Notre Dame Game Notes 
| Shillelagh Tournament | Tournament Schedule
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE — Nov. 27-28
Game One: RPI vs. Western Michigan [4:05 p.m.]
Game Two: Harvard vs. Notre Dame [7:35 p.m.]
Game Three: Harvard vs. TBD [4:05 p.m.]
Game Four: TBD vs. Notre Dame [7:35 p.m.]
OVERVIEW
— The Irish will play host to the sixth edition of the Shillelagh Tournament this weekend (Nov. 27-28) and will be looking to take the Shillelagh Championship back for the first time since 2010.
— Notre Dame opens the tournament with a game against eighth-ranked Harvard, marking the teams’ first meeting since Dec. 23, 1978.
— Harvard and RPI are playing in the Shillelagh Tournament for the first time, while Western Michigan is playing for a third time.
SHILLELAGH TOURNAMENT HISTORY
— This weekend marks the sixth installment of Notre Dame’s Shillelagh Tournament.
— The first three Shillelagh Tournaments (2009-11) were played at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
— After a break until the Compton Family Ice Arena opened, the tournament resumed in November of 2013 at the home of the Fighting Irish.
— This year, Western Michigan will be taking part for a third consecutive season, while RPI and Harvard will be making their first appearances in the Shillelagh field.
— Western Michigan will be looking to defend it’s title from last season as it posted wins over Ohio State (6-2) and Union (8-2) to win the tournament.
— The Irish won the Shillelagh Tournament in 2009 and 2010.
— The 2011 championship went to Minnesota State, while Northeastern took the 2013 title.
ALL-TIME SHILLELAGH TOURNAMENT RESULTS
2009 TOURNAMENT (Jan. 2-3, 2009)
Minnesota Duluth 2, UMass Lowell 1
Notre Dame 3, Union College 1
Third-Place
Union 2, UMass Lowell 1
Championship
Notre Dame 3, Minnesota Duluth 1
2010 TOURNAMENT (Jan. 2-3, 2010)
North Dakota 3, Niagara 1
Notre Dame 5, Colgate 2
Third-Place
Niagara 5, Colgate 1
Championship
Notre Dame 3, North Dakota 3 (ot)
Notre Dame wins shootout, 2-1 (five rounds)
2011 TOURNAMENT (Jan. 1-2, 2011)
Brown 6, Boston University 1
Minnesota State 4, Notre Dame 3
Third-Place
Notre Dame 3, Boston University 3 (ot)
Notre Dame wins shootout 1-0 (three rounds)
Championship
Minnesota State 7, Brown 3
2013 TOURNAMENT (Nov. 29-30, 2013)
Northeastern 1, Western Michigan 1 (ot)
Northeastern wins shootout 1-0 (three rounds)
Notre Dame 5, Alabama Huntsville 2
Third-Place
Western Michigan 1, Alabama Huntsville 0
Championship
Northeastern 3, Notre Dame 2
2014 TOURNAMENT (Nov. 28-29, 2014)
Western Michigan 6, Ohio State 2
Union 3, Notre Dame 2 (ot)
Third-Place
Ohio State 5, Notre Dame 1
Championship
Western Michigan 8, Union 2
ACTIVE NOTRE DAME POINT STREAKS
— There are no active Notre Dame point streaks. Ã… Thomas DiPauli (1G), Connor Hurley (1A) and Dylan Malmquist (1A) each registered a point in Notre Dame’s 3-1 loss at No. 5 UMass Lowell (Nov. 21).
IN THE POLLS
— In the rankings for a fourth consecutive week, the Irish moved from No. 16 to No 18 in the USCHO.com poll after playing a tightly contested series at UMass Lowell that saw the Irish erase a two-goal deficit in game one to force a 2-2 overtime tie in game one (Nov. 20).
— In game two, the River Hawks came away with a 3-1 win, including an empty net tally, despite Notre Dame out-shooting UMass Lowell 36-16.
— The River Hawks moved from fifth to fourth with the 1-0-1 showing against the Irish.
