Dec. 4, 1997
Irish Head for Home and Home Series with WMU
- Non-Conference home-and-home with Wisconsin on deck
- Simon, Dusbabek invited to upcoming U.S. junior national camp
- Irish looking to get back on winning track of recent close calls
The Notre Dame hockey team (6-6-2, 3-5-2 CCHA) will play a home
and home series this week vs. Western Michigan (at WMU on
Friday, Dec. 5 and at Notre Dame on Saturday the 6th) ... WMU
is 7th in the CCHA standings while Notre Dame is 9th ... Notre
Dame last week lost at home to Lake Superior (4-2) before
playing the Lakers to a 3-3 tie ... Notre Dame's 18 starting
skaters have included as many as seven freshmen and six
sophomores ... the Irish were picked seventh (out of 11 teams)
in the preseason CCHA coaches poll while the Broncos were
picked 5th.
THE WMU SERIES: Western Michigan owns a 24-9-2 series
edge vs. Notre Dame ... the teams played to a 3-3 tie at Notre
Dame early last season, in a game where the Irish trailed on
three occasions, but fought back each time to earn a tie and
put an end to the Broncos ten game win streak against the Irish
... Brian Urick scored two third period goals to lead the Irish
... Western Michigan goaltender Matt Barnes, stopped the first
25 Irish shots on his way to a 40 save night ... Notre Dame
netminder Matt Eisler contributed with 36 saves, including
three in overtime ... the Irish then won at home over WMU late
in the season (5-4), bedind Neal Johson's second goal of the
season at the 2:13 mark of overtime ... the Irish took a 4-2
lead in the second period on goals by Joe Dusbabek and Tyson
Fraser ... Bronco Joe Corvo tallied a power play goal with just
:26 remaining in the second period, and Frank Novock brought
the Broncos even at 5:03 of the third period ... the Irish were
outshot 35-25 by the Broncos, but Matt Eisler stopped 31 shots
to pace the Irish defense ... WMU returtned the favor a day
later, routing the Irish 6-1 in Kalamazoo ... WMU went 3 for 8
on the power play in that game and eliminated Notre Dame from
the CCHA playoff race with the win ... the Broncos jumped out
to an early lead by scoring 3 goals in the first ten minutes of
the contest ... Irish goalie Matt Eisler made over thirty saves
for his fourth consecutive game.
BRONCOS NOTES: WMU's CCHA wins have come vs. BG
(3-0),FSU (4-2), at OSU (3-1), at BG (8-3), and LSSU (4-3) ...
the Broncos have lost to MSU (0-2), at FSU (2-4), NMU (0-3,
2-4), LSSU (1-4), and at Miami (1-2, 2-4) ... WMU's ties have
come vs. Western Ontario (1-1) and at MSU (2-2) ... Bronco
goalie Matt Barnes has played in every game this season, and
earned a 2.34 GAA, which is fourth among CCHA goaltenders, and
his .912 save percentage ties for third. (see pp. 6-7 for Irish
notes).
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Tyson Fraser notched his first goal of the season against Lake Superior. (File Photo)
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Recap - Lake Superior Uses Strong Third Periods to Take
Three Points at Notre Dame: (11/28/97, LSSU 4 @ND 2): Notre
Dame jumped ahead in the second behind the first goals of the
season from Tyson Fraser and Nathan Borega ... Fraser scored on
the power play, after taking a pass at the top of the right
circle from Aniket Dhadphale and wristing a shot through a Joe
Dusbabek screen ... six minutes later, Borega scored on a wrist
shot from the top of the left circle after Matt Van Arkel
picked up a rebound from a Fraser shot and fed the puck to
Borega ... LSSU responded with a goal 44 seconds later and
tied the game just 32 seconds into the third before going ahead
five minutes later ... the Lakers iced the victory with a goal
at 17:16 of the third ... the teams combined for 56 penalty
minutes while LSSU outshot the Irish 27-22. (11/29, LSSU 3 @ND
3): The Lakers forced overtime on a Jason Sessa power-play goal
with 1:28 left to play ... LSSU jumped ahead late in the first
period and went ahead 2-0 midway through the second on Sessa's
first goal of the game ... Dhadphale struck late in the second
and six minutes into the third, tying the game, before Brian
Urick tipped in a Benoit Cotnoir shot to push the Irish in
front 3-2 with 10 minutes to play ... Notre Dame had a chance
to pull out the win, after LSSU's David Lambeth was whistled
for interference penalty at 18:56 mark of the third, but the
Irish could not convert the power play ... the Irish were
0-for-9 on the power play while LSSU converted on 2-of-5
chances ... Dhadphale and Mark Eaton both unleashed overtime
shots that clanged off the pipe ... Notre Dame's Forrest Karr
also robbed LSSU's Terry Marchant of a goal in OT.
