The Irish begin Big Ten play against the Badgers in South Bend
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team finishes up their first homestand of the season this weekend by welcoming the Wisconsin Badgers to South Bend. It is also the first Big Ten conference series of the season for Notre Dame but the second for Wisconsin. Notre Dame enters the series ranked #19 in the country while Wisconsin is not ranked in the top 20 teams in the country.
Where, When, How to Watch
- Where: Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame, IN
- When: Friday November 1, 7:05pm ET; Saturday, November 2, 6:05pm ET
- How to Watch: Both games streaming on Peacock
Notre Dame once again split a weekend series last time out with a 1-1 record against the LIU Sharks. The Irish offense and defense showed up in game one playing to a 4-1 victory on home ice. In game two the roles were reversed, with LIU winning the second matchup 5-2. It is the second series split out of three for Notre Dame in a trend that has continued from last season.
It was another big weekend for leading scorer Cole Knuble last weekend, as he had a four point game in the opening matchup to bring his total for the year to 10. He leads the Irish team and is the only player with double digit points this season, averaging more than 1.5 points per game. Justin Janicke is the second leading scorer for Notre Dame with 8 points, matching Knuble’s 5 assists but with only 3 goals to show. After that the team drops off a bit, although 14 of the 17 players who have played all six games so far this season have at least one point.
The Notre Dame goaltending has started to separate a bit as well, and while it still seems early to call either netminder an every game starter there is a frontrunner for when that happens. Owen Say is still undefeated in the early season with a 3-0 record and only 3 goals allowed. That gives him an even 1GAA and a save percentage of .969. While freshman Nicholas Kempf hasn’t been bad in net he has more than doubled Say’s GAA, sitting at 2.39 having allowed 7 goals in his 3 starts, two of them losses. Kempf still has a strong .927 SV% and in only his first year of college hockey gives Notre Dame a bright spot for the future, but if Say continues the way he has been playing it will be his job soon.
Wisconsin comes into the series having struggled early in the season, playing to a 1-5 record and having lost their last four games. They were beaten twice by Ohio State in their only conference series so far but barely, losing both games by one goal. Last season these two team played four games, with Wisconsin winning all four. The Badgers also hold the all time series edge 22-18-5.
Prediction
While it is still early in the season, this is a very important series for Notre Dame. It is their first conference series, at the end of a long homestand, against a team that swept them over four games last year but has started the season 1-5. It is also the chance to take two games in one weekend after splitting the first two, something this team will have to start doing if they want to make a run this season. All that said, I still expect a series split with a win each.