Nov. 25, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Ohio State Buckeyes used power-play goals from Matt McIlvane and Tom Fritsche and even-strength tallies from Kyle Hood and Mathieu Beaudoin to hand Notre Dame a 4-1 post-Thanksgiving loss at the Joyce Center on Friday night.
The Irish mustered just one goal, a first-period power-play goal from Matt Amado that evened the score at 1-1 as Notre Dame struggled all night to generate offense, getting out shot 34-15 in the game.
The loss to Ohio State extends the Buckeyes mastery over the Irish since the 2000-01 season, as they are now 11-1-3 against the Irish in the last 15 meetings, including five straight wins dating back to 2003-04.
For the year, Notre Dame falls to 3-7-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the CCHA. Ohio State picked up its fourth straight win to improve to 6-5-1 and 5-4-1 in conference play.
Things started out bad for the Irish when defenseman Wes O’Neill was whistled off for hooking just 1:51 into the game. Ohio State needed just six seconds to get on the scoreboard.
Domenic Maiani won a face off in the left wing circle back to defenseman Sean Collins at the left point. Collins’ blast rang off the crossbar behind Irish goaltender David Brown. The puck rebounded to McIlvane to the left of Brown who fired it home for his second goal of the season at 1:57.
The Irish would get just three shots in the opening period with one of them finding the back of the net behind Ohio State goaltender David Caruso. With Notre Dame on a power play, Noah Babin fired a shot from the right point was wide of the goal and came off the back boards to Tim Wallace at the bottom of the left wing circle. Wallace’s shot was blocked in front but Amado crashed the net banging the rebound past Caruso for his sixth goal of the year, a career high for the senior left wing, at 17:20.
Despite being out shot 13-3 in the opening period, Notre Dame went to the intermission tied 1-1.
Ohio State scored twice in a 59-second span to build a 3-1 lead early in the second period. Hood would pick up the eventual game winner just 2:17 into the period. Matt Waddell’s shot from the left point was stopped by Brown but the rebound came to OSU’s Dave Barton to the right of Brown. He slid the puck across the crease to Hood who lifted it over Brown for his third goal of the season.
The lead would go to 3-1 at 3:16 when Beaudoin took a puck off the left-wing boards in the left face-off circle and spun towards the goal ripping a shot that beat Brown over his right shoulder for his fifth of the season.
Brown kept the Irish in the game as they were out shot 14-4 in the period.
The Irish managed to mount some pressure in the third period, holding the Buckeyes without a shot in the first 10 minutes but could not put one past Caruso.
The Buckeyes would close the scoring on a power-play goal at 11:38 as Andrew Schembri slid a pass to Fritsche at the bottom of the right wing circle. His initial shot was stopped by Brown but he followed it, lifting the rebound over the Irish goaltender for his fourth of the season.
For the period, the Irish out shot Ohio State, 8-7, but the Buckeyes dominated the game with a 34-15 edge for the game. Brown finished with 30 saves on the night while Caruso made 14 for OSU. The Buckeyes were 2-for-9 on the power play while the Irish scored once in nine chances.
The Irish will look to snap Ohio State’s dominance in the series when the two teams meet again on Saturday night, November 26 in a 7:05 p.m. game at the Joyce Center. The Irish last beat the Buckeyes on Oct. 10, 2003, a 5-2 win at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The last time Notre Dame defeated Ohio State at the Joyce Center was Oct. 23, 1998, a 3-0 Notre Dame win.
Summary: 1 2 3 FOhio State (6-5-1/5-4-1) 1 2 1 4Notre Dame (3-7-1/2-4-1) 1 0 0 1
First Period: OSU: Matt McIlvane 2 (Sean Collins, Domenic Maiani), PPG, 1:57; ND Matt Amado 6 (Tim Wallace, Noah Babin), PPG, 17:20.Penalties: OSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Second Period: OSU: Kyle Hood 3 (Dave Barton, Matt Waddell), 2:17; OSU: Mathieu Beaudoin 5 (Kenny Bernard), 3:16.Penalties: OSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: OSU: Tom Fritsche 4 (Andrew Schembri, Hood), PPG, 11:38.Penalties: OSU: 5 for 10 minutes; ND: 4 for 11 minutes.
Shots on Goal:Ohio State: 13 - 14 - 7 - 34Notre Dame: 3 - 4 - 8 - 15
Saves:Ohio State: Dave Caruso (60:00) 2 - 4 - 8 - 14Notre Dame: David Brown (60:00) 12 - 12 - 6 - 30
Power Plays:Ohio State: 2 for 9Notre Dame: 1 for 9
Attendance: 2,012