FRIEND OR FOE?: Notre Dame's Ben Simon and WMU's Joe
Corvo were teammates on the U.S. silver-medal-winning team at
the '97 World Junior Championships ... Notre Dame's Aniket
Dhadphale played with WMU's Matt Barnes on the Stratford
Cullitons ... Notre Dame's Nathan Borega and WMU's Caley Jones
played on the Vernon Vipers ... Notre Dame's Sean Molina could
face former Dubuque Saints teammate Matt Addessa ... Notre
Dame's Sean Seyferth played with WMU's Jeff Wojcik on the
Compuware Ambassadors ...Notre Dame's Ryan Clark and Bronco
Chad Kline were teammates on the Lincoln Stars ... Irish
defenseman Mark Eaton will face former Waterloo Blackhawk
teammate Mark Wilkinson ... Notre Dame's John Dwyer could face
former Dubuque Saints teammates Matt Addessa and Geoff Collard,
who are both on the '97-'98 Bronco Roster.
YOUNG GUNS: The 1996-97 Notre Dame hockey team was
second-youngest in Division I, with an average age of 19 years
and 11 months on Nov. 1, 1996 ... the Irish remain young in
'97-'98, with an average age of 20 years and two months as of
10/28/97, according to NHL Central Scouting, which lists
Harvard (19, 7) and Boston University (20, 0) as the youngest
teams in the nation while Notre Dame is tied with Boston
College and Michigan--as having the third-lowest average age in
Division I hockey ... more than half (14) of the players on
Notre Dame's 27-man roster began their careers with the Irish
immediately following graduation from high school, with seven
joining the program after one year of junior hockey and only
six spending two years in junior hockey before joining the
Irish.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame is 4-3 away from home this
season, posting big wins at St. Cloud State (4-3/ot, 4-1),
then-#2 Michigan State (6-1) and Ohio State (3-2) while losing
road games in the final minute at MSU (3-1, with the Spartans
breaking a 1-1 tie in the final four minutes) and Miami (5-4,
with Miami winning with 20 seconds left) before losing a 3-2
second-intermission lead at Ferris State (the Bulldogs won 4-3)
... the Irish have been particularly impressive during the
third period of several of those road games, scoring twice to
force overtime in the first game at St. Cloud, clinching the
second win over the Huskies with two more third-period goals
and using a four-goal, third-period flurry in the big win at
Michigan State ... Notre Dame has scored 26 goals away from
home on 168 shots on goal, for an average of 6.5 shots per goal
(15.5 shooting pct.) ... conversely, in its seven home games,
Notre Dame has scored just 20 goals on 208 shots, for an
average of 10.4 shots per goal (9.6 shooting pct.).
SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT: Despite a 1-for-17 power-play
effort last week vs. Lake Superior, Notre Dame's power-play
pct. (.185/15-for-81) is up considerably from last season
(.127) and ranks third among CCHA teams ... the Irish have
netted at least one power-play goal in 10 of the first 11 games
this season (the longest PPG streak in 1996-97 was three games)
... Notre Dame ranked 4th in the CCHA for penalty killing last
season (.813) and opened this season with 16 straight penalty
kills before allowing a Boston College score ... the Irish then
killed off 22 straight power plays, including 15 in a two-game
weekend series vs. then-#2 MSU ... the team's season
penalty-killing pct. now stands at .855 (59-for-69) ... the
Irish record for season penalty-killing pct. was set by the
1969-70 team, which stopped 86.1 percent of opponent power
plays ... the current power-play pct. (.219) is better than
four of the previous five season-ending percentages (the
'94-'95 team converted on 22.0 percent).
SHARPSHOOTER: Junior left wing Aniket Dhadphale's
impressive start to the 1997-98 season hints at a possible
return to the form that saw him lead the Irish in goals as a
freshman (13), when he converted on 18.1 percent of his 72
shots ... Dhadphale then endured a sophomore slump, scoring
just five times on 109 shots (4.6 percent) ... this season,
Dhadphale has doubled his sophomore goal total and ranks second
in the CCHA with 10 goals, trailing only Michigan's Bill
Muckalt (14) ... Dhadphale has converted in 27.8 percent of his
36 shots (an average of one goal per every 3.6 shots on goal).
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Sophomore Ben Simon leads the Irish with 16 points. (File Photo)
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SIMPLE SIMON: Notre Dame sophomore center Ben Simon has
been Mr. Reliable this season, recording at least one point in
11 of 14 games this season ... he leads the Irish and ranks
seventh in the CCHA with 16 points, including a season goal
total (7) that is nearly double his output from 1996-97 (4),
when Simon did not score a goal until the 15th game of the
season ... Simon's three power-play goals equal his freshman
year total while his two shorthanded goals equal Notre Dame's
team total for all of 1996-97.
STRONG DOWN THE STRETCH: Third-period production has
proven to be one of the key factors in Notre Dame's first 14
games this season ... after dominating the third-period scoring
earlier this season, Notre Dame now is being outscored 20-18 in
the final 20 minutes ... the Irish have outscored the
opposition 12-3 in the third period of the six Notre Dame wins
... in Notre Dame's six losses, the opposition has owned a 13-2
third-period scoring edge ... the Irish opened with three wins
thanks to an 8-0 third-period scoring edge ... in the fourth
game of the season, Boston College soared to three goals in a
five-minute span to post a 3-2 win ... this trend has continued
through most of the games this season, with last week's action
seeing Lake Superior use three third-period goals for a 4-2 win
before scoring in the final two minutes to force a 3-3 tie the
next night.
