COLLEGE HOCKEY: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2-0 overall, 0-0-0 Big Ten) vs. Wisconsin Badgers (1-5-0 overall, 0-2-0 Big Ten)
By JOHN FINERAN
WHEN/WHERE: Friday at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at Lefty Smith Rink (4,852) in Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend, Ind.
RADIO: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com (Tyler Reidy).
TV/STREAMING: Peacock (Tony Simeone and Paul Caponigri).
TICKETS: Some available. … Friday is Country Night featuring country music and a silent auction, featuring items donated by graduate right wing Ian Murphy, to benefit “A Rosie Place for Children,” a not-for-profit specialty hospital for children who are medically fragile and which was a favorite of the late Lefty Smith, Notre Dame’s first varsity hockey coach. … Saturday is Hockey Jersey Night for fans to wear their favorite hockey jerseys.
RIVALRY: After 95 games, Wisconsin leads 53-33 with nine games ending in ties. … Wisconsin won all four games in 2023-24 season: 2-1 (Jan. 5) and 7-4 (Jan. 6) at Compton and 4-2 (Feb. 9) and 3-2 (Feb. 10) at Kohl Center in Madison. … Last Irish victory, 3-1, came on Jan. 28, 2023 to complete two-game home sweep.
RANKINGS: Notre Dame is No. 19 in USCHO.com media poll and No. 20 in USA Hockey/The Rink Live coaches poll. … Wisconsin is receiving votes in both polls. … In the latest NCAA Tournament Pairwise Comparison Ratings, Notre Dame is No. 23 and Wisconsin is No. 56.
RECAPS: Notre Dame coming off weekend split at home against Long Island University. … In Friday’s 4-1 Irish victory, goaltender Owen Say made 38 saves and center Cole Knuble had a goal and three assists. … In Saturday’s 5-2 loss, goalie Nicholas Kempf made 37 saves while Hunter Strand and Justin Janicke scored goals. … Badgers in the midst of a four-game losing streak after 4-2 and 6-1 losses at No. 1 Denver, the defending NCAA champion.
COACHES: Notre Dame, Jeff Jackson (411-268-73 in 20th season with NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2008, 2011, 2017 and 2018; 182-52-25 record in six seasons at Lake Superior State where his teams won national championships in 1992 and 1994 and were runners-up in 1993). … Wisconsin, Mike Hastings (27-17-2 in second season after going 299-109-25 in 11 seasons at Minnesota State with NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2021 and 2022).
SCOUTING FIGHTING IRISH: Sophomore center Knuble, held scoreless in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to LIU, leads team in scoring with five goals, five assists and 10 points. … Janicke, a senior left wing and associate captain, is next with eight points on three goals and five assists followed by junior defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico (1-4-5). … Murphy (1-3-4) leads team with +9 plus/minus (tied for fifth nationally). … Second nationally as a team in faceoffs-win percentage (.608), Irish are led in the category by senior center Hunter Strand (55-28, .663) and sophomore center Danny Nelson (76-44, .644). … Graduate defenseman Zach Plucinski leads team with 12 blocked shots. … Junior Owen Say is 3-0 with 1.00 goals-against average and .969 saves percentage, ranking him the No. 1 goalie by College Hockey Inc. … Freshman netminder Nicholas Kempf is 1-2 with 2.39 average and .927 percentage. … Notre Dame vs. opponent (listed second) in scoring by periods: 3-3 first, 7-4 second, 9-4 third. … NCAA statistics: Scoring offense, 3.17 goals per game (19th); scoring defense, 1.83 goals per game (12th); scoring margin, 1.33 goals per game (12th); power-play percentage, 0.300 (6 of 20) (6th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.813 (13 of 16) (34th); faceoff win percentage, 0.608 (206-133) (2nd); penalty minutes per game, 13.67 (7th).
