3g, 3a) and Van Guilder added two goals and three assists for their weekend statistics.

THE MAN BETWEEN THE PIPES: After playing in just three games last season, junior goaltender Jordan Pearce has taken over in goal for the Irish this season, playing 476:33 of 480:00 minutes (3:27 of empty net time). His 476:33 minutes are second in the CCHA and second in the nation to Michigan’s Billy Sauer (481:35). His eight starts are a career high and his win over Lake Superior on Nov. 1 was a career-best fifth win of the year. Pearce is 5-3-0 on with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. He also has one shutout on the season.

NEW KID: Freshman goaltender Brad Phillips made his first career start in goal for Notre Dame on Nov. 2 in the 4-1 win over Lake Superior State. Phillips stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced, giving up just a five-on-three power-play goal in the game.

RANKINGS UPDATE: Notre Dame opened the 2007-08 season ranked eighth in the nation by both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV polls. The Irish finished the 2006-07 season ranked fourth in the final USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll that included the NCAA tournament. The Irish finished the year first in the USCHO.com/CSTV polls that ended with the end of the CCHA Tournament. In all, Notre Dame was ranked for 20 consecutive weeks and was ranked No.1 for seven straight weeks from Feb. 5 to March 25. The Irish have been ranked every week so far this season. Week-by-week with the Irish this season:

2007-08 Irish National RankingsDate    USA TODAY    USCHO.com10/01       8th         8th10/08       7th         8th10/15      11th        11th10/22      12th        12th10/29      13th        14th11/5       12th        12th

ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame’s two wins on the road between Oct. 23 and Oct. 27 (at Bowling Green and Ferris State) gave the Irish seven-consecutive road wins, dating back to Jan. 19, 2007. The seven-consecutive road wins tied a program record that was set between Jan. 7 and Feb. 4, 1977. That seven-game streak also became part of the team’s longest road unbeaten run as the Irish went 8-0-1 between Jan. 7 and Feb. 24 of that season. The streak was snapped on Oct. 28 in a 3-0 loss at Ferris State

DYNAMITE DEETH: Sophomore center Kevin Deeth, held to just two assists in the first seven games of the season broke out of his slow start with a three-assist game in the 7-3 win over Lake Superior. He picked up assists on VeNard’s goal and then the two power-play goals by Van Guilder and Condra in the second period. The three-assist night was the first of his career while the three-point game was the third of his young Notre Dame career. Deeth rang up his fourth assist of the weekend as he helped set up a Kyle Lawson goal in the 4-2 win on Nov. 2.

SPECIAL MENTION: Notre Dame freshmen forward Ben Ryan (Brighton, Mich.) earned special mention for CCHA rookie of the month honors for October after scoring two goals and adding five assists for seven points in his first month of play. Miami’s Carter Camper took the rookie of the month honors over Ryan.

FRIENDLY CONFINES: The sellout crowd of 2,857 on Friday, Nov. 2 at the Joyce Center is the largest crowd to watch a Notre Dame hockey game since March 3, 1995 when 3,310 saw the Irish defeat Illinois-Chicago. Following that season, new seating was installed, reducing capacity at the Joyce Center. This week, a new section of seating was added to the student section to increase the capacity. <>HOME SWEET HOME: After four home games this season, Notre Dame is 3-1-0 at the Joyce Center. A year ago, Notre Dame was 13-2-2 at home for an .824 winning percentage. That was the best mark since the 2003-04 season when the Irish were 14-2-2 at the Joyce Center for an .833 winning percentage. Only two other Irish teams have had better home records – 1987-88 team was 18-2-0 (.900) and the 1969-70 team was 12-1-1 (.893).

A PLUS START: Freshman defenseman Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.) has gotten his career off to a strong start through the first nine games of the season. Ruth currently leads Notre Dame with a +8 plus-minus for the season after going +3 in the 7-3 win over Lake Superior State. He and defensive partner Brock Sheahan (Sr., Lethbridge, Alb.) are one-two on the team as Sheahan is +7 on the season.

TICKLING THE TWINE: Senior defenseman Dan VeNard scored his first goal for the Irish since March 3, 2006 in the 7-3 win over Lake Superior. His last goal came against Alaska in the 2006 CCHA playoffs. He was goal less in 17 games last season and snapped a 25-game goal-less drought with his first-period marker on Nov. 1. The goal was the third of VeNard’s career.

IRON MAN: Senior center Mark Van Guilder has his sights set on Notre Dame’s all-time record for most consecutive games played. The record of 153 straight games was set by Tim Wallace `06 who played in every game of his career – 153 straight. Van Guilder has now played in every game of his career – 125 consecutive games played through the first nine games this year.

THE REAL THANG: Sophomore left wing Ryan Thang has now scored goals in five of Notre Dame’s first nine games this season. His goal against Lake Superior State was his fifth of the year and third on the power play. He has now scored 25 goals in his first 51 career games with 13 of them coming on the power play.

ON A FAST PACE: Senior right wing Evan Rankin scored his third goal of the season in the 4-1 win over Lake Superior on Nov. 2. The hard-working forward is one of his pace of last season when he had four goals. His career high is five and was set as a freshman during the 2004-05 campaign.

TAKE THE HIGHWAY: The Irish have had their share of success on the road over the last two seasons. This year, Notre Dame is 2-1 on the road. A year ago, the Irish were 12-4-1 (.735) away from the Joyce Center. The 12 road wins equaled a school record (1979-80 and 1997-98) for road wins. Only the 1983-84 team’s 10-3-1 road mark (.750) is better.

CAPTAINS: Senior right wing Mark Van Guilder will serve as Notre Dame’s captain for the 2007-08 season. Joining Van Guilder as alternate captains in `07-’08, are senior defensemen Brock Sheahan (Lethbridge, Alb.) and Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, Ill.). They will be joined by junior forward Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.). This is the first season for all four players to serve as captains at Notre Dame.

ALL TIED UP: Notre Dame’s 3-2 overtime win versus Alabama-Huntsville in the NCAA Regionals on March 23, 2007 gave the Irish a 3-1-3 record in overtime last year. The three overtime wins were the most-ever for the Irish in a single season. In 59 overtime games since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish are 10-7-42 in overtime. In two seasons under Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame is 3-1-7 in extra play.