Settling In
ND Sports
Mario Lucia made an
immediate impact, helping
the No. 2 Irish reel off eight
wins in nine contests
By Dan Murphy
I
rish freshman Mario Lucia celebrated
Christmas with his family a bit late this
year. Lucia was in Ufa, Russia, on Dec.
25 resting between games at the World
Junior Classic, where he and Team USA
would eventually win gold medals.
Luckily, the Plymouth, Minn., native
had a chance to see his family shortly
after returning home when his Notre
Dame team traveled to Minnesota to
play the top-ranked Gophers. The following night, he and his family had
their own belated version of the holidays with maybe a little tense conversation over slices of pie. Lucia's father,
Don, coaches the Minnesota team that
topped No. 2 Notre Dame 4-1, dropping
them to 14-5 on the year.
"I'm excited. I've already chirped at
him a little bit," the younger Lucia said
about playing against his father, speaking in an interview shortly before leaving for Russia. "It will be nice to come
home and play in a rink that I grew up
Lucia, a freshman left wing, produced five goals and five assists in his first nine games with the Irish after
recovering from a broken fibula.
photo by joe raymond