SCOUTING BADGERS: After opening season with home split against Lindenwood (4-2 loss followed by 3-2 overtime victory), Wisconsin dropped two Big Ten games at home to No. 15 Ohio State (2-1 overtime, 2-1) before being swept on road by top-ranked Pioneers. … Half of team’s 10 goals this season have come in 5-on-5 situations, all from the top line. … That top line of sophomore left wing Quinn Finley (5-2-7), freshman center Gavin Morrissey (2-5-7) and grad-transfer (from Michigan Tech) right wing Ryland Mosley (2-4-6) pace the Badgers in scoring. … Senior Daniel Laatsch (1-0-1) and junior Ben Dexheimer (0-2-2, 10 blocked shots) lead the blueline corps in front of senior-transfer (from RIT) goaltender Tommy Scarfone (0-3-0 record, 3.02 goals-against average, .864 saves percentage) and sophomore William Gramme (1-2-0 record, 3.30 average, .851 percentage). … Scarfone made 36 saves against Irish in 3-0 shutout victory by RIT on Oct. 14, 2023 in Rochester, N.Y. … Last season on Jan. 6 in South Bend, Gramme replaced starting goaltender Kyle McLellan in the second period and held Irish scoreless over final 28:35 with 23 saves in Wisconsin’s eventual 7-4 victory. … NCAA statistics: Scoring offense, 1.67 goals per game (52nd); scoring defense, 3.33 goals per game (46th); scoring margin, -1.67 goals per game (53rd); power-play percentage, 0.160 (4 of 25) (32nd); penalty-kill percentage, 0.813 (13 of 16) (34th); faceoff win percentage, 0.566 (193-148) (8th); penalty minutes per game, 5.67 (54th).
BIG TEN STANDINGS: 1. Ohio State 2-0-0, 5 points (5-0-1 overall); 2. Wisconsin 0-2-0, 1 point (1-5-0 overall); 3. TIE, Michigan State 0-0-0, 0 points (5-1-0 overall); Minnesota 0-0-0, 0 points (5-1-0 overall); Penn State 0-0-0, 0 points (4-1-0 overall); Notre Dame 0-0-0, 0 points (4-2-0 overall); Michigan 0-0-0, 0 points (3-2-1 overall).
Preseason poll of Big Ten coaches: 1. Michigan State; 2. Minnesota; 3. Michigan; 4. Wisconsin; 5. Notre Dame; 6. Penn State, 7. Ohio State.
Friday schedule: Wisconsin at Notre Dame, 7:05 p.m.; Michigan at Boston University, 7 p.m.; Lake Superior State at Ohio State, 7 p.m.; Penn State at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Saturday schedule: Wisconsin at Notre Dame, 6:05 p.m.; Lake Superior State at Ohio State, 5 p.m.; Michigan at Boston University, 7 p.m.; Penn State at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
JEFF JACKSON ON …
(Second-night struggles) “We have not played well on Saturday nights in the first three weekends. Even though we came back against Clarkson, we started slow. It’s a maturity thing. Those teams (Clarkson, Alaska and Long Island) are not going to sit back and let you beat them. We’re playing teams that are hungry. For me, the last two Saturdays I felt we beat ourselves.”
(Starting faster) “Our starts have not been good. It’s a mentality thing for me. Every team I’ve had generally has a bad period – first, second or third. Right now we’re in that mode that we’re really not that sharp in the first. You just don’t want to fall behind early on because you start taking more risks, poor chances, and all of a sudden you’re giving up odd-man rushes. We need to get off to better starts. I have to take responsibility for that. We’ve played well on Fridays; Saturday’s we’ve come out flat. Some of it is (lack of) respect of the opponent which should not be an issue this coming weekend.”
(Wisconsin) “(Coach Hastings) does a nice job and he’s getting his team in order. My guess is they will end up being the team everyone projected them to be. It’s just a matter of when they get their game together. It’s offensive struggles for them at this point. He will have his team clamped down here; they will play extremely well without the puck and defend. That’s a signature of his teams.”
