Jan. 11, 2016
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame hockey team moved up two places to No. 13 in the latest USCHO.com poll and up one place, also to No. 13, in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
The No. 13 ranking is Notre Dame’s highest of the season. Both national polls were released on Monday, Jan. 11.
The Irish are on an eight-game unbeaten streak (5-0-3), which is tied with North Dakota for the longest active unbeaten streak in the nation.
This past weekend, Notre Dame went 1-0-1 in a home-and-home series versus Western Michigan, including a 7-1 home win (Jan. 8) followed by a 3-3 overtime road tie (Jan. 9). Freshman forward Dylan Malmquist paced the Irish offense with a goal in each game, while also adding two assists in Friday night’s win for a career-high, three-point game.
In Friday’s win, each of Notre Dame’s 12 forwards recorded at least one point. On the season, 19 Notre Dame players have scored at least one goal, while 11 skaters have notched at least 10 points.
The Irish return to Hockey East action this weekend by playing host to Merrimack College for a two-game series (Jan. 15-16). The NBC Sports Network will televise both games.
Unbeaten Streak Notes
— Notre Dame’s current eight-game unbeaten streak is its longest unbeaten stretch since going 7-0-1 from Feb. 2 – March 14, 2014.
— Sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen, who has started all 21 games for the Irish this season, has posted a 1.61 goal-against average and a .951 save percentage during the current unbeaten streak.
— Sophomore forward Anders Bjork has a six-game point streak (4-3-7) dating back to the 3-1 win over Western Michigan on Nov. 28 that started the unbeaten streak (he missed the Denver series while playing with Team USA at the World Junior Championship).
— Bjork (4-3-7) and sophomore defenseman Jordan Gross (1-6-7) lead the team with seven points apiece during the streak.
— Bjork (+10), senior defenseman Andy Ryan (+8) and sophomore defenseman Luke Ripley (+8) lead the team in plus/minus rating, while freshman defenseman Dennis Gilbert’s 20 blocked shots also lead the team.
— 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 Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Prior to Providence, Colleran spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League. He is a 2006 graduate of Providence College, where he also earned an MBA in 2008.