Lakers to take on No. 1 Notre Dame

Lake Superior State takes pride in knowing that it is one of only three Central Collegiate Hockey Association teams this season to take a point from the nation’s top-ranked team. LSSU (6-9-7 overall, 3-9-5 CCHA) has had plenty of opportunities over the years to host No. 1-ranked teams. It is rare, however, to see a team coming in with eight straight wins and an 18-game unbeaten streak. Notre Dame is 18-3-2 overall and 12-2-2 in the CCHA following last weekend’s 2-0 and 3-0 home sweep of Alaska. The Fighting Irish are hot, and the reason is their defense and special teams. UND ranks second nationally in defense, allowing only 1.48 goals per game, and beat another great defensive team, Alaska, at its own game last weekend. Coach Jeff Jackson’s squad is also ranked third nationally in power play and fifth in penalty killing. LSSU’s series in South Bend, Ind., occurred during the early stages of Notre Dame’s streak, but was considered a bit of a benchmark regarding what the Lakers need to do in order to finish in the upper half of the CCHA standings. Since that series on Nov. 14-15, UND has not given up more than four goals in a series. Only Miami has scored as many goals as LSSU against the Irish. Lake Superior State, which lost a shootout after tying Notre Dame 3-3 in the first game of the November series, suffered a 5-2 loss to the Irish in what was actually a close second game. LSSU and UND were tied 2-2 after the first period of that game, and the Irish led 3-2 after two periods. Notre Dame closed out the win by going 1-for-3 on the power play during the final period. Since then, LSSU has gone 0-3-3 in league games, including two shootout losses to Northern Michigan and two one-goal losses to Nebraska-Omaha at home. The Lakers, who haven’t played a CCHA series since mid December, are 2-4-4 on their home ice. While playing a solid series in front of the home crowd is an important goal, the Lakers have plenty to be pleased with regarding their play on the road. After splitting last weekend’s non-conference series at Colgate, they are 4-5-3 on the road, and their road win percentage of .458 ranks seventh in the league. Notre Dame has the CCHA’s best road win percentage of .909 (10-1-0). LSSU is led in points by junior forward Zac MacVoy (9-11—20) and senior forward Troy Schwab (8-12—20), who are tied for 13th in CCHA scoring. Forward Fred Cassiani, who earned CCHA Rookie of the Month Special Mention in December, is fourth on the team in points and seventh in CCHA rookie scoring with 9-5—14. Schwab, with 28 goals and 70 assists, is only two points shy of the 100-point career scoring milestone. He has a chance to become the first Laker to total 100 points since Joe Blaznek totaled57-54—111 from 1994-98. Notre Dame is led by senior forward Christian Hanson, who is ranked fourth in the CCHA in overall scoring and second in goals scored with 14-11—25. Sophomore forward Calle Ridderwall is second on the team in points with 9-12—21. They are two of the CCHA’s top three in power-play points. Ridderwall has seven power-play goals this season. Junior Brett Blatschford is second in the league in defenseman scoring with 0-18—18. UND senior goaltender Jordan Pearce leads the CCHA in goals-against average at 1.48 and is second in save percentage at .940. LSSU sophomore Brian Mahoney-Wilson is third in the league in save percentage at .929.