Hockey: Ryan Bischel named Big Ten Second Star of Week
SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel, who made 87 saves last weekend as Notre Dame earned five points in a weekend hockey series with No. 7 Ohio State in the Compton Family Ice Arena, has been named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week.
Bischel, a senior from Medina, Minn., made 37 saves and had an assist on Landon Slaggert’s game-winning goal in Notre Dame’s 2-1 victory over the Buckeyes on Friday that was good for three points in the league standings. Then on Saturday, Bischel made 50 saves, including five in overtime, as the team’s battled to a 2-2 tie. The 87 saves came on 90 shots by the Buckeyes, a .967 saves percentage.
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Notre Dame won the shootout in the ninth round when Chase Blackmun beat Ohio State goaltender Jakub Dobeš before Bischel denied Ohio State shooter Cam Thiesing with a left-pad save. It was one of six shots that Bischel stopped in the shootout which Notre Dame won 3-2 to earn two more points in the standings which now have Notre Dame tied with Ohio State and Michigan State for third place behind league-leader Minnesota and second-place Michigan.
The Irish (14-14-4 overall, 9-10-3 Big Ten for 31 points), ranked No. 18 this week in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine coaches’ poll and No. 19 in the USCHO.com media poll, are off this weekend and conclude the regular season Feb. 24 and 25 at No. 4 Michigan.
It's the fourth time this season Bischel has received a star of the week from the Big Ten. Bischel was three times named the third star of the week for the weeks of Nov. 1, Jan. 17 and Jan. 24.
For the season, Bischel has made 1,015 saves (first in the nation) in 32 games, has a 2.42 goals-against average (26th), a saves percentage of .930 (tied for third) and four shutouts (tied for fifth).
Sophomore defenseman Luke Hughes of Michigan was named the Big Ten’s First Star of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal with 0.6 seconds left in overtime as Michigan beat Michigan State 4-3 in their “Duel in the D” Feb. 11 at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena. Third Star honors went to junior goaltender Kyle McClellan of Wisconsin, who had 32 saves in the Badgers’ 3-1 victory over then top-ranked Minnesota on Feb. 11.