February 21, 1999
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The offensive frustrations continued for the Notre Dame hockey team Saturday night, as the Irish dropped a 5-1 game at seventh-place Bowling Green, bumping the Irish to fifth place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings while throwing an even greater sense of urgency on next weekend’s series with the new fourth-place team, Northern Michigan.
Notre Dame (16-11-4, 13-10-3) lost convincingly, despite a significant edge in shots on goal (40-22) and power-play chances (9-5). The Irish failed to cash in on any of their man-up chances for the fourth straight games, producing a baffling 0-for-25 stretch for a power-play unit that once ranked third in the nation for efficiency.
NMU (13-9-4) used a 4-0 win at ninth-place Lake Superior (7-16-3) to slide a point ahead of the Irish while Ferris State (12-10-4) stayed a point behind Notre Dame, thanks to its 2-1 overtime loss at eighth-place Miami (8-14-4).
The top four teams will claim home ice for the CCHA tournament best 2-of-3, first-round series (March 12-14), with the winners advancing to Joe Louis Arena for the semifinals (March 19).
Bowling Green (14-15-3, 10-13-3) was hungry for a victory, after seeing several teams creep up on the Falcons in the standings during the past few weeks. Senior goaltender Mike Savard came up with 39 saves while four different BG players scored goals in Saturday’s win.
Notre Dame senior goaltender Forrest Karr was pulled at the 3:06 mark of the second period, after allowing four goals and totaling seven saves. Freshman Jeremiah Kimento went the rest of the way, with 10 saves and one goal against.
The Irish have generated just two goals-both of them somewhat unconventional-during the past two weekends, despite putting 125 shots on net during those four games.
BG opened the scoring on its first of two power-play goals, with junior center Adam Edinger putting home his 20th goal of the season off assists from senior right wing Dan Price and sophomore left wing Ryan Murphy (4:18).
The Irish then tied the game just 16 seconds later, as freshman center David Inman appeared to catch Savard off-guard with a quick shot from the top of the right circle. The unassisted shot squeezed through Savard’s legs, giving the highly-touted Inman his first goal in the last 13 games and his eighth overall (4:34).
BG went back ahead at the 9:38 mark, when Edinger worked the puck to Price, who fired a pass from the left corner through the slot. Junior defenseman Mike Jones was in position on the far side to beat Karr with a one-timer for the 2-1 lead.
The Falcons took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission when sophomore right wing Chris Bonvie picked off an Irish clearing attempt and skated free into the circles before beating Karr for his 11th goal of the season.
Price notched his 18th goal of the season in the second period, from the left side of the crease (3:06), before Jones-the CCHA’s top-scoring defenseman-beat Kimento with a power-play shot from the top of the left circle for his eighth goal of the season (17:00).
Notre Dame’s nine power-play chances included two 5-on-3 opportunities, one of which lasted for 1:41 with 15 minutes still left to play. The Irish totaled eight shots on net during that 5-on-3 chance but Savard stopped them all en route to his big night.
In other CCHA action Saturday, Michigan State (18-2-6) pushed its unbeaten streak to 20 games while clinching a first-place finish with a 3-1 win over third-place Michigan (14-7-5) at Joe Louis Arena while second-place Ohio State (17-8-3) lost 3-2 in overtime, at home to last-place Alaska Fairbanks (7-20-1).
NOTRE DAME (16-11-4, 13-10-3 CCHA) 1 0 0 - 1BOWLING GREEN (14-15-3, 10-13-3 CCHA) 3 2 0 - 51st: BG 1. Edinger 20 (Price, Murphy) 4:18; ND 1. Inman 8 (unassisted) 4:34; BG 2. Jones 7 (Price, Edinger) 9:38; BG 3. Bonvie 11 (unassisted), 4-4, 14:27. 2nd: BG 4. Price 18 (Valentine, Mass) 3:06; BG 5. Jones 8 (Desjarlais, Barlow), PP, 17:00.
Shots: ND 12-15-13/40, BG 10-7-5/22.
Saves: ND (Forrest Karr) 7-0-x/7; (Jeremiah Kimento) x-5-10/15; BG (Mike Savard) 11-15-13/39.
Power Play: ND 0-for-9, BG 2-for-5.
Penalties: ND 7 for 14:00, BG 11 for 22:00.