Jan. 2, 2009
Hoffman Estates, Ill. – The Irish returned from their 20-day break to play host to the 2009 Shillelagh Tournament at the Sears Centre. In the tournament’s second game, Notre Dame defeated the Dutchmen of Union, 3-1.
After Union took a 1-0 lead in the first period, Notre Dame rallied to score three straight goals to earn the victory. Justin White tied the game in the second period before Ben Ryan scored the game winner, also in the second. Dan Kissel added an insurance goal in the third. Ryan and Kissel ended the night with a goal and an assist each.
With the win, the top-ranked Irish improve to 15-3-2 on the season while staying unbeaten in their last 15 games (13-0-2). The Dutchmen fall to 8-8-1 on the year.
Notre Dame out shot the Union, 27-21, in the game. Irish goaltender Jordan Pearce finished with 20 saves in the victory while Corey Milan had 24 saves for Union. The Irish were 1-for-4 on the power play while the Dutchmen were 1-for-1 on the night
The Irish owned the majority of chances in the early portion in the first period, including a Ben Ryan shot from the low slot area that hit off the cross bar while the Irish were skating with the man-advantage midway through the stanza.
Union settled into the game and at 16:56 they went on the power play for the first time as Calle Ridderwall was whistled for a contact-to-the-head roughing minor. On the ensuing power play, Union’s Mike Schreiber slid a pass to Brendan Milnamow a few feet inside the blue line. Milnamow drifted to the center of the point and fired a wrist shot high over Pearce’s left shoulder for a 1-0 lead. The Irish out shot Union by an 8-7 margin but trailed 1-0 after the first period of play.
Notre Dame tied the game early in the second period when White notched his fourth goal of the season at 2:49. Sophomore Ryan Guentzel created the chance as he broke into Union’s defensive zone and fired a shot on Milan from the middle of the face off circle. Milan made the save but was unable to control the rebound and White netted the game-tying goal from just outside the Union goal crease. Dan Kissel was also credited with an assist on the play.
Ryan and the Irish took the lead at 12:04 of the second when the sophomore netted his fifth goal of the season off of assists from Condra and Brett Blatchford. Ryan started the sequence that led to the goal as he won a face off back to Blatchford in the offensive zone. Blatchford moved the puck to Condra, who situated low in the corner to Milan’s left. Condra quickly slid a pass into the slot that Ryan one-timed for the 2-1 lead that proved to be the game winner.
The Irish extended their lead to 3-1 at 13:29 of the third period as Kissel poked home a loose puck in front of the Union net. The power-play goal marked Kissel’s fourth of the season, with assists going to Ryan and Condra.
Notre Dame earned a place in the Shillelagh Tournament’s title game versus Minnesota Duluth to be played on Saturday, January 3 at 7:05 (CT). Preceding the title clash will be the consolation contest between Union and UMass Lowell, to be played at 4:05 (CT). The title game features two of the hotter teams in college hockey as the Irish bring a 15-game unbeaten streak (13-0-2) into the contest, while the Bulldog have not lost in their last eight games (5-0-3).
The Bulldogs overcame a one goal deficit to earn their way to earning a place in the title game with a 2-1 win over UMass Lowell. With the win, Minnesota Duluth improves to 9-4-6 while Lowell falls to 8-9-0.
UMass Lowell jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 10:59 when Ben Holmstrom knocked home a loose puck in front for his third goal of the season. The play started when Kory Falite slid the puck out to Paul Worthington at the point. Worthington took a shot and Holstrom punced on the rebound as UMass Lowell scored just 21 seconds into the game’s first power play.
The Bulldogs tied the gate at 1-1 with just under two minutes remaining in the period as Andrew Carroll netted his second of the year, with the assists going to Evan Oberg and Michael Gergen.
In the second period Minnesota Duluth took the lead at 9:43 when Justin Fontaine scored a power-play goal as the Bulldogs were skating with a five-on-three advantage. MacGregor Sharp and Mike Connolly assisted on the tally that proved to be the game winner.
In the third period both goalies shined as UMass Lowell’s Carter Hutton turned aside all nine shots he faced in the stanza, while Minnesota Duluth’s Alex Stalock made 13 saves in the third. Hutton was pulled with 50 seconds remaining in the game as Lowell looked for the equalizer while on the power play, but the Bulldog defense held.
For the game, Stalock made 27 saves to earn the victory, while Hutton finished with 23 saves.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#1/#1 Notre Dame (15-3-2) 0 2 1 - 3Union (8-8-1) 1 0 0 - 1
Scoring First Period: Union: Brendan Milnamow 7 (Mike Schreiber), PPG, 18:14.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; Union: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Justin White 4 (Ryan Guentzel, Dan Kissel), 2:49; ND: Ben Ryan 5 (Erik Condra, Brett Blatchford), 12:304
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; Union: 1 for 2 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Kissel 4 (Ryan, Condra), PP, 13:29.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; Union: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 8 - 10 - 9 - 27Union 7 - 8 - 6 - 21
Goaltender Saves:ND - Jordan Pearce (60:00) 6 - 8 - 6 - 20Union - Corey Milan (59:41) 8 - 8 - 8 - 24
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 4NMU: 1 for 1
Attendance: 2,429