Jan. 8, 1998
Notre Dame Stays Hot on Road, Wins 4-2 at Alaska Fairbanks
Listen to an audio update from Irish coach Dave Poulin
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Junior left wing Aniket Dhadphale's two goals
highlighted another solid road effort for the University of Notre Dame
hockey team as the Irish came away with a 4-2 victory Thursday in Central
Collegiate Hockey Association action at the Carlson Center.
Notre Dame (11-9-3)--which improved to 8-4-0 away from home this
season--came back from an early 1-0 deficit by scoring twice in a span of
26 seconds and then responded to UAF's second goal when Dhadphale sent home
the game-winner, a power-play score late in the second period.
The victory moves the Irish into a tie with Ferris State (6-6-3) for sixth
place in the CCHA standings, just two points behind Lake Superior (7-5-3)
and three behind Northern Michigan (8-5-2).
UAF (6-14-2, 5-13-1) saw its home record dip below .500 (4-5-1), after
being outshot 32-17 by the visiting Irish. The Nanooks remain ninth in the
CCHA standings, a point behind Ohio State (6-9-0).
Notre Dame has recorded 10-plus shots in 13 of its last 14 periods while
outshooting the opposition 153-71 over the last four games (an average
margin of 38-23). The Irish have scored 42 goals on the road this season
(3.5/gm), compared to just 29 at home (2.6/gm).
The Irish welcomed back sophomore forwards Ben Simon and Joe Dusbabek, who
had missed the previous four games while helping the United States claim
fifth place at the World Junior Championship in Finland.
Notre Dame senior goaltender Matt Eisler picked up the victory, turning away
15 UAF shots for his seventh win of the season.
UAF scored midway through the opening period, when Chris Kirwan deflected
home a Darren Tiemstra shot for his eighth goal of the season (9:06).
The Irish surged ahead early in the second period. Sophomore defenseman
Sean Molina initiated the first score with a sharp pass to sophomore right
wing John Dwyer, whose slapshot from the right was tipped in by senior
center Steve Noble for his sixth goal of the season (5:32).
Dhadphale pushed the Irish ahead 26 seconds later, with his team-leading
14th goal of the season. Senior center Lyle Andrusiak sent a pass into the
middle for Dhadphale, who faked out one UAF defenseman and went around
another before flicking the shot over the glove hand of UAF goaltender
Chris Marvel into the upper right corner of the net (5:58).
UAF's Kevin Epp tied the game later in the second period, one-timing home a
power-play floater from the blue line (14:28). But the Irish went back
ahead minutes later on a power-play score of their own, following a crisp
pass from sophomore defenseman Tyson Fraser to junior defenseman Benoit
Cotnoir. Dhadphale was camped in the slot and flicked home Cotnoir's
rebounded shot for the 3-2 lead (17:18).
Notre Dame had a chance to stretch its lead midway through the final period,
after a holding penalty on Kirwan and a slash by Sjon Wynia yielded a
two-minute 5-on-3 opportunity. But the Nanooks maintained the one-goal
deficit while also benefitting from an unrecorded goal by Irish freshman
left wing Dan Carlson, who pushed the puck across the goal line only to see
Perkins yank it back across before the officials were able to confirm the
goal.
Dwyer was sent to the penalty box with 2:16 to play, on a misidentified
hooking penalty that should have sent Carlson out of the game, but UAF
could not gain the equalizer. With Perkins on the bench for a 6-on-4
advantage, the Irish scored their sixth shorthanded goal of the season when
Cotnoir came up with the puck and led a 3-on-2 break before firing the puck
into the empty net (19:21).
NOTES: Dhadphale's 15 goals rank second in the CCHA, behind Michigan's Bill
Muckault (20), and are most by a Notre Dame player since Tim Harberts lit
the lamp 21 times in 1994-95 ... Dhadphale now has seven power-play goals
this season, third in the CCHA behind Muckalt (10) and Wynia (8) ... Noble
has 20 points for the season (6G, team-high 14 A), equaling his career-high
set in his sophomore season (5-15) ... Noble has five points (1G, 4A) in
the last four games while Andrusiak has an assist in three straight ...
Eisler crept closer to the 100 career games plateau (96) while pushing his
career saves total to 2,517, just 50 behind Mark Kronholm for fifth on the
Irish all-time list ... the Irish penalty-killing unit has allowed just 13
opponent power-play goals this season while scoring six shorthanded goals
... Notre Dame totaled just four penalties in Thursday's game, lowering its
season penalty average to just 6.09/gm (best in the CCHA), including 11
games this season with four or fewer penalties.
NOTRE DAME (11-9-3, 6-6-3 CCHA) 0 3 1 - 4
ALASKA FAIRBANKS (6-14-2, 5-13-1 CCHA) 1 1 0 - 2
1ST: UAF 1. Kirwan 8 (Tiemstra, Wynia) 9:06.
2ND: ND 1. Noble 6 (Dwyer, Molina) 5:32; ND 2. Dhadphale 14 (Andrusiak) 5:58; UAF 2. Epp 1 (Coady, Wynia) PP, 14:28; ND 3. Dhadphale 15 (Cotnoir, Fraser) PP, 17:18.
3RD: ND 4. Cotnoir (unassisted) SH/EN, 19:21
SHOTS: ND 11--11-10/32, UAF 5-8-4/17
SAVES: UAF (Perkins) 11-8-9/28, ND (Eisler) 4-7-4/15
POWER PLAYS: UAF 1-3, ND 1-3
PENALTIES: UAF 4 for 8:00, ND 4 for 8:00.
