#15 Irish And #19 Broncos Skate To 1-1 Tie

Morris collects season-high 42 saves

NOTRE DAME, Ind. The No. 15 Notre Dame hockey team opened 2020 with an outstanding goaltending effort by senior Cale Morris, who recorded a season-high 42 saves in a 1-1 draw with No. 19 Western Michigan on Friday night at Compton Family Ice Arena (5,247).

A pair of second-period goals provided all the offense on a night otherwise marked by goaltending on both sides, with a total of 76 shots on net. 

How It Happened

Cale Morris was busy in the first period, stopping all 13 shots he faced including a right pad stop on Jason Polin’s penalty shot attempt midway through the frame.

The Irish began to find their offensive rhythm in the second period. They finally broke through at the 9:49 mark of the middle stanza, when Cam Morrison buried his own rebound for his fifth goal of the year. Michael Graham and Alex Steeves assisted on the play.

Just 43 seconds later, however, the Broncos responded when Luke Bafia scored from the right circle to pull the teams even at 1-1, a score that would hold heading into the third period.

After a scoreless third period during which the Irish outshot the Broncos 14-10, the game went to overtime with each team recording quality chances in the first two minutes of the five-minute frame. The Broncos appeared to score at the 2:10 mark, but the goal was initially waved off and a video review confirmed the call on the ice as Western’s Paul Washe ran into Morris during the sequence.

Morris recorded a season-high 42 saves while Western Michigan goaltender Brandon Bussi registered 32 saves. The Irish were 0-for-3 on power-play chances, while the Broncos went 0-for-2 on extra-man opportunities. 

Up Next

  • Notre Dame and Western Michigan will close out their home-and-home series with a 5 p.m. ET game on Sunday, Jan. 5, at the Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
  • The game will be streamed on NCHC.TV

Notes

  • Sophomore forward Jake Pivonka and sophomore defenseman Spencer Statsney missed the game while traveling back from Team USA duty at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, which took place in the Czech Republic.  
  • Freshman defenseman Ryan Carmichael played his third game of the season and made his Compton Family Ice Arena debut.
  • Cale Morris stopped WMU’s Jason Polin on a penalty shot midway through the first period.
  • It was the first penalty shot against the Irish since Morris denied Penn State’s Andrew Sturtz on Feb. 3, 2018.
  • Morris has now saved two of three penalty shots faced in his Irish career.
  • Morris’ shutout streak was snapped at 99:13 dating back to Dec. 13.
  • Morris’ 42 saves were a season high.
  • Cam Morrison’s second-period goal was his fifth of the season.
  • With assists on Morrison’s goal, Michael Graham (0-4-4) and Alex Steeves (2-2-4) ran their point streaks to four games.
  • Friday’s night’s game marked Notre Dame’s seventh consecutive game against a ranked opponent and 11th game versus a ranked opponent in its last 13 games.

—ND—