Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS Association will feature another murderer's row of top opponents in the second half of Notre Dame's season. Along with those conference games, the Compton Family Ice Arena will also host traditional national powerhouse teams Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota in October and November. Here's a look at the complete schedule, which was released in late July. Final CCHA Season The last year of the Central Collegiate Hockey Top Competition In Hockey Hosts Date Opponent Oct. 7 Oct. 12 vs. Maine^ USA U-18 Team* Oct. 13 vs. Army/Neb.-Omaha^ 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 Minnesota-Duluth Oct. 19 Minnesota-Duluth 5:05 p.m. 6 p.m. Time Oct. 26 at Northern Michigan 7:35 p.m. Oct. 27 at Northern Michigan 7:35 p.m. Nov. 2 Western Michigan Nov. 4 Western Michigan Nov. 9 7:35 p.m. 7:35 p.m. Nov. 15 at Michigan Nov. 16 at Michigan Nov. 23 North Dakota Nov. 24 North Dakota at Boston College 7:35 p.m. 5:05 p.m. 7 p.m. Nov. 30 Lake Superior State Dec. 1 Dec. 7 Dec. 8 Dec. 15 at Bowling Green Jan. 5 Jan. 11 at Michigan State Jan. 12 at Michigan State Jan. 15 at Bowling Green Jan. 18 Jan. 19 Jan. 25 Jan. 26 Feb. 1 Feb. 2 Feb. 8 Feb. 9 at Minnesota Alaska Alaska Feb. 15 at Miami (Ohio) Feb. 17 vs. Miami (Ohio)# Ferris State Ferris State at Ohio State at Ohio State Michigan Michigan Lake Superior State Michigan State Michigan State Feb. 22 at Western Michigan 7:35 p.m. Feb. 23 at Western Michigan 7:35 p.m. March 1 Bowling Green March 2 Bowling Green 7:35 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 5:05 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:07 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 1 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 7:05 p.m. * Exhibition; ^ at Kansas City, Mo.; # Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field in Chicago ing well and looking good, but we tied games that we should have won, and we lost games we should have tied." Half of the Irish back line departed scorer, senior Ryan Finley. The trans- fer student from Duke scored seven times for the Irish, but was disap- pointed with the drop-off after mak- ing the All-America team as a soph- omore. This year, Finley said, he's more in sync with his teammates. "Having a year, and especially the spring, to play with each other has definitely been a big help and helped me a get a lot more comfortable with the guys," he said. "I think our front six should be really, really dangerous this season." Finley connected with senior mid- fielder Dillon Powers for two goals in Notre Dame's first exhibition game against Northern Illinois in early Au- gust. Finley and Powers, a team cap- tain, both made the preseason All-Big East team this year. They open the regular season on Aug. 25 against Finley's old team, Duke. The conference schedule be- gins in late September with two tough road tests right away against Lou- isville and Connecticut, which is fa- vored to win the Big East this season. ground in a full-on sprint this month with a season-opening match against No. 1 UCLA on Aug. 24. Notre Dame coach Debbie Brown said the game against the Bruins was a blessing be- cause it gave her team a reason to be motivated all summer and through preseason training. "It's high pace, we're demanding The Irish volleyball team hits the VOLLEYBALL Junior Andrea McHugh was Notre Dame's top server a year ago, and she also finished second on the team in digs and kills. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS last season with an 8-6 conference record. This year, Brown thinks her team will be back in the mix for the top spot, along with Marquette, Cin- cinnati and defending champion Louisville. The Irish finished fifth in Big East a lot," she said. "It's pretty intense, but I feel like the team is responding well. The young players are learning the systems well, and the veterans are doing a good job leading." With only two seniors on the ros- ter this fall, junior captain Andrea McHugh is stepping into a big lead- ership role during her third season. McHugh was the team's top server a year ago and also finished second in digs and kills, behind now-soph- omore Jeni Houser. The 6-2 Houser is expected to take another big step forward this season after making the All-Big East team as a freshman. "I think last year she was a little bit after last season and left some holes to be filled on defense. Notre Dame's forwards return almost entirely in- tact, including last year's leading www.BLUEANDGOLD.com more one-dimensional," Brown said. "We used basically one set, and she hit it so well that we just stayed with it all the time. I think right now she is much more versatile." country teams return their top per- formers this season after finishing sixth in the Big East in 2011. Senior Jeremy Rae and junior Mar- Both the men's and women's cross CROSS COUNTRY tin Grady are back to try to push each other into the top 10 after successful seasons last year. Rae finished 17th at the NCAA regional meet last year, and Grady was only a few seconds behind in 20th. Senior Jessica Ryd- berg finished 10th at the same event for the women. She crossed the line first for Notre Dame in all six of its meets. This year's season starts Aug. 31 in Valparaiso, Ind., at the Crusader Invitational. Two weeks later, the Irish host the National Catholic Champion- ship — an event they have dominated for most of its 32-year history. ✦ PRESEASON 2012 91