Jan. 17, 2004
Madison, Wis. – Aaron Gill scored two power-play goals and goaltender Morgan Cey made 36 saves, including 17 in the third period as Notre Dame battled fourth-ranked Wisconsin to a 2-2 tie in front of 14,242 at the Kohl Center.
The tie gives Notre Dame an 11-7-3 overall record while Wisconsin is now 14-5-6 on the season. The Irish are now 1-0-1 at the Kohl Center and 2-0-1 in their last three games in Madison, Wis.
Senior John Eichelberger scored both Wisconsin goals in the game with both of them coming on the power play.
In a wide-open game that featured plenty of scoring chances, the power play was the only way both teams could score.
The Badgers started the scoring with Eichelberger getting his first power play of the night at 6:00. Ryan MacMurchy moved the puck from the left wing boards to Jeff Likens at the left point. Liken’s shot was stopped by Cey, but John Eichelberger got to the rebound first and slid it past the Irish goaltender for his first goal of the game.
Notre Dame would not get its first shot on goal until the 14:42 mark of the opening period but it would lead to an Irish power-play goal at 14:40.
Rob Globke, Notre Dame’s top scorer, one-timed a blast from the top of the left wing circle that Wisconsin’s Bernd Bruckler made a pad save on. Gill was Johnny-on-the spot though as he stuffed the rebound through Bruckler’s pads for the second Irish shot of the game and his seventh goal of the season.
Gill’s goal extended Notre Dame’s streak of games with at least one power-play goal to five-in-a-row and 14 of it’s last 15 games.
Eichelberger put the Badgers ahead 2-1 with his second of the night and second of the year at 7:09.
The play was set up by some great stick-handling by Rene Bourque. The senior left wing moved from the right point to the top of the left wing circle where he was able to get around an Irish penalty killer. He then moved to the bottom of the circle, pulling an Irish defenseman toward him. He then slid a pass across the front of the crease to Eichelberger who was parked at the top of the crease. The senior center had the right side of the net and one-timed the pass behind Cey for the go-ahead goal.
While Cey was holding the fort in the third period, the Irish were getting just two shots at the other end of the ice but they made one count as Gill scored his second on the power play when he fired a wrist shot between Bruckler and the right post at the 1:23 mark of the period for his second goal of the night.
The two goals for Gill marked the first time that he scored two goals in a game this season. The Rochester, Minn., native has six games this year with two or more points.
Both teams had good scoring chances in overtime as Gill almost had the hat trick with 17 seconds left as he took a centering pass from Mike Walsh behind the goal, but Bruckler made the stop. With five seconds left, T.J. Jindra rifled a wrist shot from the right wing circle that just went over the crossbar.
For the night, Wisconsin out shot Notre Dame by a 38-21 margin. Bruckler made 19 saves in the game. Both teams were 2-for-7 on the power play. The two teams close out the non-conference series on Sunday night at the Kohl Center. Game time is 7:05 p.m. (CST).
IRISH NOTES:
** Notre Dame’s trip to Madison got off on the wrong foot as the usual South Bend to Madison takes about five hours depending on traffic around Chicago. It took the Irish 10 hours to make the trip as they hit an ice storm at the Illinois-Wisconsin border. It took five-and-a-half hours to go the final 53 miles on Interstate 90 as a sheet of ice covered everything and traffic came to a standstill. At one point on the trip, the bus covered seven miles in three-and-a-half hours. The trip began at Notre Dame at 7:00 p.m. EST and ended at the hotel in Madison at 5:00 a.m. (EST).
** Notre Dame wore its gold jerseys for the third time this season. The Irish are 2-0-1 in gold this season.
** With two assists in the game, Rob Globke moves into 35th on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list with 106 career points (60g, 46a). He passes Aniket Dhadphale who had 105 points in his career (61g, 44a).
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 OT F
Notre Dame (11-7-2) 1 0 1 0 2
Wisconsin (14-5-6) 1 1 0 0 2
Scoring
First Period: UW: John Eichelberger 1 (Jeff Likens, Ryan MacMurchy), PPG, 6:00; ND: Aaron Gill 7 (Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski), PPG, 14:40.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UW: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: UW: Eichelberger 2 (Rene Bourque, Dan Boeser), PPG, 7:09.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UW: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Gill 8 (Globke), PPG, 1:23.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; UW: 3 for 6 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND : 0 for 0 minutes; UW: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 5 – 10 – 2 – 4 – 21
Wisconsin 7 – 11 – 17 – 3 – 38
Goaltender Saves:
ND – Morgan Cey (65:00) 6 – 10 – 17 – 3 – 36
UW – Bernd Bruckler (65:00) 4 – 10 – 1 – 4 – 19
Power Plays:
ND: 2-7
UW: 2-7
Attendance: 14,242