Notre Dame and Ferris State Play to 5-5 Tie

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame freshman left wing Dan Carlson scored with 4:41 left in the third period as the Irish and visiting Ferris State played to a 5-5 tied in back-and-forth Central Collegiate Hockey Association action Thursday at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.

Ben Simon had three assists for the Irish. (File Photo)

Notre Dame (6-4-1, 3-3-1 CCHA) spotted the visitors a 2-0 first-period lead before claiming leads of 3-2 and 4-3. The Irish surged ahead in the second period behind freshman left wing Jay Kopischke's first career goal and a pair of man-up scores from junior defenseman Benoit Cotnoir. Junior left wing Aniket Dhadphale then pushed the Irish ahead 4-3 with an early third-period goal but the visitors scored twice in a 64-second span, setting the stage for Carlson's game-tying score.

Ferris State (3-7-3, 3-4-3 CCHA) did not register a shot on goal during the first 12 minutes of the game but then notched goals on its first and third shots, in a span of less than two minutes. The Bulldogs outshot the Irish, 28-23, with both team committing five penalties. The game featured four ties.

Notre Dame senior Matt Eisler had 23 saves while twice seeing FSU score a pair of quick back-to-back goals. Eisler stopped the biggest overtime scoring chance, making a sprawling save on a shot between the circles from Bulldogs sophomore left wing Brian McCullough. Eisler was sliding to his left on the play and whipped his (left) glove hand over his head as he slid to the ice, with the puck tipping off the glove and flying wide of the far post.

Carlson notched his third goal of the season at 15:39 mark of the third. Freshman defenseman Mark Eaton set up the goal with a shot between the circles that was knocked to the left side of the crease by FSU freshman goalie Vince Owen. Carlson had been knocked down behind the net as Eaton was shooting but was able to angle the puck into the goal as he was scrambling to his feet. Sophomore center Ben Simon provided the set-up pass to Eaton for Simon's third assist of the game and eighth of the season.

McCullough helped FSU regain the lead eight minutes into the third period, a minute and four seconds after junior right wing Joel Irwin had tied the game. McCullough took a pass from linemate Rob Kozak and skated free into the right side of the crease before wristing his fifth goal of the season over the glove hand of Eisler. Irwin also beat Eisler with a high shot inside the right post (7:37). Junior left wing Kenzie Homer set up Irwin's sixth goal of the season with a short pass through the slot as he was being dragged down at the near edge of the left circle.

Notre Dame claimed its second lead of the game at 3:44 of the third, after senior center Lyle Andrusiak sent a pass from the right corner into the slot for Dhadphale, who slapped a shot off the pads of Owen before knocking the rebound inside the right post for his CCHA-leading eight goal of the season.

FSU freshman center Kevin Swider's fifth goal of the season tied the game (3-3) early in the third. Senior defenseman Brett Colborne set the goal up be sending a bouncing puck from the top of the slot and Swider was waiting at the left side of the crease to scoop the puck into the net (1:13).

Kopischke put the Irish on the board at 5:42 of the second period, flicking home a rebounded shot from freshman defenseman Ryan Clark, who unloaded from the top of the left circle. The Irish continued to test Owen with shots from the blueline, with Cotnoir scoring from the right side at 7:23 and from the center of the blueline at 16:28.

Carlson and Simon provided the passes that led to Cotnoir's first goal and Simon then won a left-side faceoff before exchanging a couple passes with Cotnoir on the go-ahead score. Cotnoir--who has scored all four of his goals this season in the last three games--then skated to his right and rifled a rising shot that glanced off the left shoulder of Owen for the 3-2 Irish lead and Cotnoir's third power-play goal in the last six days (his other goal came short-handed).

Jim Dube's first goal of the season opened the scoring at the 12:01 of the first period, with Dube taking a pass from Rob Kozak at the left circle and sending a high shot over Eisler's glove hand. Moments later, Geoff Bennetts poked home a rebounded shot by Brent Wishart for his fourth goal of the season. Wishart took a pass from J.P. Tessier and beat the Irish defense into the slot before sending a low shot on net. Eisler made the save off his right pad but Bennetts pounced on the rebound and flicked the puck into the net (13:58).

The Irish nearly had an early 2-0 lead of their own. Just four minutes into the game, sophomore center Troy Bagne broke free into the slot but banged a high shot off the right post. Simon skated free into the slot moments later but Owen smothered his low shot at the left post.

FSU had a power-play goal disallowed at 10:42 mark of the second, with the game tied 2-2. Ed Kowalski slid a timing pass from the left circle to the top of the crease for Brent Wishart, who nudged the puck into the right side of the net but was whistled for being in the crease.

                                    1   2   3   OT      F
FERRIS STATE (3-7-3, 3-4-3 CCHA)    2   0   3   0   -   5
NOTRE DAME (6-4-1, 3-3-1 CCHA)      0   3   2   0   -   5

1ST: FSU 1. Dube 1 (Kozak, Kowalski) 12:01; FSU 2. Bennetts 4 (Wishart, Tessier) 13:58.

2ND: ND 1. Kopischke 1 (Clark, Fraser ) 5:42; ND 2. Cotnoir 3 (Carlson, Simon) PP 7:23; ND 3. Cotnoir 4 (Simon) PP 16:28.

3RD: FSU 3. Swider 5 (Colborne) 1:13; ND 4. Dhadphale (Andrusiak, Urick) 3:44; FSU 4. Irwin 6 (Homer) 7:37; FSU 5. McCullough 5 (Kozak, Lewis) 8:41; ND 5. Carlson 3 (Eaton, Simon) 15:39.

OVERTIME: No scoring.
SHOTS: FSU 7-8-10-3/28, ND 5-9-8-1/23.
SAVES: FSU (Owen) 5-6-6-1/18, ND (Eisler) 5-8-7-3/23.
POWER PLAY: FSU 1-for-3, ND 2-for-3.
PENALTIES: FSU 5 for 10:00, ND 5 for 10:00.

Notre Dame Head Coach Dave Poulin: "I'm speechless ... Down by one with four minutes to go and we get a goal, and we're still not happy. ... After the first period, I told the players to just play hockey. I don't know if that made a difference, but (we) looked like world-beaters in the second period. ... Once again, Eisler made some incredible saves to give us a point. He looked great when we needed him the most. ... We have to win the game earlier. We have to take advantage of the breakaways--we've got to score in those kind of situations."