Nov. 26, 2000
(Notre Dame, Ind.)–The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Northern Michigan Wildcats traded goals in the final 1:45 of regulation to settle for a 3-3 overtime time in CCHA action at the Joyce Center on Saturday night.
Notre Dame’s Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) beat Wildcat goaltender Craig Kowalski on a deflection at 18:45 of the final stanza, to put the Irish ahead for the first time in the game at 3-2.
With Kowalski pulled, Northern Michigan got the equalizer at 19:15 after Chris Gobert’s long shot from the left point was deflected by defenseman Sean Connolly past Notre Dame’s Kyle Kolquist (Sr., Duluth, Minn.) for the 3-3 tie.
The story of the game for Notre Dame was the play of Kolquist in goal. The senior goaltender took over for starter Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) at the 16:53 mark of the first period after Northern’s Gobert scored on a breakaway, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
“I thought we were ready to play tonight and then we give up two goals on their first two shots,” commented Irish head coach Dave Poulin following the game.
“We went with a kid in goal who’s played less than 70 minutes in his career and he played great. Kyle was the story of the game, he got us the point tonight and he really put us in position to get the win,” added Poulin.
Kolquist ended up making 27 saves on the night and picked up the well earned tie. “I went with Kyle because I don’t think we’ve played well all year in front of Tony (Zasowski) or Jeremiah (Kimento). They responded and played well in front of Kyle,” said Poulin.
Northern Michigan broke on top at 6:50 of the first period on Bryce Cockburn’s 9th goal of the season. A Notre Dame turnover resulted in Gobert’s goal that put the Wildcats ahead by a pair.
The Irish comeback started with five seconds left in the first period. Right wing Rob Globke (Fr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) took a centering pass from Dolder and beat Kowalski between the pads for his team high seventh goal of the season.
On the goal, senior left wing Dan Carlson (Edina, Minn.) picked up the second assist which gave him 100 points for his career (37 goals, 63 assists), making the 38th player in Notre Dame history to reach the century mark.
Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) evened the game with hard work and hustle at 4:45 of the third period. Following a Notre Dame dump in, the freshman center forced Kowalski to miss play the puck in front of the Northern goal. Gill poked the puck away from the freshman goaltender and flipped it under the crossbar to tie the game at 2-2.
Gill’s goal set up the wild finish over the final 1:45. The Irish have to settle for the tie and one point on a weekend they thought they could gain some ground in the CCHA standings.
“I really feel empty right now,” said Poulin as he reflected on the game. “We really had high hopes and expectations this weekend, but didn’t get the job done. We’ve got a long way to go to get better.”
The Irish were outshot 36-24 in the game. Kowalski finished the night with 21 saves while Zasowski made six to go with Kolquist’s 27 on the night.
Notre Dame ran its penalty killing string to 23 consecutive penalties killed covering the last five games. The last time ND surrendered a power play goal was on October 27th versus Michigan State.
The tie gives Notre Dame a 3-7-3 mark overall and a 1-3-1 record in the league. Northern Michigan is now 7-4-4 on the year and 5-4-3 in league play.
The Fighting Irish return to action next weekend when they travel to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. to face the Lake Superior Lakers on Friday and Saturday night (December 1-2). Face-off both nights is set for 7:05 p.m.
SUMMARY:
Northern Michigan (7-4-4/5-4-2) 2 0 1 0 - 3Notre Dame (3-7-3/1-3-2) 1 0 2 0 - 3
First Period: NMU: Bryce Cockburn 9 (Fred Mattersdorfer, Chad Theuer), 6:50, NMU: Chris Gobert 6 (unassisted), 16:53, ND: Rob Globke 7 (Ryan Dolder, Dan Carlson), 19:55.Penalties: NMU: 2 for 4 minutes, ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.Penalties: NMU: 4 for 8 minutes, ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Aaron Gill 3 (unassisted), 4:45, ND: Ryan Dolder 6 (Brett Lebda, Connor Dunlop), 18:45, NMU: Sean Connolly 2 (Gobert, Mattersdorfer), ENG, 19:15.Penalties: NMU: 5 for 18 minutes, ND: 6 for 20 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.Penalties: NMU: 0 for 0 minutes, ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Power Plays:Northern Michigan: 0 for 3Notre Dame: 0 for 3
Shots On GoalNorthern Michigan: 9 - 12 - 12 - 3 - 36Notre Dame: 9 - 5 - 10 - 0 - 24
Goaltender Saves:Northern Michigan: Craig Kowalski (64:45) 8 - 5 - 8 - 0 - 24Notre Dame: Tony Zasowski (16:53) 6 - x - x - x - 6 Kyle Kolquist (48:07) 1 -12 -11 - 3 - 27
Attendance: 1,677