THIS WEEK’S USCHO.com MEDIA POLL AND WHO THOSE TEAMS PLAY
1. Denver (NCHC) (6-0-0) at Yale Friday and Saturday.
2. Boston College (Hockey East) (3-1-0) at No. 10 St. Cloud State Friday and Saturday.
3. Michigan State (Big Ten) (5-1-0) is idle.
4. Minnesota (Big Ten) (5-1-0) vs. No. 18 Penn State Friday and Saturday.
5. Boston University (Hockey East) (4-1-0) vs. No. 11 Michigan Friday and Saturday.
6. North Dakota (NCHC) (3-2-0) at No. 9 Cornell Friday and Saturday.
7. Maine (Hockey East) (4-0-1) vs. Merrimack Friday and Saturday.
8. Colorado College (NCHC) (4-0-0) vs. Air Force Friday; at Air Force Saturday.
9. Cornell (ECAC) (0-0-0) vs. No. 6 North Dakota Friday and Saturday.
10. St. Cloud State (NCHC) (6-1-0) vs. No. 2 Boston College Friday and Saturday.
11. Michigan (Big Ten) (3-2-1) at No. 5 Boston University Friday and Saturday.
12. Providence (Hockey East) (3-1-1) vs. New Hampshire Friday; at New Hampshire Saturday.
13. Western Michigan (NCHC) (3-1-0) is idle.
14. Quinnipiac (ECAC) (2-3-0) at Holy Cross Saturday.
15. Ohio State (Big Ten) (5-0-1) vs. Lake Superior State Friday and Saturday.
16. Minnesota State (CCHA) (5-3-0) at Bemidji State Friday and Saturday.
17. Massachusetts (Hockey East) (3-3-1) at American International Saturday.
18. Penn State (Big Ten) (4-1-0) at No. 4 Minnesota Friday and Saturday.
19. Notre Dame (Big Ten) (4-2-0) vs. Wisconsin Friday and Saturday.
20. UMass Lowell (Hockey East) (4-1-0) at Holy Cross Friday.
Others receiving votes
Union (ECAC) (6-1-0) is idle.
Omaha (NCHC) (2-4-0) is idle.
Clarkson (ECAC) (5-2-0) vs. Alaska Friday and Saturday.
Augustana (CCHA) (3-3-0) at St. Thomas Friday and Saturday.
Harvard (ECAC) (0-0-0) vs. Dartmouth Friday.
New Hampshire (Hockey East) (2-1-1) at No. 12 Providence Friday; vs. No. 12 Providence Saturday.
Wisconsin (Big Ten) (1-5-0) at No. 19 Notre Dame Friday and Saturday.
Connecticut (Hockey East) (4-2-1) vs. Vermont Saturday and Sunday.
Arizona State (NCHC) (3-4-1) is idle.
Minnesota Duluth (NCHC) (3-4-0) is idle.
Dartmouth (ECAC) (0-0-0) at Harvard Friday; vs. Stonehill Sunday.
RIT (Atlantic Hockey) (2-5-0) at Niagara Wednesday.
Brown (ECAC) (0-0-0) is idle.
Michigan Tech (CCHA) (2-2-0) at Northern Michigan Friday; vs. Northern Michigan Saturday.
Bemidji State (CCHA) (2-3-0) vs. No. 16 Minnesota State Friday and Saturday.
Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey) (3-4-0) vs. No. 20 UMass Lowell Friday; vs. No. 14 Quinnipiac Saturday.
Northeastern (Hockey East) (1-3-1) is idle.
Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey) (2-3-1) at Bentley Friday; vs. Bentley Saturday.
OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK
Thursday, Oct. 31
Army at Canisius, 6 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)
Friday, Nov. 1
Army at Canisius, 6 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)
Mercyhurst at Niagara, 7 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)
Rensselaer at Miami, 7 p.m.
Lindenwood at Robert Morris, 7 p.m.
St. Lawrence at Stonehill, 7 p.m.
Ferris State at Bowling Green, 7:07 p.m. (CCHA)
Saturday, Nov. 2
Niagara at Mercyhurst, 7 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)
Lindenwood at Robert Morris, 7 p.m.
Ferris State at Bowling Green, 7:07 p.m. (CCHA)