November 13, 1998
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (11/13/98) – Senior left wing Aniket Dhadphale’s first career hat trick ignited an explosive third period as #6-ranked Notre Dame overcame two early deficits to move back into sole possession of first place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, by virtue of a 6-2 victory Friday over visiting Bowling Green at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
It was a night of milestones for Notre Dame (8-1-1, 6-1-0 CCHA), with senior right wing Brian Urick recording his 100th career point while Dhadphale opened the Irish scoring with his 50th career goal. Dhadphale’s hat trick is just the second by an Irish player in the last 120 games, with Chad Chipchase scoring three times at Ferris State on Nov. 22, 1997 (Urick had four goals at Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 19, 1995).
Notre Dame went ahead for good on junior center Ben Simon’s goal early in the third period before putting the game out of reach with three more goals in a six-minute span. The first forward line of Dhadphale (9G-7A), Simon (5G-13A) and Urick (8G-8A) have now combined for 50 points in 10 games, including 22 goals.
Bowling Green (4-5-1, 3-4-1) remained sixth in the CCHA, after failing to capitalize on early 1-0 and 2-1 leads. Senior Mike Savard stopped 15 of 16 Irish shots in the first period but allowed five goals on the final 16 shots he faced.
Notre Dame senior goaltender Forrest Karr improved to 4-0-0 during him career vs. BG, thanks to a 23-save performance. Karr is 14-4-1 during the past two seasons and dropped his season goals-against average to 2.18 while raising his save pct. to .910. Karr’s career stats vs. BG now include 111 saves, 11 goals against, a .910 save pct. and a 2.84 GAA.
The Irish next play host to defending NCAA champion Michigan (6-2-0, 5–1-0), which moved into a share of second place in the CCHA after posting a 6-3 home win over ninth-place Alaska Fairbanks (2-5-0).
In other CCHA action Friday, Michigan State (4-1-2) fell into a three-way tie for second place after dropping a 3-2 game at Ohio State (2-3-2), which vaulted into a tie with idle Western Michigan for sixth place. Northern Michigan (5-2-0) also moved into a share of second place after pulling out a 4-3 win at ninth-place Miami (1-6-2). Ferris State (4-2-1) now resides in fifth place, after playing to a 1-1 tie at home with last-place Lake Superior (0-7-2).
BG opened Friday’s scoring midway through the first period, on the third goal of the season by junior center Adam Edinger (8:26). But the potent Irish power play answered later in the period, as passes from junior defenseman Tyson Fraser and sophomore left wing Dan Carlson set up Dhadphale’s goal from between the circles (15:28). The Irish power play converted 1-of-3 chances, keeping the CCHA’s top power-play pct. at .321, while the struggling Irish penalty kill stopped all five Falcons’ man-up chances.
BG reclaimed the lead less than two minutes later, when junior left wing Zach Ham put his third goal of the season into the net following a wild scramble at the top of the crease (17:33).
Dhadphale’s second goal of the night tied the game heading into the final period. Simon zipped the puck around the boards for Urick, who sent a rising shot towards Savard from the right corner. The puck grazed Savard and Dhadphale was waiting in the wings to nudge his eighth goal of the season into the net (17:11).
The first unit clicked on what proved to be the game-winning goal, with Dhadphale sending a pass behind the net for Urick at the right corner. Urick then drilled a pass to the top of the right circle for Simon, who quickly deposited a rising shot under the crossbar (3:37). Simon now has four goals in seven CCHA games this season, compared to just five in 31 conference games as a freshman and sophomore.
Senior defenseman Benoit Cotnoir and Simon helped set up Dhadphale’s third goal, which came at 10:05 of the third period on a shot from the left circle. The Irish kept pushing in the final 10 minutes, with Fraser alertly bouncing the puck up the boards to create a 2-on-1 chance for Carlson and freshman center David Inman. That pair traded passes down the ice, with Inman drawing Savard to the left before sliding the pass through the slot for an easy tap-in goal by Carlson (13:42).
Junior right wing Joe Dusbabek set up the final goal with a pass to freshman center Brett Henning, who skated in from the left and dropped the puck back between the circles. Cotnoir then skated into position for his first official goal of the season (16:41).
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH DAVE POULIN: “The last two goals we scored tonight were very important. We needed to get more scoring from other lines and we did on the last two goals. … The senior class is strong and they provide great leadership for the young players. They have heard me for the past two years and now they are controlling what happens in the locker room. On any good team, players run the locker room. … The whole key to the whole hat trick was the timing. His first goal got us back to 1-1, the second one was a big second-period goal, and the third one gave us some breathing room. … Bowling Green played well and I told the team to stick to the plan. I told the team, ‘As we get better, teams are going to be more prepared to play us.’ … Our penalty kill was very critical tonight … We had given up some power play goals in the past couple of games, but tonight we did a great job.”
BG HEAD COACH BUDDY POWERS: “We just did not show up for the third period … Their (first) line gets chances and they score on those chances. Ben Simon makes things happen for that line. He’s the leader out there. He has the skills to play on both ends of the ice and makes things happen. He is a tremendous player. Dhadphale plays well off of Simon, and Urick is good on his own. … Their overall team speed has increased. On all their lines, they have players that play hard and play the way hockey should be played. … (Forrest Karr) is getting the job done. He plays every game consistent.”
BOWLING GREEN (4-5-1, 3-4-1 CCHA) 2 0 0 - 2#6 NOTRE DAME (8-1-1 ,6-1-0 CCHA) 1 1 4 - 6
1st: BG 1. Edinger 3 (Desjarlais, Jones) 8:26; ND 1. Dhadphale 7 (Carlson, Fraser), PP, 15:28; BG 2. Zach Ham 3 (Adams) 17:33.
2nd: ND 2. Dhadphale 8 (Urick, Simon) 17:11.
3rd: ND 3. Simon 5 (Urick, Dhadphale) 3:37; ND 4. Dhadphale 9 (Simon, Cotnoir) 10:05; ND 5. Carlson 3 (Inman) 13:42; ND 6. Cotnoir 1 (Henning, Dusbabek) 16:41.
Shots: BG 11-10-4/25, ND 16-8-8/32.
Saves: BG (Savard) 15-7-4/26, ND (Karr) 9-10-4/23.
Power Play: BG 0-for-5, ND 1-for-3.
Penalties: BG 4 for 8:00, ND 6 for 12:00.