Holy War on Ice

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Holy War on Ice
Boston College Eagles wordmark.png
Boston College
Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo.svg
Notre Dame
First meetingDecember 20, 1969
Boston College 7, Notre Dame 3
Latest meetingDecember 8, 2019
Boston College 6, Notre Dame 1
Next meetingTBD
TrophyLefty Smith – John "Snooks" Kelley Memorial Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total46
All-time seriesBoston College leads 24–20–2
Largest victoryNotre Dame, 14–3 (1971)
Longest win streakBoston College, 4 (1977–1991)
Longest unbeaten streakBoston College, 8 (1995–2002)
Current win streakBoston College, 2 (2019–present)
Current unbeaten streakBoston College, 2 (2019–present)
[Interactive fullscreen map]
Locations of Boston College and Notre Dame

The Holy War on Ice refers to the college ice hockey series between Boston College and Notre Dame. Boston College is a member of the Hockey East conference, while Notre Dame is a member of the Big Ten for ice hockey. The two teams first met in 1969, predating the football rivalry from which the hockey series gets its name.

The teams play for the Lefty Smith ��� John "Snooks" Kelley Memorial Trophy.

History[]

The men's ice hockey series between the two schools originated in 1969, predating the football rivalry. Since Jerry York began his tenure as coach at BC in 1994, the series has been played regularly, receiving the moniker "Holy War on Ice," a reference to the football rivalry.[1][2][3]

Boston College leads the all-time series 24–20–2, with the last meeting resulting in a 6–1 Eagles victory on December 8, 2019 in South Bend.

The victor of the game between the Eagles and Irish is awarded the Lefty Smith – John "Snooks" Kelley Memorial Trophy, named for the teams' coaches when the series began in 1969.[4]

In 2008, the two schools met in the 2008 Frozen Four final in Denver, CO, the first time the Eagles and Irish have met in the NCAA Tournament. Boston College skated to a 4–1 victory, claiming their third national championship and denying Notre Dame, a four-seed, the program's first.[5][6]

Notre Dame briefly joined Boston College in Hockey East from 2013–14 to 2016–17.[7] The two teams met twice annually during those four seasons, and also met once in the postseason during the 2014 Hockey East Tournament. In that series, which was the first year of Notre Dame's league membership, the 8th seeded Irish defeated the top seeded Eagles in a best-of-three Quarterfinals at Chestnut Hill.

While Notre Dame left Hockey East to join the Big Ten in 2017–18, the series continued with at least one game annually. Despite not meeting during the regular season of 2020–21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing inter-conference games, the two teams seemed destined to meet regardless. The Eagles and Irish were slated to face each other in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament, playing in the Northeast regional at the Times Union Center, in Albany, New York. However, before the postseason meeting could happen, Notre Dame was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to positive COVID-19 tests among the team's personnel; the match was ruled a no-contest as the Eagles automatically advanced to the Regional Final.

Game results[]

