Bischel And Galajda Named To Richter Award Watch List

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The following is courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced Fighting Irish goaltenders Ryan Bischel and Matthew Galajda have been named to the Watch List for the 2022 Mike Richter Award, which has been given annually to the top goalie in NCAA Division I men’s hockey since 2014.

Bischel, a junior, and Galajda, a graduate student, are two of 28 goalies who have been named to the Watch List and are the only set of teammates to make the list. They also represent two of the six Big Ten players up for the award.

Bischel has started 11 games this season, posting a 7-4-0 record to go along with a .923 save percentage and a 2.05 goals against average. He posted his first career shutout in Notre Dame’s 5-0 win over Niagara, stopping all 19 shots he faced (Jan. 2). He then made a career-high 38 saves in Notre Dame’s 4-2 win at Penn State (Jan. 7).

Galajda has gone 10-3-0 in 13 starts this season while posting a .929 save percentage and 1.93 goals against average. He posted shutouts against RIT (Oct. 22) and Wisconsin (Nov. 13) to move into a tie for third in NCAA Division I men’s hockey history with 21. He posted a career high 40 saves in Notre Dame’s recent 8-2 victory over Boston College (Jan. 19).

Former Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris was the 2018 recipient of the Mike Richter award, while Galajda, playing for Cornell, was a finalist in both 2018 and 2020.

A committee of voters — made up of a cross section of coaches, administrators, scouts and media — will pare this list down to approximately 15 names within the next two weeks and then ultimately choose the winner who will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four.

Next Up For Notre Dame

  • Notre Dame has the Big Ten bye this weekend and will then play host to 11th-ranked Minnesota on Jan. 28-29 at Compton Family Ice Arena to open the stretch run (tickets).

  • Both the Friday (7:30 p.m. ET) and Saturday (6 p.m. ET) games against the Gophers will be on Peacock.