Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2019 55 • An attendance record of 5,988 (5,022 is listed as capacity) versus Penn State eclipsed the previous stan- dard of 5,630 set versus Wisconsin on Jan. 19, 2018. The Nittany Lions outshot the Fighting Irish 48-29 in the Big Ten championship game, but only two of those attempts went past junior goal- tender Cale Morris, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after posting a 4-0 mark, a 0.75 goals against average and a .977 save percentage (stopping 126 of 129 shots). Joining him on the six-man all- tournament team were three other teammates in junior forward Cam Morrison, junior captain and defen- seman Andrew Peeke, and freshman defenseman Spencer Stastney. Mor- rison netted the game-winning goal with a wrist shot at 18:24 of the sec- ond period — and he also had tal- lied the game-winner in overtime in last year's identical 3-2 victory versus Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament championship tilt. THREE WAS THE MAGIC NUMBER Notre Dame finished a modest 28th among 60 Division I teams this season in goals per game with a 2.27 average (which also was sixth among seven Big Ten teams). Yet the Fighting Irish returned to the NCAA Tournament on the strength of relying on Morris between the pipes and a defense led by Peeke and senior alternate captain and defenseman Bobby Nardella. Notre Dame was 17-0-1 this year when scoring a minimum of three goals in a game, and 6-14-2 other- wise. That trend continued in the four-team Northeast Regional of the NCAA Tournament in Manchester, N.H., where Jackson's crew was the No. 3 seed. A sudden-death goal by Morrison — a team-high eighth of his career in the postseason that has made him "Mr. March" — at 15:53 in overtime lifted Notre Dame to a 3-2 victory ver- sus No. 2 seed Clarkson in the open- ing round March 29. It elevated Notre Dame to 5-0 in the Manchester Regional (3-0 in overtime) after having previously won titles there in 2011 and 2017. The dramatic victory also gave Notre Dame a 4-0-3 record in overtime this season. Nardella made the extra session possible by knotting the score at 2-2 with 2:20 remaining in the third pe- riod after Jackson pulled Morris with 2:39 remaining to have a 6-5 advan- tage on a final attack. Junior forward Cal Burke weaved through several defenders to set up Nardella with a perfect pass that he finished by find- ing the back of the net. Peeke also was credited with an assist. Notably, Clarkson had been 22-0-1 this year when leading after two pe- riods. Unfortunately, a day later Notre Dame ran into No. 1 seed Massachu- setts' buzz saw in which the offense could no longer keep up. After a scoreless first period, the Minutemen outshot the Fighting Irish 16-2 in the second while building a 3-0 advan- tage en route to a 4-0 win. Notre Dame finished 23-14-3 after getting bounced from the Elite Eight, but once again enjoyed a productive campaign. ALL-BIG TEN HONORS Five Notre Dame players received All-Big Ten recognition. Nardella was selected to the first team, while Morris was placed on the second unit. Nardella paced the team in scoring with 31 points on the strength of a team-best 24 as- sists. Morris ranked among the top 10 nationally most of the year in goals against average and save percentage. Forward Michael Graham was named to the six-man All-Freshman team after tying for the team lead in goals (12), and senior forward Dylan Malmquist was selected as an All-Big Ten honorable mention choice. He was tied for second in scoring on this year's squad with 30 points (10 goals and 20 assists). Burke earned the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship honor, not just for only six penalty minutes the entire year, but tying Malmquist for second in scoring (30 points) and Graham in goals (12). He serves as the team's Student Athlete Advisory Council representative and leads the Irish in multiple service initiatives, including serving as the team's point person for the Fighting Irish Fight for Life program. Ten Notre Dame players also re- ceived Academic All-Big Ten honors with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher: Burke (business analytics), Malmquist (finance), Morris (manage- ment — information technology), plus sophomore Pierce Crawford (business analytics), sophomore Matt Hellick- son (finance), junior Andrew Peeke (management — consulting), sopho- more Nick Sanford (political science), sophomore Dylan St. Cyr (finance), sophomore Matt Steeves (manage- ment — information technology) and sophomore Colin Theisen (finance). Malmquist earned a conference All- Academic team honor (Hockey East or Big Ten) for the fourth consecu- tive season, Burke and Morris each earned their third career conference All-Academic team honors, and Peeke his second. ✦ Junior Captain Andrew Peeke Turns Pro On April 1, junior captain and defenseman Andrew Peeke signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, forgoing his senior season. He was originally a second-round selection (34th overall) by the Blue Jackets in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The Parkland, Fla., native finished this season as the team's fourth-leading scorer with 24 points (three goals and 21 assists, the latter placing second on the team). The top returning players for the Fighting Irish in 2019-20 will include standout goaltender Cale Mor- ris, who as a sophomore in 2018 won the Mike Richter Award as the nation's top player at his position. Junior forward Cal Burke (12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points) paced Notre Dame in goals scored this past season with freshman Michael Graham (12-10-22). Junior forwards Cam Morrison (11-11-22) and Mike O'Leary (6-15-21) also provide experienced scoring punch along with sophomore Colin Theisen (11-8-19). Headlining the defense will be junior Tory Dello, whose 91 blocks led this year's team, and sophomore Matt Hellickson, who was third (behind Peeke) with 55 blocks. Even before Peeke's decision to turn pro, Notre Dame featured a record number of the players in the NHL. When 2015-18 defenseman Dennis Gilbert was called up by the Chicago Blackhawks in early April, he became the 11th former Fighting Irish player to appear in the NHL this season, a program- high total. He also became head coach Jeff Jackson's 20th Notre Dame player to make the NHL and the 34th in program history. This April, senior Bobby Nardella signed a two-year entry level contract with the Washington Capitals. The other 10 currently are Anders Bjork (Boston), Ian Cole (Colorado), Erik Condra (Dallas), Steven Fogarty (New York Rangers), Vinnie Hinostroza (Arizona), Anders Lee (New York Islanders), Kyle Palmieri (New Jersey), Cal Petersen (Los Angeles), Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh) and Riley Sheahan (Florida). — Lou Somogyi