Feb. 5, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – Freshman right wing Mick Lawrence scored two goals and added two assists and Nebraska-Omaha got single goals from four others as the Mavericks scored four goals in the third period to hand Notre Dame a 6-3 loss at the Joyce Center on Saturday night.
Bill Thomas (PPG), Scott Parse, Mike Lefley and Dan Hacker backed Lawrence in the goal scoring department and goaltender Chris Holt made 30 saves to help the Mavericks improve to 15-10-3 overall and 11-8-3 in the CCHA.
The Irish got goals from Mike Walsh, Cory McLean and Tony Gill in the loss that drops the Irish to 5-19-6 on the year and 3-14-5 in conference play. The three goals were the most for the Notre Dame offense since Dec. 10 when the Irish defeated Michigan State, 3-2, in overtime.
For the second night of the series, Notre Dame got plenty of scoring chances but could not get the puck past Holt.
“That’s been the story of the season,” said Irish captain Cory McLean.
“It’s definitely frustrating. We generated some good scoring chances this weekend. We just have to keep playing and the goals have to start coming.”
The Mavericks struck first at 2:30 of the first period when Lawrence got his first goal of the night on the power play as he banged the rebound of a Bryan Marshall past Cey for his fourth of the year.
The score would stay that way until 4:30 of the second period when Walsh tied the game at 1-1. Freshman Evan Rankin carried the puck along the goal line and tried to stuff the puck between the right post and Holt’s pads. Walsh was there to tuck the rebound home for his second goal of the year.
Thomas made it 2-1 at 11:51 of the middle stanza when he scored his 14th of the year on the power play.
The Irish answered back late in the period when defenseman Chris Trick carried the puck down the right boards and found McLean cutting in front. The senior center poked a shot through Holt’s pads at 19:05 and the game was tied at 2-2.
“I thought we were in good shape with the game tied 2-2,” said head coach Dave Poulin.
“We were getting chances and creating traffic in front of the goal. I really liked our chances going into the third period.
The score stayed 2-2 when the Mavericks broke through to score twice in a 22-second span to break the game open.
Parse snapped the tie with a big-time goal as he beat Cey from the bottom of the left wing circle for his 16th of the season at 14:03.
The Mavericks came back quickly with some tic-tac-toe passing from Lawrence and Hacker in front of Cey with Lefley tucking the puck home on the left post at 14:25 for his fourth of the year.
The Irish got a break at 15:30 on a fluky goal that has avoided them all season long. Tony Gill fired the puck in off the right wing glass. As Holt headed behind the net to cut it off, the puck hit a stanchion, changing directions and flying into the net for Gill’s second goal of the season.
“That line of Joe Zurenko, Tony Gill and Victor Oreskovich really gave us a lift each time they were on the ice,” said Poulin.
“We moved Joe back to forward tonight for the energy he gives us and he had a terrific game.”
But that would be as close as the Irish would get as Hacker scored at 18:42 and then Lawrence closed out the game with an empty-net goal at 19:40 for the final of 6-3.
For the night, Nebraska-Omaha out shot the Irish 38-33. Cey made 33 saves in goal. The Mavericks were 2-for-8 on the power play while the Irish were 0-for-4.
Notre Dame wraps up its five-game homestand next weekend, February 11-12, when the Irish play host to the Ferris State Bulldogs at the Joyce Center.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 – F
Nebraska-Omaha (15-10-3/11-8-3) 1 1 4 – 6
Notre Dame (5-19-6/3-14-5) 0 2 1 – 3
Scoring
First Period: UNO: Mick Lawrence 4 (Bryan Marshall, Brandon Scero), PPG, 2:30.
Penalties: UNO: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 5 for 10 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Mike Walsh 2 (Evan Rankin, Tim Wallace), 4:02; UNO: Bill Thomas 14 (Scott Parse, Marshall), PPG, 11:51; ND: Cory McLean 4 (Chris Trick), 19:05.
Penalties: UNO: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 5 for 10 minutes.
Third Period: UNO: Scott Parse 16 (Alex Nikiforuk), 14:03; UNO: Mike Lefley 4 (Lawrence, Dan Hacker), 14:25; ND: Tony Gill 2 (Joe Zurenko), 15:30; UNO: Hacker 9 (Lefley, Lawrence), 18:42; UNO: Lawrence 5 (unassisted), ENG, 19:40.
Penalties: UNO: 2 for 4 minutes; ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Nebraska-Omaha 12 – 12 – 14 – 38
Notre Dame 12 – 13 – 8 – 33
Goaltender Saves:
UNO – Chris Holt (60:00) 12 – 11 – 7 – 30
ND – Morgan Cey (59:14) 11 – 12 – 10 – 33
Power Plays:
UNO: 2 fo 7
ND: 0 for 4
Attendance: 1,952