Jan. 22, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The rejuvenated Notre Dame offense picked up where it left off on Friday night, as the Irish used a balanced offense and a 28-save night from freshman Tony Zasowski to continue their climb up the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings, with a 4-1 victory Saturday night over visiting Western Michigan.
Junior left wing Dan Carlson and senior right wing Joe Dusbabek capped their productive efforts in the two-game sweep of the Broncos, with each of the first-line forwards scoring in the early-going of the second win. Junior Ryan Dolder and freshman Michael Chin also scored from their right wing positions while senior defenseman Tyson Fraser picked up two assists.
The win vaults Notre Dame (10-13-5, 7-7-4 CCHA) into sole possession of fifth place in the CCHA standings, with the Irish edging past Ferris State (8-9-1)-which dropped a 4-3 overtime game on Saturday at fellow sixth-place team Miami (7-6-3) . Notre Dame also stands just three points behind fourth-place Lake Superior (10-7-1), which dropped a 4-1 game on Saturday at Nebraska-Omaha (6-8-4).
WMU (8-12-2, 7-9-2) suffered its fifth straight loss while slipping into a tie for eighth in the CCHA standings with UNO.
Notre Dame halted a season-long trend of seeing their production drop off in the second games of CCHA series, as the Irish are now 5-2-2 in the first games and 2-5-2 in the second games.
The home team in the ND-WMU series is 11-1-1 during the last 13 meetings between the teams, with the Irish going 6-0-1 in their last seven home games versus the Broncos.
Notre Dame.-which rallied from a late 3-1 deficit on Friday.-jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Saturday, yielding a total of seven Irish goals in a span of 40:09 (covering the final 4:18 in the first game and the first 35:51 in the second game).
Dusbabek completed a six-point weekend by notching a goal and two assists for the second straight night. Carlson-who scored the game-tying and overtime game-winning goals on Friday (4-3).-also assisted on Dusbabek’s goal in the series finale for a four-point weekend, giving Carlson 12 points (7G-5A) in eight career games versus the Broncos.
The Broncos had a chance to jump back in the game early in the second period, with a lengthy 5-on-3 chance and the Irish leading 3-0. But Notre Dame killed both penalties, en route to a 7-for-8 night on the penalty kill.
Sophomore center Mike Bishai averted the shutout with a power-play goal seven minutes into the final period.
GOAL RECAPS
- Dusbabek collected his seventh goal of the season midway through the first period, after rifling a shot from outside the blue line that sailed inside the far left post. Senior C Ben Simon set the play in motion by collecting the puck in the Irish and moving it towards the left boards for Carlson. Dusbabek was streaking down the right side and Carlson delivered him the puck to set up the game’s first goal.
- Dolder pushed the lead to 2-0 with his sixth goal of the season, as the Irish cashed in a 5-on-3 chance with six seconds left in the opening period. Fraser and Dusbabek cycled the puck to Dolder, who sent a rising shot from the top of the right circle that clanged off the pipes in the upper left corner (19:54).
- Carlson moved into a tie with sophomore left wing David Inman for the team goal lead (9), after knocking home a loose puck at the right side of the crease early in the second period. Fraser and Dusbabek assisted on the power-play goal, with Fraser’s sending a shot from between the circles and Carlson lifting the rebound over the head of WMU sophomore G Jeff Reynaert. The puck fluttered by the cross bar before trickling over the goalline for the 3-0 lead ((3:25).
- Freshman center Connor Dunlop assisted on Chin’s third goal of the season (all of which have come in the last nine games). Dunlop carried the puck into the right corner and fought to keep possession n before sliding a pass into the slot for Chin, who beat Reynaert for the four-goal cushion (15:15).
- Junior LW David Gove fed the puck to senior D Daryl Andrews, who sent a shot on net from the left circle. Bishai was positioned the right post and flicked home the rebound for WMU’s lone goal of the night (6:55).
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH DAVE POULIN: “We played much better tonight than last night. It was certainly a consistent, overall effort tonight. The first goal on their goalie was critical to start off, after putting so many shots on him last night. The power-play tonight-Simon, Dusbabek and Carlson-played great. Power-play goals are important, no matter when or how you get them. Even if you go 1-for-7 on the power play, getting that one is critical. We had a terrific weekend, obviously. I told the guys after last night’s game that we couldn’t be satisfied with just the one win, we had to get another tonight. Getting two wins out of this weekend was critical.”
WMU HEAD COACH JIM CULHANE: “Notre Dame was able to come out and score midway in the first and it put us on our heels. They are a good hockey program and we’re going through a rough time right now.”
NOTES: Notre Dame has totaled 40 goals in its last 11 games vs. WMU and 25 in the last five … the Irish improved to 18-3-5 (.789) at home during CCHA regular-season games over the past two seasons … Dusbabek has 4G-6A in the last seven games while Carlson has 6G-5A in the last 11 … Dolder pushed his team-leading total of game-winning points to five (2 GWG, 3 GWA) while Dusbabek has played a part in four game-winning scores this season (1 GWG, 3 GWA) … eight of the last 14 Irish goals have been scored on the power play, plus one 6-on-5 … Notre Dame is 7-3-1 in its last 11 games vs. WMU … Simon has 14 career points in 11 games versus WMU (2G-12A) while Fraser has 2G-6A in 10 career games vs. WMU … prior to this weekend, Dusbabek had totaled just two points in seven games vs. WMU (2G) … among the teams fighting for the final home-ice spots in the CCHA playoffs (top five), Notre Dame has secured head-to-head tiebreakers with WMU, Miami and Lake Superior (FSU owns the tiebreaker with ND while the ND-UNO series will be determined on Feb. 11-12 at the Joyce Center).
WESTERN MICHIGAN (8-12-2, 7-9-2 CCHA) 0 0 1 - 1NOTRE DAME (10-13-5, 7-7-4 CCHA) 2 2 0 - 4
1st: ND 1. Dusbabek 7 (Carlson, Simon) 6:51, ND 2. Dolder 6 (Dusbabek, Fraser), 5-3, 19:54.
2nd: ND 3. Carlson 9 (Fraser, Dusbabek), PP, 3:25, ND 4. Chin 3 (Dunlop) 15:15.
3rd: WMU 1. Bishai 11 (Andrews Gove), PP, 6:55.
SHOTS: WMU 7-11-11/29, ND 15-12-10/37.
SAVES: WMU (Reynaert) 13-10-10/33, ND (Zasowski) 7-11-10/28.
POWER PLAY: WMU 1-for-8, ND 2-for-10.
PENALTIES: WMU 12 for 32:00, ND 9 for 18:00.