Feb. 6, 2004
Video Highlights:
Oxford, Ohio – The Miami RedHawks trio of Todd Grant, Geoff Smith and Taylor Hustead combined for three goals and five assists to hand Notre Dame a 5-2 loss at Goggin Arena on Friday night.
Miami’s top scorers, Derek Edwardson and Mike Kompon, added solo goals for the RedHawks while Josh Sciba and Aaron Gill scored Notre Dame’s goals on the night.
The loss drops the Irish to 13-10-4 overall and 9-9-3 in CCHA play. The first-place RedHawks improve to 17-9-3 overall and 14-5-2 in league play. The loss drops the Irish into eighth place in the league standings as Northern Michigan moved a point ahead with a 3-2 win over Western Michigan on Friday.
The first period belonged to the RedHawks as they outshot the Irish 13-4 on the way to a 37-23 margin for the game.
The lone goal of the first period came at 14:23 when Smith got his first of the night as he dug a loose puck free along the right wing boards. He cut through the right-wing circle and whipped a wrist shot through Morgan Cey’s pads for his second goal of the year.
The goal snapped Morgan Cey’s consecutive shutout minutes streak at Goggin Arena at 138:58. The last goal he surrendered on Miami’s home ice came at the 15:25 mark of the third period in game one of last year’s CCHA playoffs. He followed with back-to-back shutouts in games two and three.
Miami built their lead to 4-0 in the second period, getting three unanswered goals. Smith got his second of the game and third of the season when his low wrist shot from the bottom of the right wing circle beat Cey low to the ice just inside the far post at 5:09 for a 2-0 RedHawk lead.
Miami would make it 3-0 just 53 seconds later at 6:02 when Derek Edwardson, the CCHA’s leading scorer scored on a wrap-around goal tucking the puck inside the post to Cey’s stick side. The goal was Edwardson’s 15th of the season.
The RedHawk lead would go to 4-0 at 11:22 when Todd Grant combined with Smith for his 10th goal of the season. Smith walked the puck out of the right wing corner and slid a pass to Grant parked on the left side of the crease. He flipped the puck into the open side of the goal. The goal gave the line of Grant, Smith and Taylor Hustead three points in the game.
Notre Dame finally broke through on goaltender Brandon Crawford-West at the 16:00 mark, taking advantage of their second power-play chance of the game.
Cory McLean knocked down a clearing attempt by Miami defenseman Matt Davis. The loose puck bounced right to Josh Sciba who whipped a shot from the slot over Crawford-West’s glove for his fifth goal of the year.
The Irish would cut the RedHawk lead to two goals with 51 seconds left in the period. Hard work along the boards by McLean and Mike Walsh popped the puck loose to Aaron Gill in the left wing circle. He beat Crawford-West inside the left post for his 11th goal of the year.
For Gill, the goal made him the 41st player in Notre Dame history to score 100 points in his career. The Rochester, Minn., native now has 43 goals and 57 assists for his career.
Miami closed the scoring with the lone goal of the third period as Mike Kompon used Greg Hogeboom as a decoy and drilled a shot over Cey’s glove for his ninth of the season.
For the night, Cey made 32 saves in goal while Crawford-West had 21 saves for the RedHawks.
The Irish and RedHawks close out the two-game series on Saturday night at Goggin Arena. Faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m.
IRISH NOTES:
** Notre Dame freshman goaltender David Brown was one of four Division I freshman named honorable mention for the Hockey Commissioner’s Association rookie-of-the-month honors for the month of January. Brown was 3-1-1 in the month with a 1.19 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage. He was the HCA Rookie of the Month in October.
** Cory McLean’s two-assist game gives him a career-high 18 points on the season with seven goals and 11 assists. His previous best was last season when he had 17 points (10g, 7a).
** The Irish killed all three Miami power-play chances in the game. Notre Dame has not surrendered a power-play goal since Jan. 23 at Northern Michigan. The Irish have now killed 21 consecutive opponent power plays over the last five games.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 FNotre Dame (13-10-4/9-9-3) 0 2 0 2Miami (17-9-3/14-5-2) 1 3 1 5
ScoringFirst Period: MU: Geoff Smith 2 (Taylor Hustead, Todd Grant), 14:23.Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; MU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: MU: Smith 3 (Hustead), 5:09; MU: Derek Edwardson 15 (Marty Guerin), 6:02; MU: Grant 10 (Smith, Hustead), 11:22; ND: Josh Sciba 5 (Cory McLean), PPG, 16:00; ND: Aaron Gill 11 (Mike Walsh, McLean), 19:09.Penalties: ND: 4 for 16 minutes; MU: 4 for 16 minutes.
Third Period: MU: Mike Kompon 9 (Andy Greene), 6:02.Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; MU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 4 - 13 - 6 - 23Miami 13 - 13 - 11 - 37
Goaltender Saves:ND - Morgan Cey (60:00) 12 - 10 - 10 - 32MU - Brandon Crawford-West (60:00) 4 - 11 - 6 - 21
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 3MU: 0 for 3
Attendance: 2,684 (sellout)