PLAYING FOR YOUR COUNTRY: Notre Dame's Joe Dusbabek and
Ben Simon have been named to the 28-player roster that
will participate in the 1998 U.S. National Junior Team Camp,
Dec. 14-18 in Hackensack, N.J. ... following the camp, 22
players will be selected to the U.S. team which will compete in
the 1997-98 World Junior Championship, Dec. 25-Jan. 3 in
Finland ... Dusbabek and Simon are two of 13 current college
players among the camp invitees and join Michigan State forward
Mike York as the only players invited who currently play for a
CCHA school ... Simon helped the U.S. capture the silver medal
at the 1996-97 World Junior Championship in Switzerland, the
best U.S. finish in the 21-year history of the tournament ...
Simon is one of eight returning players from that team who will
participate in the upcoming camp.
Central Collegiate Hockey Association Standings
TEAM (overall record) W L T PTS GF GA PEN Power Play Penalty-Kill.
1. Michigan State (13-1-2) 7 1 1 15 52 25 141 (8) 13.7% (1) 90.1%
2. Northern Michigan (7-4-3) 6 3 2 14 53 44 151(11) 10.8% (11) 78.0%
3. Michigan (11-3-1) 6 2 1 13 55 37 138 (1) 20.4% (7) 83.7%
4. Miami University (9-1-0) 6 1 0 12 53 26 94 (1) 35.7% (6) 84.6%
5. Ferris State (4-7-3) 4 4 3 11 47 50 122 (6) 16.9% (9) 78.6%
6. Lake Superior (4-6-3) 3 4 3 9 45 45 138 (5) 17.2% (2) 88.9%
7. Western Michigan (5-7-2) 4 7 1 9 33 35 143 (7) 16.5% (4) 86.1%
8. Ohio State (7-6-1) 4 5 0 8 45 40 118 (7) 16.5% (3) 88.8%
9. Notre Dame (6-5-1) 3 5 2 8 45 41 104 (3) 18.5% (5) 85.5%
10. Alaska Fairbanks (4-9-1) 3 8 1 7 54 71 164 (3) 18.5% (10) 78.5%
11. Bowling Green (2-10-1) 1 7 2 4 43 67 173 (9) 14.0% (8) 80.4%
National Hockey Polls
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll
1. Michigan State (6; 13-1-2) 95
2. Boston University (3; 9-1-0) 92
3. North Dakota (5-2-1) 72
4. Miami (1; 9-1-0) 69
5. New Hampshire (10-3-0) 49
6. Colorado College (7-3-2) 41
7. Michigan (11-3-1) 38
8. St. Cloud State (8-3-2) 25
9. Boston College (11-4-0) 22
10. Cornell (6-1-1) 19
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin (10), Yale (8), Maine (4),
Providence (2), Colgate (1), Princeton (1).
U.S. College Hockey Online Coaches Poll
1. Michigan State (23; 13-1-2) 288
2. Boston University (3; 9-1-0) 266
3. North Dakota (4; 5-2-1) 225
4. Miami (9-1-0) 187
5. New Hampshire (10-3-0) 167
6. Colorado College (7-3-2) 132
7. Michigan (11-3-1) 93
8. Boston College (8-3-0) 70
9. Cornell (6-1-1) 64
10. St. Cloud State (8-3-2) 62
Wisconsin (7-3-0) 62
Others receiving votes: Yale (26), Princeton (4), Colgate (3), Maine (1).
WMEB Media Poll
1. Michigan State (7; 13-1-2) 94
2. North Dakota (3; 5-2-1) 93
3. Boston University (9-1-0) 85
4. Miami (9-1-0) 71
5. Colorado College (7-3-2) 53
6. New Hampshire (10-3-0) 43
7. Boston College (8-3-0) 33
8. Michigan (11-3-1) 29
9. Cornell (6-1-1) 22
10. Wisconsin (7-3-0) 16
Others receiving votes: Maine (6), St. Cloud State (3), Yale (1), Colgate (1).
WMPL Coaches Poll
1. Michigan State (8; 13-1-2) 128
2. Boston University (1; 9-1-0) 119
3. North Dakota (1; 5-2-1) 107
4. New Hampshire (10-3-0) 82
5. Colorado College (7-3-2) 72
6. Miami (9-1-0) 71
7. Michigan (11-3-1) 68
8. Boston College (8-3-0) 51
9. Cornell (6-1-1) 48
10. Wisconsin (7-3-0) 43
Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State (33), Yale (12), Princeton (10), Minnesota (10), Providence, Northern Michigan, Clarkson, Maine, Northeastern, Mankato State, Rensselaer.
