Dec. 11, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame and the University of Massachusetts turned in another high-scoring first period but the Irish shut out the Minutemen the rest of the way, en route to a 5-3 victory in non-conference hockey action Saturday night at the Joyce Center.

Notre Dame (7-9-2) fell into a 2-0 hole for the second straight night but the Irish quickly responded to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission. UMass had staked a 3-2 lead at the first intermission in Friday's game, en route to a 4-3 win over the Irish.

The hosts added to their lead on Saturday in the third period, with senior center Ben Simon notching his first two-goal game of the season and the third of his career while senior defenseman Nathan Borega iced the win with an empty-netter.

The Irish gave up the game's first goal for the 12th time this season but rallied for the victory, with just a 1-9-1 record in the previous 11 games when trailing 1-0. Notre Dame also had been just 1-9-0 this season when facing a two-goal deficit before pulling off Saturday's reversal (the Irish rallied for three third-period goals to beat Alaska Fairbanks, 3-2, on Nov. 13).

UMass (4-8-2) received first goals of the season from freshman defenseman Samuli Jalkanen and junior left wing Jay Shaw in the game's early moments but sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson then allowed goals on three of the next four Irish shots, with junior Markus Helanen taking over at the start of the second period (Helanen had 33 saves in Friday's win).

The Irish scored a season-high three power-play goals while sophomore Jeremiah Kimento picked up his third career win, making 19 straight saves after the early UMass flurry (the Minutemen also scored with 13 seconds left to play).

Notre Dame surged to the lead with three goals-the last two coming on the power play-in an eight-minute stretch of the opening period, with the goals coming from freshman defenseman Evan Nielsen, Simon and junior right wing Ryan Dolder.

Freshman right wing John Wroblewski set up the first Irish goal by moving the puck along the right boards in the UMass zone, with junior right wing Dan Carlson then firing a pass into the top of the slot. The righthanded Nielsen collected the puck before snapping his second goal of the season inside the right post (10:42).

Two minutes later, passes from senior defenseman Tyson Fraser and sophomore center David Inman set up Simon from the right circle and the Irish captain beat Johnson with a low shot inside the far left post for his fifth goal of the season and second of the series.

Notre Dame edged ahead in the closing moments of the period, after Johnson had attempted to clear the puck around the right boards. Inman nudged the puck into an open space and Dolder slid to the center of the blue line before sending a low shot on goal. Johnson had a clear view of the shot and appeared to make the save, but the puck trickled past his stick and between his legs for Dolder's fifth goal of the season and third in the last four games (18:57).

Simon moved into second on the Notre Dame season goalscoring chart by netting his sixth score of the season midway through the final period. Simon led a power-play rush down the middle of the ice and lost the puck before Dolder and Nielsen quickly worked the puck back to the Irish captain. Simon then swiped the puck by Helanen for a 4-2 cushion (11:55).

UMass pulled Helanen with 1:37 left to play but Borega picked off the puck near the mid-ice faceoff circle and fired into the empty net for his first goal of the season and the fourth of his career (18:58).

The Minutemen ended the scoring on a shorthanded goal with 13 seconds left to play, after freshman right wing Tim Turner picked off an outlet pass and fed junior right wing Ray Geever for his first goal of the season, on a tap-in from the left side of the crease.

UMass jumped ahead just 76 seconds into the game, after Tim Turner emerged with the puck following a turnover behind the Irish net and fired a pass through the slot to the far left point. Jalkanen reared back and sent a fluttering shot through traffic, with the puck sailing over Kimento's glove hand and into the right side of the goal (1:16).

The visitors added to their lead at the 7:39 mark, with junior center Jeff Turner smacking the puck free near the right side of the center line. The younger Turner brother then picked up the puck and skated into the slot before dropping a back pass to his right for Shaw, who quickly bear Kimento with a rising shot to the glove side.

NOTES: Simon's goal held up as the game-winner, giving the Irish seven different game-winning goalscorers in their seven wins this season (the others are Inman, junior F Matt Van Arkel, senior LW Any Jurkowski, Nielsen, Carlson and Dolder) ... Notre Dame is 23 for 25 on the penalty kill during the past six games (4-for-4 on Saturday) .. . the Irish are 16-4-4 (.750) in their last 24 regular-season home games, with two of the four losses coming by one goal ... Notre Dame continued to play without two injured regulars, as freshman C Connor Dunlop missed his third straight game after suffering an arm injury vs. Michigan State on Dec. 4 while junior D Ryan Clark sat out the second straight game after suffering a midgame concussion at MSU on Dec. 5 ... Dunlop is expected to join Inman and sophomore C Brett Henning in traveling to West Point, N.Y., on Monday, as members of the U.S. team that will compete in the upcoming World Junior Championship (the team will train in West Point before flying to Sweden for exhibitions and the tournament, which runs Dec. 26-Jan. 4) ... Simon pushed his career point total to 111 (37G-74A) in 121 games ... Dolder has 3G-3A in the last six games, including last week's game-winner vs. Michigan State (1-0) ... Simon has eight points (4G-4A) in the last five games, after totaling just five points in his first 12 ... the Irish have allowed 22 first-period goals this season (factoring out to a 3.67 goals-against average for 60 minutes), compared to just 26 goals allowed in the second and third periods combined (2.17 GAA) ... Fraser's assist was his 50th career point (8G-43A) and marked his 45th career game with a goal or assist ... Jurkowski skated in his 60th straight game on Saturday (the longest streak by any current Irish player) ... the Irish are 21-0-3 during the past two seasons when leading at the second intermission (5-0-0 this season), 16-1-2 when ahead at the first break (4-0-0 this season) and 21-2-4 when scoring first (6-0-1 this season).

UMASS           2   0   1   -   3
NOTRE DAME      3   0   2   -   5

1st: UMass 1. Jalkanen 1 (T. Turner) 1:16, UMass 2. Shaw 1 (T. Turner, J. Turner) 7:39, ND 1. Nielsen 2 (Carlson, Wroblewski) 10:42, ND 2. Simon 5 (Inman, Fraser), PP, 12:55, ND 3. Dolder 5 (Inman), PP, 18:57.
3rd: ND 4. Simon 6 (Nielsen, Dolder), PP, 11:55, ND 5. Borega 1 (unassisted), EN, 18:58, UMass 3. Geever 1 (T. Turner), SH, 19:47.

Shots: UMass 10-7-6/23, ND 9-7-11/27.
Saves: UMass 6-7-9/22 (Johnson 6-x-x/6, Helanen x-7-9/16), ND (Kimento) 8-7-5/20.
Power Play: UMass 0-for-4, ND 3-for-7.
Penalties: UMass 8 for 27:00, ND 5 for 10:00.