Jan. 4, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Notre Dame hockey team (7-12-3, 4-6-2 CCHA) returns to the Joyce
Center Fieldhouse for a Jan. 7-8 series versus Lake Superior (both games
start at 7:05 EST), with the Irish looking to get back in the thick of
the CCHA standings ... a sweep of the LSSU series could vault the Irish as
high as fourth in the CCHA standings, tied with the Lakers (who
currently are 7-5-0 in the CCHA) ... seventh-place Miami plays one game with Bowling Green, while fellow seventh-place team Nebraska-Omaha does not play a CCHA game this week... fourth-place teams Ferris State (at Northern Michigan) and Western Michigan (host Alaska
Fairbanks) enter the weekend just four points up on Notre Dame ... after
the LSSU series, the Irish close the regular season with nine of the 14
remaining games on the road (including long trips to Northern Michigan
and Alaska Fairbanks) ... the undermanned Irish played to a 3-3 tie with
Denver at last week's Norwest Denver Cup before losing 5-2 to Colorado
College on New Year's Day ... the LSSU series will end a 55-day stretch in
which the Irish played only two CCHA games (vs. Michigan State on Dec.
10-11) ... the Lake Superior series will be aired live by WJVA radio
1580 AM (also available via the Notre Dame website at www.und.com, as
are real-time stats for all home games).
LONG TIME, NO SEE: It's been nearly a year since Notre Dame and Lake
Superior last met, with the Lakers skating to a 3-1 home win over the
Irish on Jan. 23, 1999 ... in its 36 games since that time, the Irish are
just 12-19-5 while playing Northern Michigan and Michigan State five
times each, Miami four times, and Michigan, Alaska Fairbanks and Ferris
State three times each ... despite the long stretch between its games
versus Lake Superior, the Irish actually have gone longer since last
facing Western Michigan (Nov. 22, 1999) and Ohio State (Dec. 5, 1999) ...
the Irish play host to WMU in two weeks (Jan. 21-22) and will play twice
at OSU on Feb. 4-5 (both roughly 14 months after their previous
meetings).
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE?: Notre Dame is looking to avoid its first three-game
home losing streak since late in the 1996-97 season, when the current
seniors were freshmen ... the Irish have played 50 straight home games
without three straight losses, stretching back to a 3-0 home loss to
Michigan State on Jan. 28, 1996, followed by a pair of losses to Ohio
State in the next home games (5-4, 4-3 on Feb. 7-8) ... since opening the
1998-99 season with a 10-0-2 record at home, the Irish are just 8-8-2 in
their last 16 home games.
NO TRIP TO THE SOO: For the first time since rejoining the CCHA in
1992-93, Notre Dame will not be making the long trek to Sault Ste.
Marie, Mich., to face the Lakers ... due to the league's new four-team
cluster format, the Irish are not making the customary trips to four
CCHA cities, including Kalamazoo, Mich. (Western Michigan), Ann Arbor,
Mich. (Michigan) and Oxford, Ohio (Miami) ... the four teams that will not
visit the Joyce Center in 1999-2000 include Northern Michigan, Ferris
State, Bowling Green and Ohio State ... each team plays its cluster
partners four times (twice at home) while playing either a home or away
series versus teams from the other two clusters ... Notre Dame is paired
this season with Michigan State, Nebraska-Omaha and Alaska Fairbanks
while LSSU's cluster includes NMU, FSU and WMU ... since rejoining the
CCHA, Notre Dame has managed just a 2-8-0 record versus the Lakers at
Taffy Abel Arena.
ND-LSSU CONNECTIONS: Second-year equipment manager Dave Gilbert, a 1996
Lake Superior graduate, was a backup goaltender on LSSU's '91-'92 NCAA
championship team while backing up eventual pro hockey goalies Darrin
Madeley and Blaine Lacher ... during his final four years as an
undergrad, he served as a student equipment manager, with LSSU finishing
as NCAA runner-up in '93, NCAA champion in '94 and reaching the NCAA
quarterfinals his final two seasons ... he spent the previous two years
as head equipment manager for LSSU's 11 sports ...Lakers head coach Scott
Borek ('85) and first-year Notre Dame assistant John Micheletto ('88)
both are graduates of Dartmouth ... former LSSU head coach Jeff Jackson
has spent the past four years as head coach of the U.S. National Team
Development Program and the U.S. National Junior Team, with eight
players on the current Notre Dame roster playing for Jackson at some
point during the past four years.
THE ND-LSSU SERIES: Lake Superior owns an 18-7-1 series edge vs. Notre
Dame, but the last five games are even (2-2-1) ... the Irish won the first
two games of the series early last season (4-2 at home, 4-3 at LSSU)
before dropping a 3-1 game at LSSU in late January ... the Lakers owned an
eight-game unbeaten streak versus the Irish (7-0-1) prior to last season
... the Lakers won the 1997-98 took series (4-3, 3-3, 2-1), with Ted
Laviolette's overtime goal ending the third game ... that win provided
LSSU with the series tiebreaker (both teams finished tied for sixth, at
12-14-4), which ultimately sent the Lakers to Ohio State for the CCHA
playoffs while the Irish headed to Michigan ... senior D Tyson Fraser
(1G-5A) is Notre Dame's top career scorer vs. Lake Superior while senior
C Ben Simon and senior RW Joe Dusbabek are the only Irish players with
multiple career goals versus the Lakers (each has two).
RECAPPING LAST YEAR'S ND-LSSU GAMES
@ ND 4, LSSU 2 (10/9/98): Brian Urick scored twice while Chad Chipchase
and Matt Van Arkel came through with pivotal goals late in the second
... LSSU jumped ahead on Jeff Cheeseman's PPG midway through the first
period before the Irish tied the game on Urick's goal shortly before the
first intermission ... Chipchase and Van Arkel then scored in the final
five minutes of the second period but an early third-period goal by
LSSU's Jason Nightingale made for an exciting finish, with Urick's
empty-netter sealing the win ... Forrest Karr made 23 saves in the
winning effort, LSSU's Jayme Platt had 33 ... the win ended Notre Dame's
eight-game winless streak vs. LSSU.
ND 4, @LSSU 3 (10/17/98): The ND power play accounted for every goal as
the Irish posted their first win at LSSU in six games (since a 5-4 OT
win on 11/19/93) ... the Irish outshot the Lakers 21-11 ... LSSU scored
a 6-on-5 goal with 0:07 left ... Karr made just eight saves but again
came up with the timely plays while helping ND stop eight of nine power
plays ... Ben Simon scored the game-winner with 9:52 left, tipping in a
shot from Aniket Dhadphale ... Dhadphale opened the scoring at 10:00 of
the first period, scooping home a rebounded shot by Dan Carlson ... four
minutes later, Urick tucked a low shot from the left circle inside the
left post ... Cheeseman put LSSU on the board midway through the second
period, just a second after Tyson Fraser had released from a
cross-checking penalty (11:29) ... Joe Dusbabek restored the two-goal
cushion minutes later with his first goal since the 11/15/97 game at
Miami (14:16) ... the Lakers cut the lead to 3-2 by converting their
ninth power-play chance on a goal by Jeff Attard at 8:49 of the third.
@LSSU 3, ND 1 (1/23/99): Mike Brusseau made 24 saves to slow the
injury-plagued Irish ... ND went 0-for-5 on the PP, after converting
8-of-27 in the previous five games ... Jermeiah Kimento replaced Karr in
the third period and responded by making eight saves (no GA) ... Simon
tied the game early in the second period, assisted by Sean Molina and
Benoit Cotnoir ... LSSU took the lead for good one minute later, on a goal
by Tyler Palmer, with Ben Keup padding the lead later in the period ...
Brusseau and Rob Galatiuk combined to stop 32 of ND's 33 shots on goal ...
Jeremy Bachusz had opened the scoring with an unassisted SHG midway
through the first period.
SCOUTING THE LAKERS: Lake Superior (8-10-0, 7-5-0 CCHA) is tied for
fourth in the CCHA standings with Western Michigan (6-6-2) and Ferris
State (7-7-0), just two points ahead of Miami (5-4-2) and Nebraska-Omaha
(5-7-4) and only four points in front of Notre Dame (4-6-2) and Bowling
Green (5-8-0) ... the Lakers dropped both of their games at the recent
Great Lakes Invitational, losing to Michigan (4-3, OT) and Michigan Tech
(5-4) ... LSSU's season highlight came in a mid-November sweep at Michigan
(3-0, 4-2) but the Lakers are just 3-5-0 since that series ... Lake
Superior returned 22 of 28 letterwinners from its 1998-99 team that went
11-23-4 overall and finished eighth in the CCHA ... top returners include
senior RW Trent Walford (10G-12A in '98-'99), junior LWs Mike Vigilante
(4G-17A) and Ryan Vince (8G-10A) and junior G Jayme Platt (8-16-2, 3.08
GAA, .896 save pct.) ... despite ranking 7th in the CCHA with 2.44 goals
per game, the Lakers have no players with more than seven goals or 12
points this season ... LSSU also ranks 7th in the CCHA for goals allowed
(3.00), 11th in power-play pct. (.137), 5th in penalty-kill pct. (.859)
and 7th in fewest penalty minutes (21.78/gm) ... Walford (7G-5A) and Vince
(3G-9A) currently are tied for the team scoring lead while Platt has
logged 955 of a possible 1,093 minutes in the nets, ranking 10th in the
CCHA with a 2.77 GAA (he also is 8-7-0, with a stellar .917 save pct.).
FRIEND OR FOE?: Several Notre Dame and Lake Superior players are former
teammates: ND senior D Nathan Borega, LSSU senior D Blain Macauley and
senior RW Jeff Cheeseman (Vernon Vipers) ... ND junior LW Jay Kopischke
and Lakers junior W Lionel Crump (North Iowa Huskies) ... ND junior LW
Dan Carlson and LSSU junior F Mike Vigilante ('98-'99 U.S. junior
national team) ... ND freshman LW Jake Wiegand and LSSU's Jeremy Machusz
(Compuware Ambassadors) ... Lakers sophomore F Will Magnuson is a product
of the U.S. National Team Development Program, as were five current
Notre Dame players: sophomore C Brett Henning, freshman RW Michael Chin,
freshman C Connor Dunlop, freshman D Paul Harris and freshman RW John
Wroblewski.
ND PLAYERS HELP U.S. REACH WORLD SEMI-FINALS: Three Notre Dame players
are set to return from a three-week stint with the U.S. National Junior
Team, after helping the U.S. reach the semi-finals of the World Junior
Championship in Skeffeltea and Umea, Sweden (Dec. 26-Jan. 4) ... this
marked the fourth consecutive year that Irish players have been members
of the prestigious 22-player team ... the invitees included sophomore C
Brett Henning (Huntington, N.Y.), sophomore C/LW David Inman (Toronto,
Ont.) and freshman C Connor Dunlop (St. Louis, Mo.)-the most players
from any school on the initial 22-player U.S. roster ... the U.S.
highlights during round-robin play included ties with eventual finalist
Czech Republic (2-2) and rival Canada (1-1) ... Dunlop then assisted on
the first U.S. goal and scored unassisted to give the U.S. a 3-1 lead,
in a shocking 5-1 quarterfinal win over the host country Sweden ... the
Czechs then beat the U.S. in the semi-finals (4-1) before Canada claimed
the bronze medal with a shootout victory over the U.S. (4-3, 3-1 in the
shootout) ... Dunlop--who alternated as the second and third-line
center--led the U.S. in faceoff percentage (64), winning 69 of his 108
draws in the seven-game tournament ... his tournament stats also included
the goal and assist versus Sweden, plus six penalty minutes, 10 shots on
goal and a -4 plus-minus ratio ... Henning won 14 of his 37 faceeoffs as
the fourth-line center while Inman was used as a winger on several
lines, totaling four penalty minutes and six shots on goal ...the team
first assembled Dec. 13 in West Point, N.Y., and was introduced between
periods of the N.Y. Rangers-L.A. Kings game on Dec. 15 ... Inman's
mother Straughn is a U.S. citizen and he holds joint citizenship ...
Notre Dame is one of five schools that have placed players on the
National Junior Team during each of past four years ... Boston College
leads the way with nine selections to the National Junior Team during
the past four years, followed by Notre Dame (7), Minnesota (6) and
Michigan State (6) ... six different Notre Dame players have been named
to the team in the last four years (second to BC's seven.
RACKING UP THE MILES: Notre Dame's 11 road trips this season cover many
miles, with two trips to Denver, plus next week's trip to the upper
peninsula for a series at Northern Michigan, the upcoming trip to
Fairbanks, Alaska, and earlier visits to Omaha, Neb. and Durham, N.H.
... the other trips include Big Rapids/Grand Rapids, Mich., East
Lansing, Mich. (2), Bowling Green, Ohio, and Columbus, Ohio ... the
reworked CCHA "cluster" schedule resulted in the loss of the customary
short trips to Kalamazoo (Western Michigan) or Ann Arbor (Michigan).
BACK TO FULL STRENGTH (ALMOST): Notre Dame faced some interesting lineup
choices in the Princeton series (just 10 healthy forwards and seven
defensemen), due to the absence of three U.S. junior national team
members: sophomore C Brett Henning, sophomore C/LW David Inman and
freshman C Connor Dunlop ... three other players missed the Princeton
series: senior RW Joe Dusbabek (illness), junior D Ryan Clark (injury)
and freshman RW John Wroblewski (injury), with Dusbabek and Clark
returning for the Denver Cup ... prior to the Princeton series, those
six missing regulars had combined for one-third of ND's goals this
season (15 of 44) and 42 of the team's 115 points (37 percent) ...
seniors Ben Simon and Troy Bagne were joined by junior wingers Jay
Kopischke, Ryan Dolder and Chad Chipchase ... Henning, Inman and Dunlop
are scheduled to return in time for the LSSU series but Simon will miss
the first game due to a game DQ penalty in the loss to Colorado College
... Wroblewski's status remains day-to-day.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Since shutting out Michigan State on Dec. 4 (1-0),
the Irish have given up 27 goals in their last seven games ... Joe
Dusbabek's 5-on-3 goal in last week's CC game ended ND's 1-for-20 slump
on the power play ... Notre Dame's 3-3 tie with Denver included an early
2-0 Irish lead and no DU shots on goal in the game's first 15 minutes ...
that game ended in a shootout, to decide which team advanced to the
Denver Cup title game (ND missed all five of its shots while DU scored
on its fourth try) ... Notre Dame has scored the first goal in three of
its last four games, with two losses and a tie in those games ... seven
of ND's last 12 games have been decided by 0-1 goals (3-3-1 in those
games) ... ND's last nine OT games have produced eight ties and one loss
(0-1-5 in 1998-99) ... the Irish are 0-4-1 this season when playing the
first game of non-conference weekend action ... despite some solid
penalty-kill moments this season, ND has fallen victim to some costly
opponent PPGs, as seven of the 12 Irish margins of defeat have been due
to opposing PPGs (including three of the last four losses) ... six of
ND's last 10 games ... ND's four 1st-period goals in the 5-1 win over
Vermont (Nov. 28) were its most in 25 games, since scoring four times in
the 1st vs. UAF on Feb. 6, 1999 (a 5-2 win) ... the Irish are 3-2-1 in
first games of CCHA series this season (1-4-1 in the second games) ...
Notre Dame's 5-3 comeback win over UMass made the Irish 2-9-1 this
season when the opponent scores first and 2-9-0 when facing a two-goal
deficit (now 2-11-0) ... ND scored a season-high three PPGs in that game
(5-for-12 in the series) ... ND's seven wins have featured seven
different game-winning goalscorers ... ND was riding a 28-for-30 penalty
streak before allowing Princeton four PPGS in its final 14 chances of
the series ... the Irish are 16-6-4 (.692) in their last 26
regular-season home games, with three losses by one goal ... the Irish are
21-0-3 during the past two seasons when leading at the second
intermission (5-0-0 this season) and 16-2-2 when ahead at the first
break (4-2-0) ... the eight goals in the UMass series are the most by ND
in consecutive games this season ... ND had allowed just five goals in
the previous five games before the 4-1 loss at MSU on Dec. 5 (followed
by 15 goals allowed in the UMass and Princeton series and eight at the
Denver Cup) ... junior RW Ryan Dolder (GWG, 2 GWA) is the only Irish
player with more than two game-winning points this season (a total of 13
players have scored or assisted on the seven GWGs this season) ... ND's
2.88 team goals-against average is on pace to challenge the team record
set in 1998-99 (2.61) ... prior to the 4-1 first period vs. Vermont, the
Irish had been outscored 13-4 in the first period this season (now
24-17, with a 21-17 opponent edge in the second, 20-19 ND edge in the
third) ... ND has scored 0-2 goals in 12 of 22 games (six games with
three, one with four, three with five).
SURGES AND DROPOFFS: The Irish are 0-4-1 this season when playing the
first game of non-conference weekend action (losses to Providence, New
Hampshire, UMass and Princeton, tie with Denver) but 3-2-0 in the second
games (wins over Union, Vermont and UMass, losses to Princeton and
Colorado College) ... on the flip side, the 3-2 win over Alaska
Fairbanks is Notre Dame's only victory this season in the second game of
a CCHA series (1-4-1), with the following dropoffs on the second night
of the five CCHA series this season: goals allowed (13 in first games,
23 on second night, avg. of 2.2 to 3.8), PK pct. (drop from .865 to
.795) and PP pct. (.139 to .105) ... Notre Dame's 7-12-3 start stands in
contrast to its 14-6-2 opening in '98-'99, with the most notable
dropoffs coming in goals per game (3.7 to 2.5), PP pct. (.248 to .157)
and first-period goals (21 to 17) ... only two current Irish players
have six-plus goals, compared to seven players with six-plus goals after
22 games in '98-'99 ... senior C Ben Simon (37G-76A) is the only current
player with 70-plus career points, compared to four 70-plus scorers
through 22 games in '98-'99.
AROUND THE HORN
Junior RW Ryan Dolder has nine points (3G-6A) in the last eight games
and has moved into a tie with senior C Ben Simon for the team scoring
lead (Dolder has 5G-10A, Simon 6G-9A) ... Simon and sophomore LW David
Inman (7) still remain the only Irish players with more than five goals
... senior LW Andy Jurkowski has played in a team-best 74 consecutive
games ... junior LW Jay Kopischke has 3G-2A in his last six games played
(2G-7A in the previous 76) ... senior RW Joe Dusbabek has 11 points
(4G-7A) in his last 12 games played ... senior C Troy Bagne has 2G-2A in
12 games played this season (3G-8A in 99 games during his first three
seasons) ... Simon's five-game point streak was snapped in the Denver Cup
... Simon has 113 career points (37G-76A) in 125 games ... Simon notched
his third career two-goal game in the win over UMass (he has yet to
record a hat trick) ... Simon--who was held without a point at the DU
Cup--has 10 points (4G-6A) in his last nine games (five in first 12) ...
Simon is averaging just 2.1 shots/game this season (45 in 21 games),
compared to 3.1 in '98-'99 (113 in 37) and 2.8 over his first three
seasons (287 in 104) ... Dolder was recognized by the ND coaching staff
for his emerging leadership by being named the team's third alternate
captain on Dec. 1 ... Jurkowski posted the first multi-point game of his
career in the 4-3 loss to Princeton (2A) and currently is tied for fifth
on the team with 10 points (4G-6A, he had 2G-4A in 70 games over his
first three seasons, as mostly a D) ... Inman leads the has just one in
his last seven games played (dnp in last four while at World Juniors)
... freshman RW Michael Chin's goal in the 4-3 loss to Princeton
represented his only point in the last 11 games ... Dolder, Carlson and
Jurkowski are the only Irish players to appear in all 22 games this
season.
FROM THE BLUE LINE
Senior D Sean Molina's seven points this season (1G-6A) are a
career-best ... junior D Ryan Clark (from nearby Littleton, Colo.) scored
in the Denver game for his first goal of the season and second of his
career ... that was the second career goal for Clark, who grew up in
nearby Littleton, Colo. ... Molina scored in the 4-3 loss to Princeton on
Dec. 19, for his first career goal ... Molina is tied for fourth on the
squad in plus-minus (+2), after ranking second on the '98-'99 squad
(+13) ... Molina has totaled just 34 career penalties (three in the last
12 games) while playing the most games (128) of any current Irish player
(he is averaging 3.8 games per penalty for his career) ... Molina is
tied for fifth on the 1999-2000 team with six assists, equaling his
career-best season total from '97-'98 ... senior D Tyson Fraser's assist
vs. UMass was his 50th career point (7G-43A) and marked his 45th career
game with a goal or assist ... freshman D Evan Nielsen has 2G-2A in the
last five games.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Freshman G Tony Zasowski ranks 8th overall in the CCHA with a 2.54 GAA,
which would best the Irish record of 2.58 set by Forrest Karr last
season ... Zasowski turned in a shutout streak of 130:36, spanning 54
minutes of the 2-1 loss at UNH and the first 76 minutes of the MSU
series ... sophomore Jeremiah Kimento (3.04) ranks 13th in the CCHA ...
ND's team GAA of 2.88 could challenge the team record (2.61 ,set in
1998-99), but the Irish have allowed 27 goals in the last eight games
... Zasowski (19 saves vs. UAF, 24 vs. MSU) is the second ND goalie with
two solo shutouts in the same season (Karr shut out OSU and Miami in
'98-'99) ... Kimento posted a 19-save shutout vs. Union, marking the
first time that the Irish have shut out three opponents in the same
season ... Notre Dame is one of five schools with a pair of goalies in
the CCHA's top-13 GAA leaders, along with Michigan State (Ryan Miller,
1st, 1.38, Joe Blackburn, 2nd, 1.83), Northern Michigan (Dan Ragusett,
4th, 1.86, Duane Hoey, 7th, 2.51), Ferris State (Phil Osaer, 5th, 1.89,
Vince Owen, 11th, 2.95) and Michigan (L.J. Scarpace, 3rd, 1.85, Kevin
O'Malley, 9th, 2.65) ... junior G Kyle Kolquist made his first career
start (and second career appearance) in the 4-2 loss to Princeton, with
21 saves and just one even-strength goal allowed.
AT THE MIDPOINT: Despite an 0-4-0 start in the CCHA, Notre Dame is 4-2-2
in its last eight CCHA games and tied for ninth place, just four points
out of fourth ... the Irish rank 10th in the CCHA for overall goals/gm
(2.45), 9th in goals allowed (2.91), 6th in power-play pct. (.157), 9th
in penalty-kill pct. (.831) and 1st in fewest penalty minutes/gm (16.23)
... sophomore LW David Inman is tied for 19th in the CCHA with seven
goals in 18 games played (he totaled 10 in '98-'99) while senior C Ben
Simon is tied for fifth in the CCHA with five power-play goals in 21
games played ... Simon (6G-9A) and junior RW Ryan Dolder (5G-10A) are tied
for 24th in the CCHA scoring charts, with Dolder tied for 20th in
assists.
AVOIDING THE SIN BIN: Notre Dame's low team goals-against average (2.88)
is due in large part to a surging penalty-killing unit (.831, with a
28-for-30 streak before allowing four PPGs in the Princeton series) and
the CCHA's least-penalized squad (7.5 penalties and 16.3 penalty
minutes/gm, leading to just 5.6 opponent PP chances/gm) ... since
ranking as the CCHA's most-penalized team in '95-'96 (11.31
penalties/gm), the Irish were the CCHA's least-penalized teams in
'96-'97 (8.69 pen./gm) and '97-'98 (6.37) and the third-least penalized
in '98-'99 (8.40) ... the Irish penalty ballooned in the Princeton
series, with 23 penalties for 54 minutes in the series-including 12 for
32 in the first game (ND's most penalty minutes all season and
second-most penalties of the year, since 15 vs. Ferris State on Oct. 24)
... Notre Dame's more disciplined players this season have included
sophomore RW John Wroblewski (2 penalties), senior LW Andy Jurkowksi (3,
22 in 92 career games), senior C Ben Simon (6, compared to 30-31-31 in
the past three seasons), and sophomore C Brett Henning (3, 18 in 56
career games) ... senior D Sean Molina has 8 penalties this season and
just 34 in 128 career games ... senior D Nathan Borega had just 16
penalties as a sophomore and 13 as junior but already has totaled 20 in
21 games played this season.
