Blue and Gold Illustrated

December 2017

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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42 DECEMBER 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY DAVID MCKINNEY I t's been eight years since the No. 4 Notre Dame hockey team has been on a run like the one they were on in the early part of this season. From Oct. 27 to Nov. 18, the Irish recorded seven straight wins — their longest run of consecutive victories since the 2008-09 squad won 10 games in a row from Feb. 13 to March 21. Notre Dame's last loss came on Oct. 26, a 6-4 home defeat at the hands of Nebraska Omaha. The next day, the Irish won 5-4 over the Mav- ericks to split the two-game series and haven't chalked one up in the loss column since. The streak has featured series sweeps at Ohio State, at home against Penn State, and on the road against Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- tute Nov. 17-18. In the first matchup with the Engineers, the Irish offense exploded in a 4-1 victory. Head coach Jeff Jackson felt it was a sloppy performance by his team's standards, but the four goals, com- bined with the play of sophomore goaltender Cale Morris, were enough to bail them out. "There were just too much special teams and too many penalties," Jack- son said. "There were some bad deci- sions by guys on both teams. "Our goalie was one of the differ- ences, though, and that was part of our success on the penalty kill. He controlled rebounds." Notre Dame managed only one goal in the second game, but that's all it would need in a 1-0 triumph, thanks to another outstanding perfor- mance from Morris. An overtime goal from sophomore forward Cam Mor- rison gave Notre Dame the win and the series sweep over the Engineers. Jackson said he was pleased with how his team responded to the sloppy play from the prior game and was appreciative of Morrison capi- talizing on the chance to extend the winning streak. "It was a much better game. Both teams played hard, and both teams played well," Jackson said. "That's Cam's game — he's a net front guy. He competes there, and he has a goal scorer's instinct." Morris saved all 25 shots that came his way, giving the sophomore his second shutout in three games. Jackson said Morris' performance has been a huge part of the Irish success. "He's been good for the last month," Jackson said. "That was a big question mark from everybody from the outside perspective —'Who was going to replace Cal Petersen?' — and Cale Morris quietly sat back behind Cal and got better. "That's hard to do when you aren't playing, but he was patient, had a good attitude about it and worked hard. Now it is his turn, and he's taken full advantage." Next up, Notre Dame moved into the meat of its Big Ten schedule. The Irish were slated to face No. 6 Minnesota Nov. 24-25, followed by road matchups with Michigan State Dec. 1-2, No. 9 Wisconsin Dec. 8-9, and No. 17 Michigan Jan. 5 and 7. ✦ MEN'S SOCCER (11-7-2, 3-3-2 ACC) No. 12 Notre Dame's season came to an end with a 1-0 home loss to No. 20 Wisconsin Nov. 19 in the second round of the NCAA Tour- nament. The Irish outshot the Badgers 18-14, but could not find the back of the net. The defeat pushed Notre Dame's record to 7-2-2 in home games in 2017. WOMEN'S SOCCER (10-7-5, 5-3-2 ACC) The Irish suffered a season-ending 3-2 loss in overtime to Big 12 champion Baylor Nov. 19 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame finished the season with 46 goals — the program's most since 2012. SWIMMING AND DIVING Both the men's and women's teams finished third out of 28 teams at the Ohio State Fall In- vite Nov. 17-19 in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 13 men and No. 18 women have a two-month break before returning to action against Iowa and Illinois Jan. 12 in Iowa City. VOLLEYBALL (21-8, 10-7 ACC) Notre Dame split its final home stand of the season, falling 3-0 to North Carolina Nov. 17 before registering a 3-2 victory versus North Carolina State Nov. 19. The Irish closed out the regular season at Syracuse Nov. 22 and at Boston College Nov. 24. — David McKinney Sophomore defenseman Cam Morrison scored to give Notre Dame a 1-0 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Nov. 18. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA/MIKE MILLER Hockey Riding Seven-Game Winning Streak Irish Roundup

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