The 2011-12 Irish season has been a campaign of remarkable highs and lows, with last-second victories balanced by big losses at home. Amid the inconsistency, senior defenseman and captain Sean Lorenz has been a consistent force on the blue line and in the locker room.
As a tribute to his leadership and performance on and off the ice, Lorenz was named one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award in hockey. The award is considered the premier honor given to a senior student-athlete in each sport. The defenseman from Littleton, Colo., said the nomination came as a surprise.
"It's a great honor. I didn't find out until [hockey sports information director] Tim Connor told me about it," Lorenz said. "I'm very honored to be thrown into a group with names of [former Irish players] Calle Ridderwall, [Erik] Condra and [Jordan] Pearce and some of those kinds of guys. So it's an honor, definitely."
On the heels of a 2010-11 season in which he received the CCHA Defensive Defensemen of the Year honor, Lorenz was named co-captain of the squad, along with fellow senior right wing Billy Maday. The duo has faced a difficult assignment as captains, having to guide a young Notre Dame squad through a pressure-packed campaign.
The No. 13/9 Irish (16-13-3, 11-10-3-0 CCHA) sit seventh in the CCHA standings with only two regular season series left to play. Lorenz said he and Maday have adjusted their leadership style in the midst of recent struggles.
"I think [Maday] and I have kind of both talked about it. We just try to lead by example," Lorenz said. "I think that's the best way to lead a team when things aren't going our way, is that you can yell and scream all you want but when it comes down to it, as long as you're working hard and trying to lead by example, that's when they're going to follow you the best."
Entering the second-to-last series of the regular season, the Irish head to Ohio to take on Miami in a crucial pair of games. To turn around its recent struggles, the team will need to find the back of the net more consistently, a facet of the game Lorenz said would come from the Irish playing within themselves.
"We all want to win and it's frustrating," he said. "Sometimes you start to grip the stick a little tighter and try to force plays. We can't do that unfortunately.
"You've just got to play the game like you can and play relaxed and that's how you're going to come back and kind of bounce back out of this cold streak."
Lorenz will lead his team onto the ice for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop Friday night in the opener of a two-game set against Miami in Oxford, Ohio.
Contact Chris Allen at callen10@nd.edu