Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris, who led the nation in save percentage (.969) and GAA (1.12) last month while going 8-0-0 with three shutouts, was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Division I Player of the Month for November.
After being tabbed as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month following a stellar November, Clarkson’s freshman forward Jack Jacome has been named the HCA National Division I Rookie of the Month for November.
Morris was named the HCA Player of the Month for the first time in his career after allowing just nine goals in eight games while recording at least 40 saves in three contests. Morris currently leads the nation in both save percentage (.955) and winning percentage (.929) this season and is tied for the national lead with 13 victories.
Morris opened the month with a pair of victories at Ohio State, stopping 62 of the 65 shots he faced in the series, including 22 in the third period of a 3-2 victory in the series finale on Nov. 4. The following weekend in a series sweep of Penn State, Morris recorded 40 saves for the first time in his career on Nov. 10, then notched his first-career shutout on Nov. 11. Following a pair of wins at Rensselaer, Morris led Notre Dame to a sweep of Minnesota by making at least 40 saves in both contests and allowing only two goals on the weekend.
The Larkspur, Colo., native was named one of the Big Ten’s Three Stars in all four weeks of November, including three straight First Star selections to end the month. This made him the first player in Big Ten history to claim the conference’s top weekly honor in three consecutive weeks, a record he added to earlier this week when he was named the Big Ten First Star for the fourth straight week.
Jacome was tops in the nation leading all freshmen in points (12) while guiding the Golden Knights to a prefect 8-0-0 record, including claiming the Belpot Trophy at the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, along with six road wins. He tallied at least one point in seven of Clarkson’s eight games in November, while posting a nation’s-best 1.50 points per game among his rookie counterparts.
The Caledon, Ont., native has helped the Golden Knights excel on the power play in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign, leading the nation in both power-play assists (7) and power-play points with seven during the month of November. As a result of his contributions, Clarkson ranks first in the nation on the power play, scoring on 22 of its 72 opportunities (30.6%).
The second leading overall freshman scorer in ECAC Hockey, Jacome has recorded 14 points in 15 games and is second in the nation among all rookies in assists with 12. He was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on November 21 after helping the Golden Knights to their first week-end sweep in Central New York since late in the 1996-97 season with victories at Colgate (5-2) and Cornell (4-0).
The talented right winger is part of a productive freshmen line, which has accounted for 22% of Clarkson’s offense and has helped the Golden Knights to first-place in the ECAC Hockey standings with 12 points through their first six league games and a No. 3 national ranking with a 13-3-1 overall mark.