Boston College victoriesNotre Dame victoriesTie games
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 December 20, 1969 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 7–3
2 December 29, 1969 South Bend, IN Boston College 7–4
3 December 30, 1970 Chestnut Hill, MA Notre Dame 5–3
4 December 18, 1971 Chicago, IL Notre Dame 14–3
5 December 20, 1971 New York, NY Notre Dame 7–4
6 December 22, 1972 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 11–4
7 December 30, 1973 South Bend, IN Boston College 4–3
8 December 22, 1974 Chestnut Hill, MA Notre Dame 7–4
9 December 22, 1975 South Bend, IN Notre Dame 6–5
10 December 19, 1976 Chestnut Hill, MA Notre Dame 7–4
11 December 23, 1977 South Bend, IN Boston College 8–4
12 December 22, 1978 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 10–5
13 January 5, 1989 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 7–5
14 January 4, 1991 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 8–1
15 December 28, 1994 Chestnut Hill, MA Notre Dame 3–2
16 October 27, 1995 South Bend, IN Boston College 7–5
17 November 8, 1996 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 6–1
18 October 24, 1997 South Bend, IN Boston College 3–2
19 November 6, 1998 Chestnut Hill, MA Tie5–5
20 October 13, 2000 Omaha, NE #4 Boston College 4–1
21 November 10, 2000 South Bend, IN #2 Boston College 5–3
22 October 26, 2001 South Bend, IN Boston College 4–1
23 November 1, 2002 South Bend, IN Tie3–3
24 October 24, 2003 Chestnut Hill, MA Notre Dame 1–0
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
25 October 22, 2004 South Bend, IN Notre Dame 3–2
26 October 20, 2006 Chestnut Hill, MA Notre Dame 7–1
27 April 12, 2008 Denver, CO #7 Boston College 4–1
28 November 7, 2008 Chestnut Hill, MA #12 Notre Dame 4–1
29 October 23, 2009 South Bend, IN #14 Boston College 3–2
30 October 23, 2010 South Bend, IN #17 Notre Dame 2–1
31 November 18, 2011 South Bend, IN #4 Notre Dame 3–2
32 November 9, 2012 Chestnut Hill, MA #1 Boston College 3–1
33 January 4, 2014 Boston, MA #6 Boston College 4–3
34 March 1, 2014 Chestnut Hill, MA #14 Notre Dame 2–1
35 March 14, 2014 Chestnut Hill, MA #11 Notre Dame 7–2
36 March 15, 2014 Chestnut Hill, MA #2 Boston College 4–2
37 March 16, 2014 Chestnut Hill, MA #11 Notre Dame 4–2
38 February 27, 2015 South Bend, IN #9 Boston College 2–0
39 February 28, 2015 South Bend, IN Notre Dame 3–1
40 December 10, 2015 Chestnut Hill, MA #18 Notre Dame 4–3
41 January 29, 2016 South Bend, IN #5 Boston College 4–0
42 December 10, 2016 South Bend, IN #14 Notre Dame 3–2
43 January 28, 2017 Chestnut Hill, MA #13 Boston College 6–4
44 December 31, 2018 South Bend, IN #6 Notre Dame 4–0
45 December 6, 2019 Chestnut Hill, MA #10 Boston College 4–0
46 December 8, 2019 South Bend, IN #10 Boston College 6–1
Series: Boston College leads 24–20–2

Series facts[]

Statistic BC ND
Games played 46
Wins 24 20
Home wins 10 7
Road wins 11 11
Neutral site wins 3 2
Most goals scored in a game by one team 11 ('72) 14 ('71)
Most goals in a game by both teams 17 (1971 – ND 14, BC 3)
Fewest goals in a game by both teams 1 (2003 – ND 1, BC 0)
Fewest goals scored in a game by one team in a win 2 ('15) 1 ('03)
Most goals scored in a game by one team in a loss 5 ('75) 5 ('78, '89, '95)
Largest margin of victory 7 ('72, '91) 11 ('71)
Smallest margin of victory 1 ('73, '97, '09, '14) 1 ('75, '94, '03, '04, '10, '11, '14, '16)
Longest winning streak 4 ('77–'91) 3 ('70–'71, '74–'76, '03–'06)
Longest unbeaten streak 8 ('95–'02) 4 ('02–'06)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Holy War on Ice Continues Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "2008–09 NCAA Preview". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  3. ^ "HockeyBuzz.com – Julie Robenhymer – Holy War".
  4. ^ "Rivals.com – Old rivalry gets fresh look".
  5. ^ "Page not found – The Heights". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-07-08. Cite uses generic title (help)
  6. ^ "Gerbe Leads Eagles To Third National Championship". USCHO.com College Hockey Game Recaps.
  7. ^ "HockeyEastOnline.com – NOTRE DAME TO JOIN HOCKEY EAST IN 2013–2014 SEASON".
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