Nov. 7, 1997
Irish Hockey Holds On Against Bowling Green
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Junior left wing Aniket Dhadphale and
sophomore center Ben Simon again came through with the timely
goals as the University of Notre Dame held on for a 2-1 victory
over visiting Bowling Green in Central Collegiate Hockey
Association action Friday at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
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Ben Simon extended his points streak to seven games with a shorthanded tally. (File Photo)
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Notre Dame (5-2-0, 2-1-0 CCHA) received a power-play goal from
Dhadphale early in the first period and a memorable shorthanded
score in the closing moments of the period from Simon, who
extended his points streak to seven games after weaving his way
from one end of the ice to the other to give the Irish a 2-0
lead.
Bowling Green (2-6-1, 1-1-1) failed to solve Notre Dame senior
goaltender Matt Eisler on its first 21 shots of the game before
Dan Price converted on the Falcons' eighth power-play chance of
the night, with just 1:50 left to play. Prior to Price's goal,
Notre Dame had stopped 22 straight opponent power plays. The
Irish season penalty-killing efficiency now stands at 38-for-40
(.950).
Eisler came within 110 seconds of his third career shutout
while lowering his season goals against average to 2.19 and
raising his season save percentage to .928.
Sophomore defenseman Tyson Fraser initiated the first goal with
a shot from the left point that failed to reach BGSU goaltender
Mike Savard. Irish senior center Steve Noble then fired the
rebound back on net and his shot was blocked by the defense.
But Dhadphale was filling the middle of the crease and sent a
shot past Savard for the 1-0 lead (4:23).
The goal was the seventh of the season for Dhadphale on just
his 17th shot, showing clear signs that he has snapped out of a
sophomore slump that saw him total just five goals for the
entire 1996-97 season on 109 shots. Dhadphale now has scored in
six Irish games this season while the Irish have notched at
least one power-play goal in all seven games.
The Irish killed off three first-period BGSU power plays before
Simon scored his sixth goal of the season, after putting on a
display of his dangerous speed and offensive talent. With the
Falcons working the puck in the Irish zone, Notre Dame freshman
defenseman Mark Eaton dove to deflect an attempted shot. Simon
skated onto the puck at the circle to Eisler's left (near the
Irish bench) and then proceeded to weave in a large "S",
angling right towards the penalty box before skirting the
faceoff circle on the opposite, far side. Simon was able to
shield a defender through the Falcons zone and glided through
the slot before completing the journey by nudging the puck into
the lower left corner as he skated by the left post (16:14).
BGSU had 10 shots in the first period but struggled in the
second 20 minutes, managing just five shots (to Notre Dame's
11) despite three more power-play chances. With Irish sophomore
defenseman Nathan Borega serving a late third-period
cross-check penalty, the Falcons elected to go with a 6-on-4
advantage by pulling Savard at the 17:14 mark. As Borega's
penalty neared its end, Savard returned to the net (17:48) but
the Falcons still managed to score moments later (18:10), with
two seconds left on the Borega penalty. Price notched his
second goal of the season, putting home a rebounded shot from
Doug Schueller.
BOWLING GREEN (2-6-1, 1-1-1 CCHA) 0 0 1 - 1
NOTRE DAME (5-2-0, 2-1-0 CCHA) 2 0 0 - 2
1ST: ND 1. Dhadphale 7 (Noble, Fraser) PP 4:24; ND 2. Simon 6 (Eaton) SH 16:14.
2ND: No scoring.
3RD: BG 1. Price 2 (Schueller, Bonvie) PP 18:10.
SHOTS: BG 10-5-7/22, ND 8-11-10/29.
SAVES: BG (Savard) 6-11-10/27, ND (Eisler) 10-5-6/21.
POWER-PLAY: BG 1-for-8, ND 1-for-6
PENALTIES: BG 7 for 14:00, ND 8 for 16:00.
Notre Dame Head Coach Dave Poulin: "We started off real
well, but the penalties destroyed the flow of the game. We made
some bad plays that resulted in penalites and that hurt us in
our attack. The bottom line is that we won. ... The penalty
killing once again was terrific. We were exceptionally good in
the neutral zone all night. I think if we keep this [penalty
killing] up, we'll be a tough team to beat in the league. ...
We didn't over look Bowling Green at all while heading to face
Michigan State tomorrow night. This league is a strap up and go
league. Bowling Green is a good team and coached by an
excellent teacher. You can't overlook anyone in this league,
especially with a team like Bowling Green. ... Ben Simon's goal
was big time. From finish to start, Ben made a superb play that
changed the swing of the game. Bowling Green was looking to tie
the game at 1-1 with a man advantage, but all of the sudden Ben
makes that goal and turns the game around for us. ... Once
again, Matt Eisler stepped up when he had to. He was big all
night in the penalty killing when he stepped out and saved some
shots."
Bowling Green Head Coach Buddy Powers: "On the second
goal, it was a two-on-one. . . Simon got a seam and used his
speed to score. ... We created some opportunities . . . Maybe
we need to play a little harder on the offensive end. First of
all, we need to take more shots . . . But in the second and
third periods we played hard. We got good goaltending and our
defense played well."
