Jan. 25, 2002
Oxford, Ohio – Junior center Aaron Gill scored the game-winning goal at 4:10 of overtime to give Notre Dame a 4-3 win over the Miami RedHawks Friday night at Goggin Arena.
Gill took a centering pass from Connor Dunlop and went hard to the net beating Miami’s David Burleigh for his seventh goal of the season to give the Irish a crucial road win.
“I got in quick on the forecheck and was able to get to the puck. Aaron was going hard to the net and I found him in front and he put it away,” said Dunlop who had three assists in the game for the Irish.
The overtime win, the first in CCHA play for Notre Dame since Feb. 5, 2000, snapped a three-game Irish losing streak and improved the Irish to 9-11-5 overall and 7-8-4 in league play. More importantly, the win moved the Irish ahead of Miami into seventh place as the RedHawks are now 10-13-2 on the year and 7-10-2 in conference play.
This was one that almost got away from the Irish as they surrendered 2-0 and 3-2 leads on the night. The game also saw a third-period goal waved off by referee Brian Aaron.
Notre Dame took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Evan Nielsen at 4:39 and Michael Chin at 14:42. Nielsen scored off a face-off as his long wrist shot beat Burleigh low to his glove hand to equal a career-high with his fourth goal of the season.
Chin got his 11th of the season off a feed from Dunlop to give the Irish the 2-0 lead.
“I just came out of the corner and Dunny (Dunlop) made a great pass. I just shot it at the net and it went in off the far post,” said Chin who would add a second goal late in the third period.
The Irish would kill off four Miami power plays including a minute-and-30 seconds of a five-on-three advantage before the RedHawks could break through on Irish goaltender Morgan Cey.
The goal came late in the second period (19:51) and was scored by Evan Cheverie as he was camped on the doorstep and rapped a Mike Glumac centering pass behind Cey.
“That could’ve been a crushing goal coming that late in the period, but I thought everyone responded well on the bench,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
It looked like the Irish got their two-goal lead back early in the third period when Dunlop scored at 3:55. The apparent goal came while Notre Dame had a delayed power play, but was waved off after it was ruled that the Irish had gotten their sixth attacker on the ice before Morgan Cey had reached the bench.
“They ruled that it was a premature substitution and that one of the linesmen had blown the whistle,” explained Irish head coach Dave Poulin following the game.
The RedHawks tied the game at 12:31 with their second power play goal of the night. Greg Hogeboom took a pass from Mike Kompon and beat Cey from in front of the net for his 11th of the season.
Just when the Irish could’ve let down, they came right back with Chin scoring his 12th of the year and second of the night just 25 seconds later at 12:56.
“It was just a beautiful pass from David Inman. He put the puck right on my stick and I just had to put it in the net,” explained Chin who recorded the second two-goal game of his career.
Miami got the equalizer at 16:02 of the third when Hogeboom picked up his second of the night as he combined on a two-on-one with Danny Stewart to even the score at three.
That left the overtime heroics to Gill who gave the Irish an important road win with his seventh goal of the season. On the night, the sophomore center recorded a goal and an assist.
“The players never got down,” said Poulin. “I thought we played better in both games last week and we didn’t win either of them. They have to realize how good they can be. They answered the call tonight. They just kept responding. We will play better tomorrow night.”
The Irish were outshot in the game 36-32. Cey finished with 33 saves while Burleigh made 28 stops in the Miami net.
The Irish play the second game of the weekend series on Saturday night with a 7:35 p.m. face-off at Goggin Arena.
Irish Hockey Notes:
**The Irish are now 3-0-1 in their last four games at Goggin Arena.
**Notre Dame is 9-5-2 in games that the Irish score the first goal. They have scored the first goal in 16 of their first 25 games this season. A year ago, the Irish scored the game’s first goal in just 12 of 39 games.
**Connor Dunlop recorded the third three-assist game of his career in the win over Miami. He now has nine multiple-point games this season.
**The last time the Irish won a game in overtime came on Oct. 17, 2000 when Notre Dame defeated Wayne State 2-1 at the Joyce Center in a non-conference game.
**Notre Dame was 0-for-3 on the power play and have now scored just three power play goals in 39 chances over the last six games. Miami was two-for-six with the man-advantage.
Game Summary: 1 2 3 OT F
Notre Dame (9-11-5/7-8-4) 2 0 1 1 4
Miami (10-13-2/7-10-2) 0 1 2 0 3
Scoring
First Period: ND: Evan Nielsen 4 (Neil Komadoski, Aaron Gill), 4:39, ND: Michael Chin 11 (Connor Dunlop, David Inman), 14:42.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes, MU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: MU: Evan Cheverie 7 (Mike Glumac, Jason Deskins), PPG, 19:50.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes, MU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: MU: Greg Hogeboom 12 (Mike Kompon, Joe Pomeranski), PPG, 12:31, ND: Chin 12 (Inman, Dunlop), 12:56, MU: Hogeboom 13 (Danny Stewart), 16:02.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes, MU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Overtime: ND: Gill 7 (Dunlop, Rob Globke), 4:09
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes, MU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 10 – 15 – 6 – 1 – 32
Miami 11 – 12 – 12 – 1 – 36
Goaltender Saves:
ND – Morgan Cey (64:10) 11 – 11 – 10 – 1 – 33
MU – David Burleigh (64:10) 8 – 15 – 5 – 0 – 28
Power Plays:
ND: 0 for 3
MU: 2 for 6
Attendance: 2,216 (sellout)