Nov. 16, 2001
Kalamazoo, Mich. – Notre Dame got two goals from freshman Alex Lalonde and junior Michael Chin scored the game-tying goal at 4:52 of the third period as the Fighting Irish and Western Michigan Broncos battled to a 4-4 tie at Lawson Arena Friday night.
The tie extends Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak to three games (1-0-2) and the Irish are now 2-1-3 in their last six games. For the year, the Irish are 2-5-4 overall, but 2-2-3 in CCHA play. Western Michigan goes to 4-4-3 on the season and 3-4-2 in league action.
The Irish battled back from 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits on the night with Lalonde leading the way with the first two goals of his Notre Dame career.
“There were a lot of good things that happened out there for us tonight,” said head coach Dave Poulin. “I was happy with the way we answered back after they scored. We got strong games from a lot of people. I really like this team.”
Poulin had to like what he saw just 36 seconds into the game when Connor Dunlop made a nice move at the Western blue line to split the defense and beat goaltender Mike Mantua with a backhander on the first shift of the game.
“Connor’s goal was big. To go out and score on your first shift it really got us into the game in a positive way, said Poulin.
Western Michigan tied the game at 12:11 of the opening stanza when junior center Shaun Rose slid one past Irish goaltender Morgan Cey from the left wing corner at a bad angle.
The Broncos would then take their first lead of the game at 17:30 on the power play. Freshman left wing Pat Dwyer found defenseman Dave Cousineau at the right point. With Cey screened in front, Cousineau blasted a shot past past the Irish goaltender to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
Notre Dame made its first comeback of the night scoring with just 40 seconds left in the first period as hard work by Aaron Gill and a great pass from Rob Globke set up Lalonde for his first collegiate goal.
“Gilly (Gill) made a great play in the corner and Robby (Globke) made a sweet pass across the crease. All I had to do was tap it in. Everyone contributed to that goal,” said Lalonde, the freshman from Newmarket, Ontario.
Western Michigan regained the lead at 5:24 with a non-conventional power play goal. After breaking up a Bronco rush, the Irish dumped the puck into the Western zone. Mantua stopped the puck 15 feet in front of his net and hit All-American candidate Mike Bishai with an outlet pass at center ice. Bishai carried into the Notre Dame zone, cut in front of the Irish net and fired a wrist shot past Cey for his first goal of the season.
Again the Irish would wait until the waining moments of the second period to tie the game as Lalonde deflected Evan Nielsen’s shot from the left point past Mantua at 19:47.
“Great shot by Evan from the point,” said Lalonde. “I was surprised that it got through, there were five or six people in front, but I got a piece of it to deflect it.”
“The goals at the end of each period were huge,” said Poulin. “They came at key times and really gave us a lift to start the next period.”
The third period saw Western get the go-ahead goal at 2:23. Lucas Drake pounced on a rebound in front after Notre Dame’s Morgan Cey had stopped Dave Cousineau’s shot from the point. With Cey out of position, Drake dumped it into the open net from 15-feet out and the Broncos led 4-3.
The Irish had one more comeback left though. This time it was John Wroblewski who tracked down a loose puck in the right wing corner. He shoveled the puck at the net where Mantua poked it away. Michael Chin was there for the rebound and scored his third goal of the season at 4:52 to tie the game at 4-4.
Western Michigan outshot the Irish 35-27 on the night. Cey made 31 saves in goal for Notre Dame while Mantua made 23 stops for the Broncos.
Game two of the series will be played on Saturday night at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo with face-off set for 8:00 p.m.
Game Summary: 1 2 3 OT F
Notre Dame (2-5-4/2-2-3) 2 1 1 0 4
Western Michigan (4-4-3/3-4-2) 2 1 1 0 4
Scoring
First Period: ND: Connor Dunlop 3 (Yan Stastny, David Inman), :36, WMU: Shaun Rose 1 (Ben Gagnon, Chad Kline), 12:11, WMU: Dave Cousineau 4 (Pat Dwyer, Jeff Campbell), PPG, 17:30, ND: Alex Lalonde 1 (Rob Globke, Aaron Gill), 19:21.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes, WMU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: WMU: Mike Bishai 1 (Mike Mantua), PPG, 5:24, ND: Evan Nielsen 2 (Neil Komadoski, John Wroblewski), PPG, 19:48.
Penalties: ND: 5 for 10 minutes, NMU: 5 for 10 minutes.
Third Period: WMU: Lucas Drake 1 (Dave Cousineau, Paul Davies), 2:23, ND: Michael Chin 3 (John Wroblewski, Neil Komadoski), 4:54.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes, WMU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes, WMU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 10 – 6 – 8 – 3 – 27
Western Michigan 9 – 11 – 11 – 4 – 35
Goaltender Saves:
ND – Morgan Cey (65:00) 7 – 10 – 10 – 4 – 31
WMU – Mike Mantua (65:00) 8 – 5 – 7 – 3 – 23
Power Plays:
ND: 1 for 4
WMU: 2 for 5
Attendance: 3,138