Nov. 1, 2013
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame freshman center Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) finished off the month of October in fine form being named Hockey East/Pro Ambitions rookie of the month. He starts November with another honor as he has been selected as the Hockey Commissioners Association’s national rookie of the month for October.
After the first six games of the season, the 5-9, 175-pound forward has proven that he belongs as he leads the Irish in scoring with three goals and five assists for eight points in helping Notre Dame get off to a 5-1-0 start and a number two ranking in the nation.
Hinostroza has put up points in five of the team’ six games to date and currently has a four-game point streak (with two goals and four assists since Oct. 18). Among his three goals is one power-play tally and he is tied for second on the team with 17 shots on goal and tied for the team lead with a +3. He has recorded a pair of multiple-point games, including a three-point game (2g, 1a) versus Michigan Tech on Oct. 20. He is second among rookie scorers in Hockey East and tied for third on the national level among all freshmen scorers with his eight points.
The speedy center’s start comes as no surprise to head coach Jeff Jackson who earlier this week said, “Vinny is a guy that we expected to have an impact as a freshman. We had him play another year of junior hockey just for this reason – to make sure that he was strong enough to have an impact as a freshman. We knew he had the talent and he could have come in last year, but I was concerned about his body because he isn’t the biggest cat in the world, but he competes real hard and has great hockey instincts.”
Jackson added, “The extra year certainly helped him and gave him confidence in his offensive game. Plus, he is getting power-play time and he’s been part of a good line (with Thomas DiPauli and Peter Schneider) for us.”
The Bartlett, Ill., native becomes the first Notre Dame player named the HCA rookie of the month since Anders Lee took the honors in Dec. of 2010. T.J. Tynan took the honor in November of 2010.
Hinostroza and his teammates return to action on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. when they play at the University of Vermont in the first-ever Hockey East game for the Irish.
Notre Dame brings a 5-1-0 mark into the contest while Vermont is 1-1-1 on the young season. The two teams also will meet at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse.