Jan. 10, 2003
Big Rapids, Mich. – The Ferris State Bulldogs got two goals each from defenseman Simon Mangos and CCHA leading scorer Chris Kunitz as they handed Notre Dame a 6-3 loss at Ewigleben Ice Arena on Friday night.
With the win, the 11th-ranked Bulldogs improve to 16-5-0 overall and improved their CCHA-leading record to 11-2-0 on the year. The loss drops Notre Dame to 9-9-3 for the season and 7-8-0 in league play.
Senior John Wroblewski recorded his fourth three-point game of the season (two goals and an assist) and junior Aaron Gill his second (a goal and two assists) to pace the Notre Dame offensive attack.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first as Kunitz scored his 15th of the season at 8:24. Defenseman Phil Meyer carried the puck into the Irish zone as Kunitz streaked down the middle. Meyer flipped the puck in front and Kunitz was able to get his stick on the puck and deflect it over Morgan Cey’s right shoulder to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead.
Notre Dame evened the score at 1-1 via the power play at 15:19. Wroblewski jumped on the rebound of Connor Dunlop’s shot from the slot and chipped it over Ferris State goaltender Mike Brown for his eighth goal of the season. The assist for Dunlop was 100th career point at Notre Dame making him the 39th player in school history to reach the 100-point plateau in his career. Wroblewski’s goal extended his current scoring streak to three games.
Brown stopped 12 of 13 shots in the opening period including three one-on-one chances by Yan Stastny. The Irish sophomore was stopped twice on breakaway attempts and once on a rebound in close on an Irish power play.
Ferris State broke the game open in the second period snapping a 2-2 tie with a pair of late goals by defenseman Simon Mangos.
The Bulldogs made it a 2-1 game just 2:58 into the second stanza when Brett Smith picked off an errant Irish pass in the slot and slapped the loose puck past Cey for his fifth of the season.
Notre Dame tied the game less than three minutes later when Wroblewski scored his second of the night and ninth of the season at 5:50. The senior left wing took a feed from Gill on the left side and burst past the defenseman to stuff a shot under Brown to tie the game at 2-2. Mangos singlehandedly gave the Bulldogs a two-goal lead. At 15:59, on the power play, his slapshot from the center point found its way through a screen in front to beat Cey just inside the post on his stick side for a 3-2 lead.
The junior defenseman then scored on a rebound at 18:19 for his second of the game and fifth of the season. Trevor Large’s initial shot was stopped in front by Cey, but Mangos got to the rebound and lifted it over the Irish goaltender to send the Bulldogs into the second intermission with a 4-2 lead.
The Irish scored first in the third period to cut the lead to 4-3 at 3:48. Neil Komadoski’s slapshot from the left point was deflected by Gill past Brown for his seventh goal of the year to get Notre Dame back in the game. For Gill, the three-point night gives him seven points (a goal and six assists) in his last three games.
Ferris State was able to change the momentum at 5:03 of the third on a goal that was awarded by referee Kevin Hall, taken away by Hall and then after conferring with the goal judge was then awarded to the Bulldogs by Hall much to the disgust of Irish bench. Right wing Nick Field took a shot from the left wing circle that appeared to hit the far post behind Cey. The goal judge put the goal light on, but the play continued. Cey was run over on the play and was out of the goal when the puck was shot into the net.
The Irish complained loudly on the play and Hall went to the penalty box, conferred for a moment and then waved the goal off. At that point, the Ferris State bench asked for him to consult the goal judge. Hall did and awarded Field the goal on the initial shot that appeared to hit the post and come out.
Kunitz closed the scoring with an empty net goal at 18:57, his 16th goal of the season for the final of 6-3.
On the night, Notre Dame outshot Ferris State by a 37-35 margin. Cey finished the night with 29 saves while Brown had 34 stops for the Bulldogs.
The two teams close out the weekend series on Saturday night with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff at Ewigleben Arena.
IRISH HOCKEY NOTES:
** Notre Dame’s visit to Big Rapids, Mich., was the first for the Irish since Oct. 23, 1999 (a 5-3 Ferris State win). The last nine games between the two schools have been played at the Joyce Center. Coming into Friday’s game, only six members of the Irish hockey team have ever played at Ewigleben Arena.
** Ferris State has now won three straight from the Irish this season and is 7-3-1 in the last 11 meetings between the two schools.
GAME SUMARY:
1 2 3 F
Notre Dame (9-9-3/7-8-0) 1 1 1 3
Ferris State (16-5-0/11-2-0) 1 3 2 6
Scoring
First Period: FSU: Chris Kunitz 15 (Phil Meyer, Mike Kinnie), 8:24; ND: John Wroblewski 8 (Connor Dunlop, Aaron Gill), PPG, 15:19.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; FSU: 3 for 6 minutes
Second Period: FSU: Brett Smith 5 (Trevor Large), 2:58: ND: Wroblewski 9 (Gill, Chris Trick), 5:50; FSU: Simon Mangos 4 (Meyer, Smith), PPG, 15:39; FSU: Mangos 5 (Large, Kevin Caudill), 18:19.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; FSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Gill 7 (Neil Komodoski, Wroblewski), 3:48; FSU: Nick Field 7 (Carter Thomson, Kinnie), 5:03; FSU: Kunitz 16 (unassisted), ENG, 18:57.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; FSU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 13 – 14 – 10 – 37
Ferris State 9 – 15 – 11 – 35
Goaltender Saves:
ND – Morgan Cey (59:25) 8 – 12 – 9 – 29
FSU – Mike Brown (60:00) 12 – 13 – 9 – 34
Power Plays:
ND: 1 for 5
FSU: 1 for 4
Attendance: 1,741