Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1509252
50 OCT. 14, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY TODD D. BURLAGE U nder the same great unknown cloud that Jeff Jackson begins every Notre Dame hockey season, the veteran Irish head coach felt equal parts excitement and uncertainty as he opened his 19th year on the Irish bench. On the concerning side, the Notre Dame skipper had to replace three of his team's top five scorers from last season when Notre Dame never found its foot- ing, finished only 16-16-5, bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the first round and missed the NCAA Tourna- ment for the first time since 2015 (save for 2020 when it was canceled). On the encouraging side, Jackson explained that even while he's still searching to fill the scoring void left after those three players departed, he believes his offense is already showing improvement from last season when it scored only 85 goals, the fewest in the seven-team Big Ten Conference. "There's always positives and there's always concerns," said Jackson, whose Irish opened their regular-season Oct. 7-8 with a two-game set against Clark- son University. "We look better offen- sively, which is great. But defensively, we haven't looked as good." Jackson expects some of his needed scoring fills to come from freshman for- wards Danny Nelson and Cole Knuble, two early-round 2023 NHL Draft picks. Jackson also believes that senior for- ward Landon Slaggert (7 goals, 7 assists in 2022-23), who is a team captain, and graduate student forward Trevor Janicke (8 goals and 14 assists) can improve their offensive production this season as well. The Irish back line will be headlined by defenseman Drew Bavaro, who's back for his senior season and brings a veteran presence after leading this unit last season. In net, graduate student goalkeeper Ryan Bischel returns after a terrific 2022-23 season. Bischel played in all 37 games last sea- son and posted a .931 save percentage. His 97 goals given up was the second fewest allowed by a Big Ten netminder. "He's certainly developed a level of confidence," Jackson said of Bischel. "I still think he has a little rust in his sys- tem coming off the best year of his ca- reer. He's going to have to get back into that mindset as far as getting dialed in." Jackson admitted that Bischel isn't his only player who's still trying to get back to a consistently high level of play. Each college hockey season begins abruptly and comes with very limited practice time in advance, so expect the usual growing pains out of the gate. "Generally early on, it's a lot of turn- overs, guys trying to make plays that aren't there. It will probably be exciting for the fans. It may not be so exciting for the coaching staff." As far as Notre Dame's schedule, it's a tough one, but it's also home-rink heavy. The Irish play 10 of their 11 nonconfer- ence games at the Compton Family Ice Arena on campus. The schedule features two home games against preseason No. 4 Boston University Oct. 20-21 and a home date over Thanksgiving weekend against perennial power Boston College. This is also coupled with a challeng- ing Big Ten slate of games that has five teams from the league ranked among the preseason top 20. "The biggest challenge is just getting the jitters out," Jackson said of launch- ing another promising season. ✦ Senior forward and team captain Landon Slaggert notched 7 goals and 7 assists last season. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Irish Hockey Opens Its Season Looking For A Rebound Irish Roundup CROSS COUNTRY The No. 9 nationally Fighting Irish men finished first in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite Sept. 29 in South Bend, while the No. 4 women placed second … Both squads return to action at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational Oct. 13 in Madison, Wis. MEN'S GOLF Notre Dame shot a 2-over-par 842 to finish fourth in the Fighting Irish Memorial Classic Oct. 1-2 in South Bend … The Irish will close out their fall schedule at the inaugural St. Andrew's Collegiate Invi- tational Oct. 23-25 in Scotland. WOMEN'S GOLF The Fighting Irish competed in the Evie Odom Invitational Oct. 6-8 at Virginia Beach, Va. … Notre Dame will join the men's team in Scotland for the St. Andrew's Collegiate Invitational Oct. 23-25 to close out its fall slate. MEN'S SOCCER (6-1-3 OVERALL, 3-0-1 ACC) No. 11-ranked Notre Dame picked up a 3-1 road win at North Carolina State Oct. 1 … The Irish were set to host No. 14 Duke Oct. 7. WOMEN'S SOCCER (8-1-3 OVERALL, 4-0-1 ACC) The No. 11-ranked Fighting Irish returned home to blank Louisville 3-0 Sept. 30 … Notre Dame de- feated Boston College 3-1 at home Oct. 5 and also hosted Miami Oct. 8. VOLLEYBALL (8-4 OVERALL, 0-0 ACC) Notre Dame suffered a 3-0 home loss to No. 6-ranked Louisville Sept. 27 and fell 3-0 at North Carolina State Sept. 29 … The Irish continued their swing through the Tar Heel State with matches at Duke Oct. 6 and at North Carolina Oct. 8.