Notre Dame Hosts Penn State In B1G Semifinals

March 8, 2018

By Dan Colleran

NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The No. 4/5 Notre Dame hockey team plays host to a Big Ten semifinal game with No. 12 Penn State on Saturday, March 10. Puck drops at 5:30 p.m. at the Compton Family Ice Arena.

Tickets are available at UND.com/BuyTickets. The game can be seen on ESPNU and WatchESPN with John Buccigross and Sean Ritchlin on the call. Radio coverage with Darin Pritchett is available on WZOC 94.3 FM in the South Bend area and on the web at UND.com.

Countdown To Puck Drop

• 153 Senior defenseman Jordan Gross has skated in 153 consecutive games (each game of his Irish career).
• 91 With 91 career assists, Jake Evans (38-91-125) ranks second in career assists by an active player (Brady Ferguson of Robert Morris has 95).
• 70 Junior defenseman Dennis Gilbert ranks 15th nationally with 70 blocked shots this season. He totaled 70 blocks as a freshman and 78 as a sophomore.
• 27 The Fighting Irish are outscoring opponents by a combined 27 goals over the second and third periods this season (77-50).
• 22 With a 22-7-1 record, sophomore goaltender Cale Morris is tied with Minnesota State’s Connor LaCouvee for the most wins in the country.
• 19 Notre Dame is 19-2-2 this season when scoring first.
• 13 Head coach Jeff Jackson is in his 13th season behind the Notre Dame bench. He has led the Irish to eight NCAA tournament appearances and three Frozen Fours.
• 6 With the 2018 Big Ten regular season title, Notre Dame has now won six conference championships in program history, each under Jeff Jackson (three regular season).
• .945 Cale Morris has a .945 save percentage, which is second in the nation. He has posted the impressive save percentage while playing 19 games against the nation’s top-15 scoring offenses (ranked by goals per game).

For Starters

• No. 1 seed Notre Dame hosts No. 4 seed Penn State in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday March 10 as playoff hockey returns to the Compton Family Ice Arena.
• By virtue of winning the 2017-18 Big Ten Regular Season Championship (clinched on Feb. 9), the Irish had a bye last weekend, while Penn State is coming off a weekend home sweep of Minnesota in the quarterfinals.
• Notre Dame has won three previous conference tournament championships including CCHA Tournament titles in 2007, 2009 and 2013.
• The Fighting Irish went 3-0-1-1 (shootout win) against Penn State during the 2017-18 regular season. Cale Morris played all four games against the Nittany Lions, posting a 1.96 goals against average and a .957 save percentage (stopping 176 of 184 shots).
• All four of senior forward Bo Brauer‘s goals this season have come against the Nittany Lions, including a two-goal game (Feb. 2) and a pair of game winners.
• Additional offensive season leaders against Penn State include Andrew Oglevie (4 GP; 2-3-5) and Bobby Nardella (4 GP, 1-3-4).

Quick Hits

• Jake Evans (2-3-5), Cam Morrison (2-1-3) and Jack Jenkins (0-2-2) each have active two-game point streaks heading into Saturday’s semifinal game.
• Evans (39-91-130) now ranks tied for 25th all-time in program history for career points and 16th in program history for career assists.
• Evans has skated in 125 consecutive games dating back to his freshman season.
• Dennis Gilbert is the only defenseman in the country with multiple shorthanded goals this season (2).
• Andrew Oglevie and Evans are tied for 12th in the country with four game-winning goals apiece.
• The Fighting Irish are tied for eighth in the country in scoring defense with a 2.18 goals against per game mark and their penalty kill ranks second (89.1).
• Jordan Gross, who has played in all 153 games of his Irish career, leads all active defensemen with 115 career points on 33 goals and 82 assists (Mark Auk of Michigan Tech is second with 83, while Louie Belpedio of Miami and Jimmy Schuldt of St. Cloud State are tied for third with 81).
• The Irish are 12-6-2 against ranked opponents this season.

Twenty-Three Wins And Counting

• Notre Dame’s win over Michigan State on Feb. 23 was its 23rd of the season (23-9-2).
• It marks the 11th season in program history with at least 23 victories (out of 49 NCAA DI varsity seasons) and the eighth under head coach Jeff Jackson.
• Notre Dame’s last 24 win season came in 2012-13 when it finished the year 25-13-3.
• This season also marked just the fourth time the Irish reached 23 wins before the start of playoffs.
• The only other seasons the Irish recorded at least 23 wins in the regular season were 1987-88 (23 as a Div. I Independent), 2006-07 (27) and 2008-09 (27).

B1G Awards Finalists

• On March 7, the Big Ten announced three finalists for the league’s Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goaltender of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year awards.
• Fighting Irish sophomore goaltender Cale Morris, a Hobey Baker and All-American candidate, has been named a finalist for Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Goaltender of the Year awards.
• Senior forward Jake Evans and senior defenseman Jordan Gross were named two of the three finalists for the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Head coach Jeff Jackson was named a finalist for Coach of the Year honors.
• The award winners along the league’s All-Star teams will be announced on March 13.

Irish In The Playoffs Under Jackson

Notre Dame is 34-28-0 in playoff games under 13th-year head coach Jeff Jackson, including trips to the 2008, 2011 and 2017 Frozen Fours.

Eavns A Senior CLASS Finalist

• Fighting Irish senior captain Jake Evans has been named one of 10 finalists for college hockey’s 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award® (Feb. 16).
• Evans joins Michigan’s Sam Piazza as the two finalists from the Big Ten.
• Evans was previously named one of 20 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award ® candidates on Nov. 1.
• To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Div. I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The 10 finalists will now be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote by media, coaches and fans. To vote, click here.
• The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Frozen Final Four® in April.

— ND —

Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications 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 golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).