Blue and Gold Illustrated

ND SPORTS BY JORDAN WELLS N otre Dame hockey head coach Jeff Jackson introduced his team's five captains — senior center Steven Fog‑ arty, plus alternates in senior center Thomas Dipauli, senior left wing Ma‑ rio Lucia, senior defense‑ man Andy Ryan and se‑ nior left wing Sam Herr — at the program's annual media day Oct. 7. He'll need to lean on that quintet of senior leader‑ ship this year, considering the challenging schedule his team faces in 2015‑16. Notre Dame will play seven of the 16 teams that qualified for last year 's NCAA Tournament, in‑ cluding defending national champion Providence and defending national runner‑ up Boston University. "This year we have a returning captain [Steven Fogarty], a returning alter‑ nate captain [Sam Herr], and I just de‑ cided that this class has been so good over the last three years that I basically just named the entire class captains," Jackson said. "So, there are five and that's kind of high, but Andy Ryan and Mario Lucia, they bring different elements to the leadership. "I think Tommy DiPauli is the heart of the leadership [group] and Steven Fogarty is the voice. They have great relationships with each other and I think they are capable of leading by committee." In addition to the difficult slate of games ahead, the head coach also has a roster littered with young players, out‑ side of the captains. Of the 25 players on the roster, 15 are fresh‑ men or sophomores. "The young guys seem to be adjusting rather well," Jackson said. "I don't see any of them sticking out in a negative way right now, which is a good thing. "We still have 15 un‑ derclassmen on this team. That isn't an excuse, it is a reality. Some of the best teams I've ever had were young teams." First up on the schedule for the Irish — who were picked fifth in the pre‑ season Hockey East media poll — was an exhibition at home against University of Guelph Oct. 9. "For us it's about evaluation," Jack‑ son said. "We want to evaluate some of the young guys, line combinations, power‑play combinations, defensemen pairs. It's a good tune up for us as far as getting our game legs and hitting someone other than ourselves. "Playing Guelph is like playing some of our college teams because they are older and physically more mature." ✦ Hockey Will Lean On Senior Leaders Senior center Steven Fogarty will serve as the team cap- tain for the second straight season, after registering career-high totals in goals ( n i n e ) , a s s i s t s ( 1 2 ) a n d points (21) in 2014-15. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND

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