SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team continues its homestand October 25-26 as they get set to host Long Island University. The weekend series will mark the second and third ever meetings between the two squads. Friday’s game will be the team’s annual First Responder’s Night with a ceremonial puck drop before Hocktoberfest on the lawn of Compton Family Ice Arena pregame Saturday.
Tickets for both games are still available and can be purchased here.
SERIES OVERVIEW
Opponent: Long Island Sharks | Oct. 25-26
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Compton Family Ice Arena
Schedule: Fri. 7:05pm | Sat. 6:05pm
Theme: First Responder’s Night w/ K9 Puck Drop (Fri.) | Hocktoberfest (Sat.)
TV: Peacock
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Radio: fightingirish.com/radioaffiliates/
Game Notes: Notre Dame | LIU
QUICK HITS
- Notre Dame continues their home stand this weekend with LIU in town for a two-game series.
- The Irish kicked off the home stretch with the Alaska Nanooks last weekend and went 1-1 on the weekend against the Nanooks.
- LIU and Notre Dame meet for just the second and third time in program history Oct. 25-26. Games are set for a 7:05pm puck drop Friday before a 6:05pm start Saturday. Both tilts will be streamed on Peacock.
- The Irish team returns 19 student-athletes from the 2023-24 roster, including 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. The forwards include graduate senior Grant Silianoff and seniors Justin Janicke, Hunter Strand and Tyler Carpenter. Returning defensemen include four who appeared in the final series of the 2023-24 season in Michael Mastrodomenico, Paul Fischer, Zach Plucinski and Henry Nelson.
- Notre Dame returns two 20+ point scorers from a season ago as Danny Nelson (9-14-23) and Cole Knuble (9-11-20) embark on their sophomore season with the Irish.
- In total, eight returners posted double-digit points last season. In addition to Nelson and Knuble, Hunter Strand (4-15-19), Justin Janicke (4-12-16), Paul Fischer (2-14-16), Brennan Ali (3-10-13), Maddox Fleming (3-9-12) and Grant Silianoff (4-7-11) look to improve upon their double-digit performances a season ago.
- At the last line of defense, the Irish return Jack Williams in goal and added two new netminders to the mix in Nicholas Kempf (USNTDP) and Owen Say (Mercyhurst).
- The Irish added 10 new faces to the squad in 2024-25, including five freshmen and five transfers. The 10 newcomers consist of five forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
- Notre Dame swept its opening weekend in the North Country, Oct. 11-12, picking up wins over St. Lawrence and Clarkson in the program’s first ever trip to Northern New York.
- Friday’s season opener at St. Lawrence saw Blake Biondi score the team’s first goal of the 2024-25 season, notching his first goal for the Blue and Gold at 6:45 of the opening period. A pair of sophomores in Cole Knuble and Danny Nelson stepped into their bigger roles this season almost immediately, combining for three goals against the Saints to cap off Notre Dame’s opening night with the 4-1 final.
- Owen Say made his debut for the Irish in net at St. Lawrence on Friday night, stopping 32 of 33 shots faced and registering a .970 save percentage in his first start.
- The Irish continued their road trip out East with a 5-2 victory over Clarkson to complete the opening weekend sweep.
- Notre Dame found themselves down for the majority of the contest, trailing 2-0 in the first, and not finding the back of the net themselves until the final minute of the second stanza. It was Cole Knuble’s powerplay tally with 21 seconds to play in the middle frame that sparked a strong offensive surge in the third period which included four goals to complete the comeback.
- Michael Mastrodomenico scored his second career goal, and first of the season, just 1:12 into the third period to tie it up against the Golden Knights before Hunter Strand net the eventual game-winner at 8:38 of the frame.
- The Irish hosted their first weekend series of the year last weekend against Alaska in which they split the series, 1-1. The team opened it with a 4-1 victory over the Nanooks before dropping a close 1-0 decision to Alaska Saturday to wrap up the series.
- In four games played this season, the Irish have allowed just five goals against with the defense averaging 28.5 shots on goal against and a 1.25 goals against average which ranks second nationally (min. three games played).
- The team unofficially opened its season against the USNTDP for an exhibition contest Oct. 4. Graduate senior Biondi made his Irish presence known immediately with a first period goal against the USNTDP in the team’s exhibition game last Friday night. The Hermantown, Minnesota native had two unofficial goals on the night, both scored on the powerplay. His second of the night sparked a third-period comeback for the Irish which included four unanswered goals to end the game and give the Irish the 5-2 win.
- Senior Justin Janicke posted four assists on the night against the U18 team, all of which came in the final frame.
- Grant Silianoff and Maddox Fleming also posted multi-point nights while Ian Murphy got hit twine for the first time in an Irish sweater as he closed out the scoring Friday with an empty net tally.
NOTRE DAME vs. LIU
- The Irish and Sharks have met once previously, in LIU’s second season in existence.
- The Sharks traveled to South Bend, Indiana in 2021-22 for a one-game series to open their season.
- Then-freshman Hunter Strand scored his first collegiate goal in the contest, helping lift the Irish to a 5-2 victory over the Sharks.
- The two teams were initially slated to compete during the Sharks’ inaugural 2020-21 season before the Covid-19 pandemic put a pause on all non-conference play for the Irish.