Nov. 14, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – For the second time this season, a Notre Dame hockey player has been selected as one of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s player of the week. Junior defenseman Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) has been named the CCHA defenseman of the week for his play in the Irish sweep of Bowling Green last weekend at the Joyce Center. He joins goaltender Jordan Pearce (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska) who was named the CCHA rookie of the week on Nov. 1.
Babin contributed both on the offensive end and defensively as Notre Dame handed the Falcons a 9-4 loss on Thursday, Nov. 10 and a 4-2 loss the following night, Nov. 11. In the two games, Babin recorded three assists and had a +3 plus-minus rating for the weekend.
In Thursday’s 9-4 win, Babin assisted on Matt Amado’s second-period goal that gave the Irish a 4-1 lead at 9:21 of the middle stanza. He followed with an assist on Victor Oreskovich’s power-play goal at 15:44 of the third period that gave the Irish a 9-3 lead. On that goal, Babin’s shot from the right point was deflected by the big right wing for his second goal of the season. For the game, Babin recorded a +2 plus-minus rating. The Irish killed five-of-seven Bowling Green power plays on the night and Babin was on the ice when Josh Sciba scored his short-handed goal in the third period.
On Friday night, Babin picked up his third assist of the weekend as he set up Tim Wallace’s third-period insurance goal. Bowling Green had rallied from a 3-0 deficit to cut the lead to 3-2 in the third period. With less than three minutes left in the game, Babin fired a shot from the point that Falcon goaltender Jon Horrell stopped. The rebound came out in front to Wallace who fired it past Horrell to give the Irish a 4-2 led with 2:35 left in the game. From there the Irish defense held Bowling Green at bay for the weekend sweep.
The CCHA sweep was the first for the Irish since Feb. 27-28, 2004 when Notre Dame took two in a row at home versus Michigan.
In seven games this season, Babin has a goal and three assists for four points and is +3 on the year with 12 shots on goal.
On the year, Notre Dame is now 3-5-0 overall and 2-2-0 in CCHA play. The Irish return to action this weekend with a pair of conference games on the road at #11/#12 Miami, Nov. 18-19 at Goggin Arena in Oxford, Ohio. Game time both nights is set for 7:35 p.m.