UP NEXT
— Next weekend, Notre Dame returns to Hockey East play by hosting UMass in a two-game series (Dec. 4-5).
— It will mark the two teams’ first meetings since the Irish knocked the Minutemen out of the 2015 Hockey East Tournament last season, two games to one at the Compton Family Ice Arena (March 6-8).
— That series included college hockey’s longest game, a five overtime 4-3 game one win by UMass.
— Cal Petersen made an NCAA-record 87 saves in that game.
STAGING A COMEBACK
— With less than a minute to play in the second period, Notre Dame trailed at No. 5 UMass Lowell 2-0 on Nov. 20. Ã… A late Dennis Gilbert power-play goal to close the second period made it a 2-1 game and then Anders Bjork scored the game-tying goal midway through the third period in an eventual 2-2 overtime tie. Ã… Prior to the Irish comeback, UMass Lowell was 7-0-0 on the season when leading after two periods of play.
— It was just the fifth time under Head Coach Norm Bazin that the River Hawks could not hold a two-goal lead (86-3-2) and just the second time at home (39-0-2).
GROSS OF GOALS
— With five goals on the season, Jordan Gross is tied for third in the country in goals scored by defensemen .
— Jake Walman of Providence leads the country with nine goals, followed by Boston College’s Teddy Doherty (6).
— Gross and Gregory Amlong of RIT are tied for third with five goals.
— Gross scored two goals in a 4-3 win over Minnesota (Nov. 6) and two goals in a 3-2 win over Northeastern (Nov. 12).
— Gross leads the Irish with two power-play goals on the season. Ã… Last season, Gross scored seven goals in 42 games, including one power-play tally.
TOP MARKS IN THE COUNTRY
— Released on Nov. 4, the Notre Dame is first in NCAA Div. I hockey in the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) rankings with a perfect 100 score (tied with Bowling Green).
— The Irish also rank first in NCAA Div. I hockey in the Federal Rate (measured by the federal government in its Department of Education report) with a score of 94.
— Miami finished second in the Federal Rate with a score of 73. Ã… University wide, Notre Dame claimed a share of the 2015 national championship for graduating student-athletes in all sports – in the process posting the top NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figure (98) for its student-athletes for the ninth straight year.
BALANCED ATTACK
— Notre Dame heads into Friday night with the nation’s 15th-ranked scoring offense (3.25 goals per game).
— Dylan Malmquist, Jordan Gross and Thomas DiPauli lead the Irish with five goals each.
— DiPauli (5-7-12) and Jake Evans (2-10-12) lead the team with 12 points.
— Evans’ 10 assists lead the team, followed by Anders Bjork’s eight (3-8-11).
— The balanced Irish attack features seven players with at least eight points on the season, while 17 players have already scored at least one goal this season.
HOCKEY EAST HOT START
— With a 2-2 comeback tie against UMass Lowell, Notre Dame opened Hockey East play with a 3-0-2 mark.
— In three seasons since joining the league, the 3-0-2 mark marked Notre Dame’s best Hockey East start.
IN OVERTIME
— The Irish are 0-0-4 in overtime this season, including a pair of 3-3 ties against then fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 23-24), a 2-2 tie versus Northeastern on Nov. 13 and a 2-2 tie at No. 5 UMass Lowell (Nov. 20).
— Two players on the current roster have overtime, game-winning goals:
— Jake Evans in a 3-2 win vs. Miami on Dec. 28, 2014 in the Florida College Hockey Classic.
— Connor Hurley in a 3-2 win at Merrimack on Nov. 14, 2014.
YOUNG GUNS
— According to research conducted by College Hockey Inc. (@Collegehockey), entering the 2015-16 season, the Notre Dame roster is the fifth-youngest in the country (as of Oct. 1, 2015).
— The top-five youngest teams entering the season include Boston College (20 years, 169 days), Boston University (20 years, 179 days), Michigan (20 years, 235 days), Wisconsin (20 years, 320 days) and Notre Dame (20 years, 333 days).
— Notre Dame’s roster includes 15 underclassmen (nine sophomores and six freshmen).