Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND Sports Imported Chemistry Gets Irish Rookie Off To Fast Start BY Dan Murphy W hen freshman center Vince Hinostroza landed in South Bend this summer to get ready for his first season of college hockey, it felt more like a reunion than a new beginning. The Chicago product comes from the same youth hockey program that has produced a steady stream of Notre Dame playmakers, including his longtime best friend Thomas DiPauli. Hinostroza was the first person to introduce During Notre Dame's 4-0 start, freshman center Vince Hinostroza led the himself to DiPauli on Irish with three goals and three assists. photo by joe raymond the ice when the latter South Bend, and is once again having came to the U.S. from Italy as a 12-yearold hoping to spark a hockey career. success together. Through the first four They skated on the same line for four games of the year — all four of them years as members of the Chicago Mis- Notre Dame wins — Hinostroza led the sion program and did well enough to team with three goals and three assists. attract the attention of a long list of col- Union College's Michael Pontarelli was the only freshman in the country that lege teams. "He really spoke no English, but he had scored more often than the Irish came out of nowhere and he was one rookie. The first multiple-goal game of his of the best players out there, so I introduced myself and it all started there," career came Oct. 20 in a 7-3 blowout Hinostroza said. "It was always really against Michigan Tech. He started the scoring with a power play one-timer in easy to find each other." The pair has reunited on the ice in the first period. In the second period,