Jan. 19, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish ran into a red-hot goaltender and Nebraska-Omaha’s special teams got the job done as the Mavericks swept the weekend series with a 4-2 win on Saturday night at the Joyce Center.
Sophomore goaltender Dan Ellis kicked out 45 Notre Dame shots in the game and 86 of 90 on the weekend while Nebraska-Omaha scored a pair of power play goals to hand the Irish their third straight home loss.
The win drops the Irish to 8-11-5 overall and 6-8-4 in CCHA play while the Mavericks go to 14-9-3 on the year and 8-7-3 in league play. Nebraska-Omaha came into the weekend one point behind the Irish in the standings and leave South Bend with a three-point lead. The loss also marks the first time this season that the Irish were swept in a CCHA two-game series.
“It was a very frustrating weekend for us when you get 90 shots on goal and don’t get a point,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
“The weekend came down to Danny Ellis and special teams. He was terrific in goal all weekend.”
Nebraska-Omaha took a 2-0 lead in the first period with the first goal coming on the power play. Scotty Turner got his third of the season at 10:48 when he tucked the rebound of Andrew Wong’s shot under Irish goaltender Morgan Cey.
The Mavericks second goal came on some nifty puck handling by junior forward David Brisson. Brisson took the puck in his own zone and raced down the right wing side cutting in on Cey. His first shot rolled behind the goal where Brisson picked it up and circled behind the cage. Anthony Adams was camped on the doorstep and tapped the goal mouth pass past Cey for his third of the year at 13:30.
Notre Dame answered back just 13 seconds later when Rob Globke unleashed a blast from the top of the right wing circle that beat Cey high to his glove side. The goal was Globke’s seventh of the season and second since returning from the World Junior Championships.
After a scoreless second period, the Mavericks picked up their second power play of the night, just four minutes into the third period. Andrew Wong got his ninth of the year at the 4:00 mark off of assists to Jeff Hoggan and Brisson for the eventual game-winner.
The Irish kept the pressure on Ellis in the third, finishing the period with 22 shots on goal and finally broke through with a power play goal fo their own.
David Inman equalled a career-best with his 13th goal of the season when he scored from in front on Ellis after a quick centering pass from Tom Galvin at 12:55.
While they got one power play goal, they failed to get a second one when Hoggan was called for charging into Cey in the Irish goal at 15:26.
“We had a chance with six minutes left with a power play chance and didn’t score. That’s when your power play unit has to take over and come through. It’s very frustrating,” said Poulin.
Shane Glover would seal the victory and the weekend sweep at 17:37 when he tapped in Hoggan’s goal mouth pass for his 11th goal of the season.
Notre Dame outshot Nebraska-Omaha for the second night in a row, this time by a 47-27 margin. Cey finished the night with 23 saves in the Irish goal.
The loss closes Notre Dame’s six-game homestand with a 1-4-1 record as they now take to the road for two games next weekend at Miami of Ohio. Game times on Jan. 25-26 are 7:30 p.m.
“There are only five weeks left in the regular season schedule. Each game is there for the taking the rest of the way. We have to put it together and take them,” said Poulin.
IRISH HOCKEY NOTES:
**The Irish were one-for-eight on the power play and two-for-17 with the extra man on the weekend. The Mavericks were two-for-three on Saturday and three-for-eight in the series.
**Notre Dame’s three-game losing streak is their longest losing streak of the season.
**The 47 shots on goal for the Irish equal a season high (47 at Bowling Green, Dec. 8). The 22 first-period shots were the most in a period for Notre Dame in any game this year.
**The Irish will go into the Miami series tied for eighth in the standings with 16 points. The RedHawks lost at Lake Superior State 6-3 on Saturday night. They are 10-12-2 overall and 7-9-2 in league play.
SCORING SUMMARY
Nebraska-Omaha (14-9-3/8-7-3) 2 0 2 – 4
Notre Dame (8-11-5/6-8-4) 1 0 1 – 2
Scoring
First Period: UNO: Scotty Turner 3 (Andrew Wong, Mike Gabinet), PPG, 10:48, UNO: Anthony Adams 3 (David Brisson, Chris Claffey), 13:30, ND: Rob Globke 7 (Evan Nielsen, Neil Komadoski), 13:43.
Penalties: UNO: 2 for 4 minutes, ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: UNO: 1 for 2 minutes, ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Third Period: UNO: Wong 9 (Jeff Hoggan, Brisson), PPG, 4:00, ND: David Inman 13 (Tom Galvin, Brett Lebda), PPG, 12:55, UNO: Shane Glover 11 (Hoggan, Wong), 17:37.
Penalties: UNO: 9 for 18 minutes, ND: 8 for 16 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Nebraska-Omaha 11 – 8 – 8 – 27
Notre Dame 13 -12 – 22 – 47
Goaltender Saves:
Nebraska-Omaha – Dan Ellis (60:00) 12 -12 – 21 – 45
Notre Dame – Morgan Cey (57:57) 9 – 8 – 6 – 23
Power Plays: UNO: 2 for 3, ND: 1 for 8
Attendance: 2,393