Hoof Beats: Notes from Notre Dame; Texan commits

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With the Chargers off this week, here are some notes about last weekend’s series at Notre Dame:

  • Coach Mike Corbett told the Notre Dame broadcasters that he didn’t want the Chargers to have a special teams battle with the Irish. UAH was 57th of 60 Division I teams last year on power play opportunities, and 49th in penalty killing, and both aspects did not have great starts to the season. For the weekend, the Chargers were 1-for-10 on the power play, and the Irish was 3-for-9.
  • Tyler Poulsen’s two goals on Friday earned him the third star of the game. It was Poulsen’s second two-goal game of his UAH career.
  • Friday’s game was close to a repeat of history. The last (and only) time UAH has defeated a top-10 team was also a season opener and also at Notre Dame. The Chargers beat the fifth-ranked Irish 3-2 on Oct. 9, 2009. UAH led 3-2 at one point of the second period on Friday.
  • Saturday’s 4-0 loss wasn’t fun, but it didn’t appear to be as dominating as the score indicated. UAH had an advantage in shots on goal (34-31), while shots attempted were also close with the Irish with a slight 58-57 edge.
  • All five freshmen forwards played in both games, with Levi Wunder getting an assist on Friday. Freshman goaltender Mark Sinclair make his first start on Saturday, stopping 27 of 31 shots.
  • The Chargers may be feeling the effects of being without injured center Max McHugh in the faceoff dot. UAH won only 22 of 63 faceoffs on Friday and 20 of 53 on Saturday, or 36 percent for the series.
  • McHugh is the team’s captain, with Kurt Gosselin, Josh Kestner, and Brandon Parker being the alternate captains.
  • The UAH softball team was in attendance at Friday night’s game. Les Stuedeman and her squad were in South Bend to play the Irish and Western Michigan in fall practice games on Saturday. They were certainly heard at the Compton Family Ice Arena, particularly late in the game when the Chargers were threatening to score the tying goal.

The Chargers are off this week. Next week they head to Houghton, Mich., visiting Michigan Tech for their first WCHA series of the season.

Recruiting news and notes: Ben Allen, a ’97-born forward from Allen, Texas, recently committed to UAH for the 2018-2019 season. Allen is currently playing for the Penticton Vees of the BCHL after having spent the majority of last season with the Battleford North Stars in the SJHL. He’s not big at 5’9 and 175 lbs., but he makes up for it with an advanced hockey IQ and a relentless motor. With 11 forwards currently committed to play college hockey on Penticton’s roster, this should be a great year for Allen’s development. He’s currently got 2 goals and 1 assist in 7 games, and I expect his production will increase as he gets used to a new league and a new team. All-in-all, another solid commit for Coach Corbett and his staff.
Unfortunately, around the same time Allen committed to the Herd, it was confirmed that blue-chip defenseman Hank Sorensen had decided to open his recruitment back up. At this point in time, it’s unclear whether he’s still considering UAH. —Asher Kitchings

Single-game tickets now available: Reserved single-game tickets to the Chargers’ 14 home games are now for sale. They can be purchased online through Ticketmaster or through the Von Braun Center box office.

Season tickets are still available by calling 256-UAH-PUCK or through uahchargers.com.

The home opening series, which is also Homecoming, is Nov. 10-11 against Alaska Anchorage.

Around the WCHA: Michigan Tech scored a couple of crucial non-conference wins for the league by winning the Ice Breaker Tournament in Duluth, Minn. The Huskies defeated No. 16 Union 4-3 and host No. 6 Minnesota Duluth 4-3. Now at No. 15, Michigan Tech is the only WCHA team in the USCHO.com poll. … Minnesota State opened at home to a large crowd against in-state rival St. Cloud State, but the Mavericks lost 4-0 Saturday despite, like UAH, outshooting the Huskies 42-26. … Alaska Anchorage surprised No. 7 North Dakota at home on Friday with a 1-1 tie, but the Seawolves fell to the Fighting Hawks in overtime on Saturday, 3-2. … UAH alumnus Lance West made his debut as the head coach of the Alaska Nanooks, which took a loss and tie against Air Force in Fairbanks. … Ferris State split with Western Michigan, with each team winning at home. Western defeated Bowling Green 3-1 in Kalamazoo on Tuesday. … Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan split a non-conference home-and-home series.

Friday, October 13
* Northern Michigan at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
* #15 Michigan Tech at Lake Superior State, 6:07 p.m.
Minnesota State at #2 Boston University, 6:30 p.m.
Michigan State at Bowling Green, 6:37 p.m.
#5 Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m.
Alaska at #6 St. Cloud State, 7:37 p.m.
Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College, 8:37 p.m.

Saturday, October 14
* Northern Michigan at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
* #15 Michigan Tech at Lake Superior State, 6:07 p.m.
Minnesota State at #2 Boston University, 6:00 p.m.
Bowling Green at Michigan State, 6:05 p.m.
Bemidji State at #5 Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 p.m.
Alaska at #6 St. Cloud State, 7:07 p.m.
Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College, 8:07 p.m.