Nov. 22, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – Senior defenseman Brett Lebda scored one goal and set up a Wes O’Neill power-play goal while goaltender David Brown made 39 saves as Notre Dame and Lake Superior State battled to a 2-2 overtime tie at the Joyce Center Saturday night.
Dominic Osman and Bo Cheesman scored for Lake Superior with Cheesman getting the game-tying goal at 17:15 of the third period. Goaltender Jeff Jakaitas made 34 saves in the tie.
The Irish are now 1-0-2 in their last three games and are 6-3-2 overall and 5-3-2 in CCHA play. The Lakers are now 4-4-4 on the year and 2-4-1.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game both nights. Lake State is a big, physical team and you have to battle every step of the way. We come out of the weekend with three points and you’re always happy with that,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
After a scoreless first period, Lake Superior took a 1-0 lead at 2:43 of the second period on a Dominic Osman power-play goal. Osman took a feed from defenseman Kory Scoran at the right face-off dot and fired a wrist shot past Brown for the lead.
The Irish scored on their own power play to tie the game at 13:28. O’Neill carried the puck around the Lake Superior net and moved it back to Lebda at the right point. Lebda returned the pass to O’Neill who blasted a shot from the right wing face-off circle past Jakaitis for the 1-1 score.
Notre Dame took the lead at 12:29 of the third period when Lebda jumped into the play from the left point and shoveled a rebound past Jakaitis for his first goal of the season to give the Irish a 2-1 lead.
“Brett had a strong game tonight. We count on him to produce offensively,” said Poulin.
“The thing he’s done well this year is move the puck. He’s making good decisions, moving the puck and then jumping into the play after it. His goal was a big one tonight.”
Cheesman got the game-tying goal with 2:45 left in the game, as the Irish were unable to clear the zone. Trent Campbell forced a turnover and found Cheesman in the slot. The junior left wing fired a shot past Brown for his fifth goal of the season and his second in two games versus the Irish.
The Irish turned up the play over the final two-and-a-half minutes getting several good chances.
“I thought we had some of our best chances after they tied the game 2-2. We moved the puck well on the power play and had several good chances to build the lead,” said Poulin.
For the night, Lake Superior outshot the Irish by a 41-36 margin. Brown’s 39-save effort extended his unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2).
Notre Dame returns to action next weekend, Nov. 28-29, when the Irish play host to the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Friday’s game will begin at 7:35 p.m.
IRISH NOTES:
** The own an eight-game unbeaten streak versus Lake Superior (7-0-1) going back to the 2001-02 season. The Irish have not lost to the Lakers at the Joyce Center since Nov. 28, 1997 and are 7-0-3 in that span.
** Notre Dame’s penalty killers surrendered their fourth power-play goal of the season. Prior to Dominic Osman’s second-period man-advantage goal, the Irish had killed 28 of 29 opponent power plays since Oct. 17 when Bowling Green scored twice.
SCORING SUMMARY
Lake Superior State (4-4-4/2-4-2) 0 1 1 0 – 2
Notre Dame (6-3-2/5-3-2) 0 1 1 0 – 2
Scoring
First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: LSSU: 0 for 0 minutes; ND: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: LSSU: Dominic Osman 6 (Kory Scoran, Trent Campbell), ppg, 2:43; ND: Wes O’Neill 2 (Brett Lebda), ppg, 13:28.
Penalties: LSSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Lebda 1 (Michael Bartlett, Rob Globke), 12:29; LSSU: Bo Cheesman (Campbell), 17:15.
Penalties: LSSU: 0 for 0 minutes; ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Lake Superior 14 – 13 – 13 – 1 – 40
Notre Dame 8 – 11 – 14 – 3 – 36
Goaltender Saves:
LSSU – Jeff Jakaitis (65:00) 8 – 10 – 13 – 3 – 34
Notre Dame – David Brown (65:00) 14 – 12 – 12 – 1 – 39
Power Plays: LSSU: 1 for 5; ND: 1 for 3
Attendance: 2,696