Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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50 NOV. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY TODD D. BURLAGE N otre Dame head coach Jeff Jack- son appreciates the fact that his hockey team has shown the resil- iency so far this season to master the art of the come-from-behind win. But like any discerning coach in any sport, Jackson would prefer not to find his team needing to rally al- most every time out. During an 8-1-1 start that bumped Notre Dame to No. 3 in country, the Fighting Irish trailed in six of those 10 games — not exactly the preferred path to victory when trying to sur- vive the rigors of the Big Ten season. "Not being down in the third pe- riod would be the best thing," Jack- son said. "But I think it's a maturity thing, being resilient — we preach it all the time. "It helps when you have guys with experience, having gone through it in the past. The mindset on the bench is just to keep guys thinking that we're still in this thing." Three of Notre Dame's comeback wins have come while trailing in the third period — twice against Ohio State Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, and the other at Minnesota Nov. 16. "Being down late in the game is one thing, but why did we give up two goals to be down in the game in the third period? That is the area that we have to focus on right now," Jack- son added. "Having the ability to re- spond, that's a good thing, but trying to not put yourself in that situation is just as important, if not more so." The 5-4 comeback win over Min- nesota was especially important be- cause it salvaged a weekend split on the road one day after the Golden Gophers handed Notre Dame its first blemish. "Just being really resilient," Irish junior defenseman Matt Hellickson said when asked about playing with poise instead of panic in those tough situations. "We have really good emotional control on the bench, and I think that is one thing that helps us be the comeback kids." Having a potential All-American goaltender in Irish senior Cale Morris as the last line of defense doesn't hurt comeback hopes either. Through the first 10 games — which included a 7-0-1 start, the lon- gest unbeaten streak to begin a sea- son in Notre Dame program history — Morris posted a .956 save percent- age and a 1.39 goals against average with three shutouts. Meanwhile, the Irish were averag- ing 3.80 goals per game, the second best average in the Big Ten and the seventh-best in the country. "I love playing in front of Cale," Hendrickson said. "He definitely makes our job a lot easier." B e g i n n i n g w i t h a t w o - g a m e home stand against Bowling Green Nov. 29-30, followed by a home-and- home series with Boston College Dec. 6 and Dec. 8, the Fighting Irish step out of conference for its next two series before squaring off with top-20 teams Penn State (No. 6 as of Nov. 17) and Western Michigan (No. 20). ✦ Irish Hockey Comebacks Are Nice, To A Point Junior defenseman Matt Hellickson notched two goals and three assists through the first 10 games of the season. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA Irish Roundup CROSS COUNTRY Both Notre Dame squads earned a spot in the NCAA Championships after strong performances at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Nov. 15 at Madison, Wis. The 19th-ranked men punched their ticket with a second-place showing. Four Irish runners placed in the top 25 to earn All-Region recognition, while all seven runners finished in the top 30. The Irish women had to wait an extra day to find out their NCAA fate after placing fifth. However, they earned an at-large bid during the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com Nov. 16. The NCAA Championships were held Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. FENCING The Irish fencing squads opened the season against stiff competition at the Elite Invitational Nov. 16 in Philadelphia. The women went 4-1 on the day, scoring victories over New Jersey Institute of Technology (20-7), Yale (15-12), Cornell (18-9) and Penn (15-12), and falling to Princeton (17-10). The men's team was 3-2 with wins over New Jersey Institute of Technology (16-11), Princeton (16-11) and Penn (23-4), and dropping two tight matches to Yale (15-12) and Ohio State (15-12). Notre Dame does not return to action until Jan. 18 at the St. John's Invita- tional and Jan. 19 at the Philadelphia Invitational. HOCKEY (8-1-1 OVERALL, 4-1-1 BIG TEN) No. 3 Notre Dame suffered its first setback of the season, 3-0 at Wisconsin Nov. 15. However, the Irish bounced back to knock off the Badgers 5-4 in overtime the following evening. The Irish continued their road swing at Michigan State Nov. 22-23. MEN'S SOCCER (10-8-1 OVERALL, 3-5-0 ACC) Notre Dame earned a bid to the NCAA Championship for the eighth straight year, receiving an at-large selection Nov. 18. However, in the opening round, the Irish lost 3-2 to Wright State Nov. 21 to end their season. WOMEN'S SOCCER (11-7-2 OVERALL, 4-4-2 ACC) The Irish notched a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Saint Louis in the first round of the NCAA Championship Nov. 17 in South Bend. Notre Dame took to the road to face SEC champion and No. 2-seeded South Carolina in a second-round matchup Nov. 22. VOLLEYBALL (18-7 OVERALL, 11-4 ACC) Notre Dame avenged a loss to Syracuse 16 days earlier with a 3-1 home win over the Orange Nov. 17. Next up for the Irish are road matches at Louisville Nov. 22 and at Georgia Tech Nov. 24. — Steve Downey