Jan. 1, 2000

Denver, Colo. – Colorado College jumped out to a 3-0 lead before responding to a third-period Notre Dame rally with two more goals, as the Tigers defeated the Irish 5-2 in Saturday?s consolation game of the Norwest Denver Cup, at Magness Arena.

Notre Dame (7-12-3) again played without four of its top forwards (due to junior national team commitment and injury) while losing senior center and team captain Ben Simon early in the second period. Simon was called for a five-minute, hitting-from-behind penalty, with the referee also accessing a game disqualification penalty that forced Simon to leave the game (he also must sit out the Jan. 7 game versus Lake Superior).

Colorado College (10-9-0)–which enjoyed a 28-18 shot advantage, including 9-2 in the second period–scored twice in the game?s first five minutes and added a goal early in the second period. But the Irish put a pair of goals on the board early in the third, only to see CC senior left wing Toby Peterson convert a shorthanded chance to cut short the Notre Dame rally.

Junior left wing Jay Kopischke notched the first Irish goal at the 2:40 mark of the final period. Senior defenseman Sean Molina set up a shot from the left side by senior right wing Joe Dusbabek, with Kopischke poking the rebound past CC sophomore goaltender 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 Notre Dame?s top faceoff men out of the game, junior left wing Dan Carlson won a clutch draw in the CC zone and swept the puck behind him. Junior center Ryan Dolder gathered in the puck at the right point and fired a shot at Sanger, who batted the puck to his right. But 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 (6:56).

With 1:38 still left on the second penalty, the Irish failed to net the equalizer while Petersen?s second goal of the night (and ninth of the season) shifted momentum back to the Tigers. His brother, senior left wing Ian Petersen, set up the shorthanded goal, with Petersen drilling a shot from the right circle over the glove hand of Irish sophomore Jeremiah Kimento and into the upper right corner of the net (8:09).

Petersen had opened the game?s scoring just 2:58 into the first period, scoring a power-play goal from the top of the slot, with an assist from sophomore center Mark Cullen. Two minutes later, senior defenseman Joe Heinbecker–playing in just his fifth career game–then scored his first career goal from the top of the right circle, with Cullen picking up his 14th assist of the season (5:03).

Freshman center Noah Clarke padded the CC lead at the 1:54 mark of the second period, on a bank shot from behind the Irish net. Sophomore left wing Jesse Heerema and senior defenseman Dan Peters assisted on the Tigers? third goal. Clarke capped the scoring with his eighth goal of the season, scoring from the slot off assists from freshman defenseman Jason Jozsa and junior blueliner Paul Manning (12:02).

NOTES: Since shutting out Michigan State (1-0), the Irish have given up 27 goals in their last seven games … Dolder has nine points (3G-6A) in the last eight games and moved into a tie with Simon for the team scoring lead (Dolder has 5G-10A, Simon 6G-9A) ? senior LW Andy Jurkowski played in his 74th consecutive game … Kopischke has 3G-2A in his last six games played … Dusbabek has 11 points (4G-7A) in his last 12 games played ? Molina?s seven points this season (1G-6A) are a career-best ? Dusbabek?s goal ended Notre Dame?s 1-for-20 slump on the power play.

NOTRE DAME (7-12-3) 0 0 2 – 2

COLORADO COLLEGE (10-9-0) 2 1 2 – 5

1st: CC 1. T. Peterson 8 (Cullen), PP, 2:58, CC 2. Heinbecker 1 (Cullen) 5:03.

2nd: CC 3. Clarke (Heerema, Peters) 1:54.

3rd: ND 1. Kopischke 3 (Dusbabek, Molina) 2:40, ND 2. Dusbabek 4 (Dolder, Carlson), 5-3, 6:56, CC 4. T. Petersen 9 (I. Petersen), SH, 6:56, CC 5. Clarke 8 (Jozsa, Manning) 12:02.

Shots: ND 7-2-9/18, CC 10-9-9/28.

Saves: ND (Kimento) 8-8-7/23, CC (Sanger) 7-2-7/16.

Power Play: ND 1-for-3, CC 1-for-5.

Penalties: ND 8 for 27:00, CC 5 for 10:00