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Irish Drop Heartbreaking 6-5 Overtime Decision To Ohio State In CCHA Super Six

March 18, 2004

Box Score

Detroit, Mich. – Notre Dame’s postseason hopes took a big hit Thursday night when Ohio State defenseman Tyson Strachan scored on a slapshot from the right point at 9:49 of the first overtime to give the Buckeyes a 6-5 win in the opening round of the CCHA’s Super Six at Joe Louis Arena.

The loss marks the second consecutive year that Ohio State has eliminated the Irish in the opening round and is the third season in a row that the Irish have fallen in their first game in Detroit. Notre Dame falls to 20-14-4 on the year and still has slim hopes for an NCAA bid, but will now have to wait until Sunday at 2:30 p.m. when the selections are announced. The Buckeyes improve to 24-15-0 on the year and will face the Miami RedHawks in the semifinals on Friday at 7:35 p.m.

The defeat also overshadowed an outstanding effort by Irish seniors Aaron Gill and Rob Globke. Gill scored three goals and added an assist while Globke had a goal and three helpers on the night. Sophomore left wing Mike Walsh had Notre Dame’s fifth goal of the night.

Freshman right wing Matt Beaudoin paced the Buckeyes with two goals and two assists while Rod Pelley, Dave Steckel and Scott May joined Strachan on the scoresheet. Ohio State scored three power-play goals on the night and fired 49 shots at the Irish goal.

“For the spectators, I guess it was a pretty good game to watch,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin following the game.

“As a coach, it was pretty disappointing. Our strengths all year have been our defense and our penalty killing. Tonight we gave up six goals and three power-play goals.”

The two teams combined for 83 shots in the game, including 31 in the first period when the Irish jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.

Globke got the Irish on the board first with his team-high 19th of the season at 5:32. The senior right wing kept an Ohio State clearing attempt in the Buckeye zone inside the blue line. He moved to the left side and came down the left wing and whipped a wrist shot past Betz between his stick and the left post.

Gill made it 2-0 just a minute-and-a-half later when he picked up a loose puck at center ice and carried it down the right wing boards. At the right faceoff circle he cut towards the goal and fired a low shot that Betz kicked out. With Globke coming hard down the slot, the rebound hit a Buckeye defender’s skate and went past Betz at 6:56. The goal was Gill’s 14th of the season.

The Buckeyes came back to tie the game on power-play goals by Rod Pelley and Dave Steckel. Pelley cut the lead in half at 13:59 when he jammed the rebound of a Beaudoin shot past Irish goaltender David Brown for his 10th goal of the season.

Steckel made it two-for-two on the power-play when he parked at the top of the crease and tucked a rebound of another Beaudoin shot past Brown to tie the game at 17:30. The goal was Steckel’s 17th of the year.

The Irish took advantage of their first power-play chance late in the first period. The Irish moved the puck from Tom Galvin to Neil Komadoski at the points. Komadoski slid the puck to Globke on the right wing boards where he one-timed a pass to Gill who was coming from the right side to the goal. Gill redirected the pass behind Betz for his second goal of the night and 15th of the year at 18:40. That gave the Irish the 3-2 lead going into the first intermission.

Ohio State wasted little time tying the game in the second period as May beat Brown just 16 seconds into the middle stanza for his 15th goal of the year. Using an Irish defenseman as a screen, May fired a shot from the high slot that beat Brown to his glove side.

Gill and Globke teamed up to put the Irish back in front at 4:43. With Globke on the forecheck, the Buckeye defense tried to get around him. The puck went off Globke’s skate to Gill who was at the bottom of the left wing circle. The senior center blasted a slapshot that beat Betz to his stick side. The goal was Gill’s third of the game, giving him his second career hat trick.

The lead would go to 5-3 in Notre Dame’s favor with Globke and Gill keying the attack. Globke picked up a puck in his own end and beat the Buckeyes up ice. He carried over the OSU blue line and slid the puck to Gill who fired a shot that Betz stopped. The rebound lay in the crease where Mike Walsh fired it home at 10:14 and the Irish had their second two-goal lead of the game.

