#18 Evan Rankin 2006-07 Hockey Roster

Will look to play a bigger role with the Irish in his senior season … highly skilled forward who has plenty of offensive talent … had a strong offseason in the weight room … hard-working player who is strong on his skates and has good hands around the net … tough in the corners … has a great attitude and work ethic … tenacious forechecker who doesn[apos]t stray from the physical play … has a goal scorer[apos]s instincts around the goal … three-year monogram winner for the Irish … saw action in 31 games as a junior, scoring four goals with three assists for seven points … for his career, has played in 96 games with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points to his credit … led Irish freshmen in scoring in 2004-05 … ‘local’ player who comes to Notre Dame from nearby Portage, Mich. (just outside Kalamazoo, Mich.) … only three other Notre Dame monogram winners – Mike McNeill `84-[apos]88 (South Bend), Cary Nemeth `93-[apos]94 (Granger) and Tommy Smith `88-[apos]89 (South Bend) – have lived closer to Notre Dame than Rankin … played junior hockey with the Lincoln Stars in the USHL … one of three former Stars on the Irish roster along with juniors Erik Condra and Jordan Pearce … one of 20 Notre Dame players to cut their hockey teeth in the USHL … one of eight Michigan natives on the Irish roster, joining juniors Erik Condra (Livonia) and Justin White (Traverse City), sophomores Brett Blatchford (Temperance) and Kyle Lawson (New Hudson) and freshmen Ian Cole (Ann Arbor), Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills) and Ben Ryan (Brighton) … signed in the late-signing period (spring `04) along with Brian D[apos]Arcy and Mark Van Guilder.

AS A JUNIOR: Saw action in 31 games for the Irish … scored four goals and added three assists for seven points … was +6 for the year … recorded seven penalties for 14 minutes … had 42 shots on goal … collected first points of the season with assists versus Boston College and Providence on Oct. 20-21 … scored first goal of season on Dec. 3, in 6-2 win over Alaska … snapped a 1-1 tie with first goal of second period on a wrap around … scored in second consecutive game on Dec. 8 at Michigan in a 7-3 win when he lit the lamp on a third-period breakaway back-hander for the final goal of the game … picked up final assist of the year on Dec. 31 in 4-2 win over Northern Michigan … third tally of the year came at Lake Superior on Jan. 12 when he scored on a rebound to give Irish a 1-0 first-period lead in 4-3 overtime win … scored lone Notre Dame goal in 2-1, season-ending loss to Michigan State in NCAA quarterfinals … deflected a Brett Blatchford shot with under six minutes left in game to cut Spartans[apos] lead to 2-1 in eventual 2-1 loss.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Saw action in 29 of Notre Dame[apos]s 36 games during the season … scored three goals and added two assists for five points … had five penalties for 10 minutes … picked up a game-winning goal against Alaska Fairbanks … took 35 shots on goal … was +1 on the year … picked up first point of the season with an assist on third-period goal by Josh Sciba in 5-3 loss to Princeton … did not score again until Jan. 6 at Nebraska-Omaha when he got his first goal of the year, an insurance tally in 4-1 Notre Dame win … second goal of the season came in 3-2 home loss to Michigan State on Feb. 3 … assisted on a Josh Sciba third-period goal in 7-4 win at Bowling Green on Feb. 17 … picked up final goal, scoring the game winner in 4-1 win against Alaska Fairbanks on Feb. 24 … goal came at 13:06 of the first period and gave Irish a 2-1 lead … win helped Notre Dame clinch home playoff berth in first round of CCHA playoffs against the same Nanooks … was held scoreless in two playoff games.

AS A FRESHMAN: Played in 36 of Notre Dame[apos]s 38 games in 2004-05, scoring five goals and adding five assists for 10 points … had one power-play goal … tied for seventh on the team with 68 shots on goal … had 19 penalties for 49 minutes … picked up first collegiate goal in Notre Dame[apos]s biggest win of the year on Oct. 22 … first-period goal gave Irish a 2-0 lead on the way to a 3-2 win over top-ranked Boston College … recorded first multiple-point game of his career with a goal and an assist in 4-4 tie with Bowling Green on Nov. 5 … that was the start of a four-game point streak (3g, 2a) … returned home to Kalamazoo to score game-tying goals in 2-2 tie with Western Michigan on Nov. 12 … added an assist the following night in 3-2 win over the Broncos … extended the streak to four games with his fifth goal of the season in 3-2 loss to Alaska Fairbanks … picked up one assist in 3-2 overtime win versus Michigan State on Dec. 10 … went 13 games without a point before picking up assists in back-to-back games versus Nebraska-Omaha and Ferris State … scored fifth goal of the season in CCHA playoffs … goal came in first period of game one and staked Irish to a 1-0 lead in a game they would lose, 10-1.

PREP & PERSONAL: Graduated from Portage Northern High School … had 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points in 58 games for Lincoln Stars in 2003-04 … seven of those goals came on the power play and one was short-handed … selected to the USHL[apos]s Prospects/All-Star game … was a member of USA Under-18 Select Team that won the gold medal at the Under-18 World Cup in August of 2003 … scored overtime game-winning goal versus Russia … played in U.S. Select-17 Festival and led Team Michigan in scoring in summer of 2003 … named to the all-Festival team … spent 2002-03 season with Honeybaked AAA team scoring 50 goals with 43 assists for 93 points in 74 games … was a member of Compuware[apos]s AAA team in 2001-02 where he scored 46 goals with 39 assists for 85 points in 70 games … named MVP of the 2002 Silver Sticks Bantam AAA tournament and was selected to the tournament all-star team … full name is Evan Reid Rankin … son of Neil and Lisa Rankin … father is an independent contract photographer who frequently works for the Western Michigan athletic department … has one brother … born March 28, 1986, in Kalamazoo, Mich. … accountancy major in the Mendoza College of Business.

Rankin[apos]s Career Statistics