Oct. 14, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish capped their preseason on Friday night as they blanked the University of Waterloo Warriors, 4-0, at the Joyce Center in front of a crowd of 1,553. The exhibition game was the final tune-up for Jeff Jackson’s squad as they open the new season next Friday, Oct. 21 at Colorado College.
Wes O’Neill, Josh Sciba, Jason Paige and Mark Van Guilder scored single goals for the Irish and goaltenders David Brown and Jordan Pearce combined for the shutout as the Irish out shot Waterloo by a 44-13 in the game.
Jackson was happy with his team’s play. “I was pleased with the way we played tonight. The things we’ve been talking about, the intensity, the discipline were all positive tonight. The kids really played well,” said Jackson.
O’Neill got the Irish on the board first when he followed a shot by Wallace from in close on Warrior goaltender Nick Pannone. The rebound lay in the crease and O’Neill poked it in off the scramble in front just 4:29 into the game.
Center Josh Sciba made it 2-0 at 9:59 when he converted a pass from defenseman Noah Babin as the Irish fired 16 shots on goal in the stanza.
The Irish offense kept the pressure on in the second period when Jason Paige drilled a shot past Pannone from the high slot at 5:22 off a set up by Michael Bartlett from the right wing boards.
Notre Dame closed the scoring at 16:39 of the second period via the power play. Wallace picked up his second assist of the night when he moved the puck from behind the net to Oreskovich in the right wing circle. The sophomore center found Van Guilder between the hash marks and he whipped a shot past Pannone for a 4-0 Irish lead. The Irish poured 17 more shots on the Warrior goaltender and had a 33-10 edge after two periods.
Pearce replaced Brown in the Notre Dame goal for the third period and had to kill off the end of a power play and then helped stop a 5-on-3 chance later, finishing with three saves in the period. Brown had 10 saves in the first 40 minutes. Pannone made 40 saves for Waterloo as the Warriors fall to 2-2-0 in the preseason.
The Irish finished 1-for-9 on the power play while Waterloo was 0-for-8.
Notre Dame opens the regular season next weekend when the Irish travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face the Colorado College Tigers. Faceoff is set for 8:37 p.m. South Bend time and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - FWaterloo (2-1-0) 0 0 0 - 0Notre Dame (1-0-0) 2 2 0 - 4
ScoringFirst Period: ND: Wes O'Neill (Tim Wallace, Victor Oreskovich), 4:29; ND: Josh Sciba (Noah Babin), 9:59.Penalties: UW: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Jason Paige (Michael Bartlett), 5:22; ND: Mark Van Guilder (Oreskovic, Wallace), PPG, 16:39.Penalties: UW: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: No Scoring.Penalties: UW: 4 for 11 minutes; ND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Waterloo 3 - 7 - 3 - 13Notre Dame 16 - 17 - 11 - 44
Goaltender Saves:UM - Nick Pannoni (60:00) 14 - 15 - 11 - 40ND - David Brown (40:00) 3 - 7 - x - 10 Jordan Pearce (20:00) x - x - 3 - 3
Power Plays:UM: 0 for 8ND: 1 for 9
Attendance: 1,553