The goal ended the night for Betz (who was 7-0-3 in his career versus Notre Dame) in favor of Dave Caruso as the Irish scored five times on the first 19 shots of the game versus the Buckeye starter.

Beaudoin single-handedly brought the Buckeyes back. The freshman right wing scored his first of the night on the power play when he flipped a rebound past Brown at 16:28 of the second period to make it 5-4 after two periods of play.

The native of Rock Forest, Quebec scored the biggest goal of his young career when he tucked a back-hander behind Brown with 2:26 left in regulation for his seventh of the season. Defenseman Doug Andress started the play with a slapshot from the right point that Brown stopped. The rebound came to Beaudoin as he got loose from the Irish defense and found the pack of the net.

Strachan then sent the Irish home with his second goal of the season in the extra period. May won a faceoff back to Andress who took a shot from the left point. T.J. Jindra blocked the shot and the rebound went to the left side where Strachan wound up and fired. The shot flew over Brown’s left shoulder to hand the Irish another tough defeat in the Super Six.

On the night, Ohio State had 49 shots on goal, the most by any team against the Irish this season. Brown finished with a career-high 43 saves on the night. Betz had 14 saves and Caruso stopped all 15 shots he faced in the game.

For now, the Irish will have to wait until Sunday.

“We’ve talked about not putting the decision in other people’s hands over the last couple of weeks,” said Poulin.

“And now, we don’t control our own fate. I’m sure they’ll weigh everything. There’s no question our non-conference record we’ll help us, but I don’t know if it will be enough. We’ll practice on Saturday just like we’re going on. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens on Sunday.

IRISH NOTES:

** The three power-play goals surrendered by the Irish were the most they’ve given up in a game all season. Ohio State was 3-for-5 with the man-advantage.

** The loss drops the Irish to 1-5 in CCHA playoff games played at Joe Louis Arena. The last win for the Irish came in the 1981-82 semifinals versus Bowling Green. The Irish have lost five straight at “the Joe” since that win.

** The overtime game was the second consecutive overtime contest for the Irish in the playoffs. They won the first one, 5-4 over Western Michigan last Sunday at the Joyce Center. For the year, Notre Dame is 1-3-4 in overtime.

GAME SUMMARY               1      2      3     OT  -  FNotre Dame (20-14-4)       3      2      0      0  -  5Ohio State  (24-15-0)      2      2      1      1  -  6

Scoring
First Period: ND: Rob Globke 19 (unassisted), 5:32; ND: Aaron Gill 14 (unassisted), 6:56; OSU: Rod Pelley 10 (Matt Beaudoin, Dave Steckel), PPG, 13:59; OSU: Steckel 17 (Doug Andress, Beaudoin), PPG, 17:30; ND: A. Gill 15 (Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski), PPG, 18:40.

Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; OSU: 2 for 4 minutes.

Second Period: OSU: Scott May 15 (Matt Waddell), 00:16; ND: A. Gill 16 (Globke), 4:43; ND: Mike Walsh 12 (Globke, A. Gill), 10:14; OSU: Beaudoin 6 (Tyson Strachan, Thomas Welsh), PPG, 16:28.

Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; OSU: 5 for 10 minutes.

Third Period: OSU: Beaudoin 7 (Andress), 17:34.

Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; OSU: 1 for 2 minutes.

Overtime: OSU: Strachan 2 (Andress, May), 9:49.

Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; OSU: 0 for 0 minutes.

Shots On Goal:Notre Dame        15 -  9 -  4 - 6 -  34Ohio State        16 - 15 - 12 - 3 -  49
Goaltender Saves:ND - David Brown (69:43) 14 - 13 - 11 - 5 - 43OSU - Mike Betz (30:42) 12 - 2 - x - x - 14 David Caruso (39:07) x - 5 - 4 - 6 - 15
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 5OSU: 3 for 5
Attendance: 6,238