CENTURY MAN: Senior C Ben Simon (Shaker Heights, Ohio)-who earned
preseason CCHA "player of the year" honors from Hockey News-registered
1G-1A in the season-opening Michigan series, giving him 100 points
(32G-68A) in his 106th game ... Simon has pushed his career total to 113
points (37G-76A) in 125 games and is the fourth Irish player to reach 00
points in the five-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin, joining '96
graduate Jamie Ling (51-102) and '99 grads Brian Urick (57-69) and
Aniket Dhadphale (61-44) ... Simon needs 13 more goals to become the
29th ND player to total 50-plus goals and 50-plus assists ... he is 18
points shy of cracking ND's top-20 career scoring list and needs 21
assists to crack that top 10 list.
RECAPPING THE DENVER CUP (3-3 tie with DU, 5-2 loss to CC, Dec.31-Jan.
1): The Irish jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but needed a 3rd-period
goal from Dan Carlson to force a 3-3 tie with host DU ... after five
minutes of OT, the teams played a rare shootout to determine which team
would advance to the title game ... Stephen Wagner stopped all five ND
attempts while Bjorn Engstrom scored on DU's fourth try ... ND received
1st-period goals from Matt Van Arkel and Ryan Clark, who grew up in
nearby Littleton, Colo. ... Van Arkel scored his third goal of the season
just 1:32 into the game, with assists from senior C Troy Bagne and
junior LW Jay Kopischke ... Van Arkel flicked a shot from the left
circle, with Wagner misplaying the puck through his legs ... Clark
notched his first goal of the season and second of his career four
minutes later, with assists from Ryan Dolder and Evan Nielsen ... Clark
found himself open at the top of the slot and sent a rising shot past
Wagner's glove hand ... Jeremiah Kimento matched Wagner with 21 total
saves, including several from close range in the third period ... DU
failed to record a shot on goal during the game's first 15 minutes but
put two goals on the board in the 2nd period, on Engstrom's rebound
score and a blast from the right circle by Jon Newman ... Joe Casey then
scored from the top of the slot with 6:38 left in regulation but Carlson
re-tied the game 49 seconds later, with Bagne and Dolder picking up
their second assists of the night ... Carlson had time between the circles
and fooled Wagner, who slid to his right while Carlson fired a low shot
into the other side of the net ... the Irish penalty shots were attempted
by Carlson, Ben Simon, Joe Dusbabek, Andy Jurkowski and Dolder ... Kimento
saves tries by Kelly Popadynetz, Bryce Wallnutt and Newman ...
In the consolation game, CC jumped out to a 3-0 lead before responding
to a 3rd-period Notre Dame rally with two more goals ... ND again played
without four of its top forwards (due to junior national team commitment
and injury) while losing Ben Simon early in the second period (game DQ)
... CC held a 28-18 shot advantage (9-2 in the 2nd period)- ... CC's Toby
Petersen and Jon Heinbecker scored in the game's first five minutes and
the Tigers added a goal by Noah Clarke early in the 2nd ... the Irish put
a pair of goals on the board early in the 3rd, only to see Petersen
convert a SHG that cut short the ND rally ... Jay Kopischke notched the
first Irish goal at the 2:40 mark of the final period ... Sean Molina set
up a shot from the left side by Dusbabek, with Kopischke poking the
rebound past Jeff Sanger for his third goal of the season ... four minutes
later, the Irish cashed in a 5-on-3 chance to cut the lead to 3-2 ... with
most of ND's top faceoff men out of the game, Carlson won a clutch draw
in the CC zone and swept the puck behind him ... Dolder gathered in the
puck at the right point and fired a shot at Sanger, who batted the puck
to his right ... Dusbabek was in perfect position on the left side of the
slot and quickly redirected the puck into the open left side of the net
for his fourth goal of the season ...Clarke capped the scoring with a goal
in the 13th minute of the third period.
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