January 8, 1999

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Senior goaltender Forrest Karr extended his mastery over Bowling Green while sophomore right wing Ryan Dolder and senior defenseman Benoit Cotnoir ended their personal goal slumps in timely fashion as visiting Notre Dame pulled away from the Falcons, 4-1, in Central Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday at the BGSU Ice Arena.

Notre Dame (11-6-2, 8-5-1 CCHA)–which welcomed back sophomore left wing Dan Carlson from his stint with Team USA at the World Junior Championship–used Cotnoir’s second-period power-play goal and senior left wing Aniket Dhadphale’s 10th goal of the season to edge out to a 3-1 lead, with Cotnoir’s empty-netter capping the victory in Notre Dame’s first CCHA game since Dec. 5.

The Irish continued to play without sophomore defenseman Ryan Clark, who missed his third straight game while rehabilitating from Dec. 23 shoulder surgery, but Karr turned in one of the top efforts of his career by stopping 26 of BG’s 27 shots on goal. Karr improved his career mark versus the Falcons to 5-0-0 (4-0-0 at the BGSU Ice Arena), with an impressive 2.46 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in those five games.

The win pushed Notre Dame back in front of idle Northern Michigan (8-8-0) into fifth place in the CCHA, just a point behind Ferris State. The Irish improved to 6-1-1 versus BG during the past three seasons, including a 4-0-0 mark at the BGSU Ice Arena.

Bowling Green (10-9-1, 6-7-1 CCHA) fell four points behind the Irish in the CCHA standings and saw its lead over eighth-place Western Michigan shrink to three points.

The Irish took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, thanks to an unassisted power-play goal by Cotnoir, who picked off an attempted clear by BG sophomore defenseman Louis Mass and fired a low shot from the center of the blueline that kicked past the feet of senior goaltender Mike Savard (10:43). The goal was just the second of the season and the first in nine games for Cotnoir, who ranked fourth among CCHA defenseman last season with 10 goals.

Cotnoir’s goal snapped Notre Dame’s 0-for-17 power-play slump over the past four games.

Dhadphale’s goal provided some breathing room with 9:10 left to play, with assists from junior defenseman Nathan Borega and freshman center David Inman, who fired a tape-to-tape lead pass from the Irish zone. Dhadphale received the pass at the center of the BG blueline and skated free for a breakaway, faking to his right before depositing a forehand shot past Savard.

Cotnoir later sealed the win when he cleared the puck from the Irish goal area with a waist-high swing. The puck kicked out of the Irish zone and carried all the way into the opposing net, just 10 seconds after Savard had skated to the bench (18:04).

Notre Dame opened the scoring midway through the opening period, when Dolder lit the lamp for the first time since scoring Notre Dame’s first goal of the season in the 2-1 win over Wisconsin on Oct. 3. Junior center Ben Simon initiated the score with a pass to Carlson near the right point. Carlson then fired a pass through the slot that found Dolder near the inside of the left circle. Dolder quickly put a shot on net and the puck deflected off the skate of BG junior defenseman B.J. Adams and past Savard (11:03).

The hosts tied the game with an early power-play score in the second period. Senior right wing Dan Price’s pass set up a close shot from the left side by freshman center Greg Day. Karr batted the puck away but sophomore left wing Ryan Murphy–a USA teammate of Carlson’s–sent a rebound shot from the right side into the open net (3:13).

NOTES: Dhadphale’s goal was the 53rd of his career and gives him 95 career points … Simon has points in 17 of 20 games this season and is averaging nearly one point per game for his career (83 in 86) … Carlson skated alongside Simon and junior right wing Joe Dusbabek on the first (“1A”) line while Dhadphale and Inman again skated with senior right wing Brian Urick on the second (“1B”) line … Dolder skated on the third line with freshman center Brett Henning and sophomore left wing Chad Chipchase … in other CCHA action Friday, first-place Michigan State (11-2-2) posted a 5-1 home win over 10th-place Miami (2-11-3) while second-place Michigan (11-2-1) kept pace by rallying for a 3-2 win at home over fourth-place Ferris State (8-4-2) … surging Ohio State (10-4-2) was idle after momentarily moving into a tie for first with an 8-2 home win over last-place Lake Superior (2-9-2) on Thursday … Friday’s final game saw a matchup of the teams that are tied for the eighth and final CCHA Tournament spot, with Western Michigan (2-8-6) pulling out a 3-2 win over visiting Alaska Fairbanks (4-12-0).

No. 9 NOTRE DAME (11-6-2, 8-5-1 CCHA) 1 1 2 – 4

BOWLING GREEN (10-9-1, 6-7-1 CCHA) 0 1 0 – 1

1st: ND 1. Dolder 2 (Carlson, Simon) 11:03.

2nd: BG 1. Murphy 4 (Day, Price), PP, 3:13; ND 2. Cotnoir 2 (unassisted), PP, 10:43.

3rd: ND 3. Dhadphale 10 (Inman, Borega) 10:50; ND 4. Cotnoir 3 (unassisted), ENG, 18:04.

Shots: ND 8-14-10/32; BG 7-9-11/27.

Saves: ND (Karr) 7-8-11/26; BG (Savard) 7-13-8/28.

Power Play: ND 1-for-5, BG 1-for-6.

Penalties: ND 8 for 16:00, BG 7 for 14:00.