Feb. 15, 2016
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Following a weekend home sweep of Maine, the Notre Dame hockey team has moved up one place to No. 7 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
The wins over Maine, including a 4-1 victory on Friday (Feb. 12) and a 5-1 win on Saturday (Feb. 13), also enabled the Irish to take sole possession of first place in the Hockey East standings (14-2-2, 30 points) with two weekends of play remaining. Second-ranked Boston College is in second place in the league standings (12-1-5, 29 points), followed by No. 5 Providence College (12-3-3, 27 points).
The No. 7 ranking is Notre Dame’s highest since being ranked sixth in the Nov. 18, 2013 releases of both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. The Irish have now been ranked for 14 consecutive weeks.
In the Maine series, freshman forward Jack Jenkins netted his first career game-winning goal when he scored midway through the third period on Friday night. Also in the Maine series, sophomore forward Jake Evans became the first Irish player this season to hit the 30-point plateau (7-24-31).
The Irish are now 13-1-3 over their last 17 games dating back to a 3-1 win over Western Michigan (Nov. 28). During the 17-game stretch, sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen has posted an impressive .949 save percentage to go along with a 1.59 goals-against average.
Petersen, who has started all 30 games this season, is 18-5-7 on the season with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.
The Irish will head out on the road for a pivotal series at fifth-ranked Providence this weekend (Feb. 19-20).
— ND —
Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director 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 men’s 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).