Jan. 20, 2008
Auburn Hills, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines got stellar goaltending from junior Billy Sauer and goals from five different players to hand Notre Dame a 5-1 loss in front of 10,831 at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday night.
Sauer stopped 32-of-33 Notre Dame shots, giving up just a first-period goal to freshman Ben Ryan. He got all the support he needed from solo scoring efforts from Chad Kolarik, Kevin Porter, Louie Caporusso, Matt Rust and Travis Turnbull.
The sweep by Michigan dropped the Irish to 0-3-1 in their last four games and marked the first time since the first week of March, 2006, when they dropped a pair in the CCHA playoffs to Alaska, that Notre Dame has lost two in a row, snapping a streak of 69 games without losing two in a row.
The loss drops the Irish to 18-9-1 overall and 11-6-1 in the CCHA. The top-ranked Wolverines are now 22-2-0 on the year and 15-1-0 in conference action.
The Irish looked like they got the first break of the game when Steve Kampfer was whistled off for interference at 6:23 of the first period, giving Notre Dame a power-play chance. The opportunistic Wolverines turned the tables though when Kolarik ripped a shot from the slot that broke through the pads of Irish goaltender Brad Phillips and rolled through the crease and into the goal at 6:41. The short-handed goal was Kolarik’s 18th goal of the season.
Notre Dame answered at 14:38 when Dan Kissel fired a shot from the left-wing circle and Sauer made the save. The speedy sophomore tracked down the rebound behind the goal and fed it in front to Ryan who was all alone. He snapped a shot over Sauer’s glove for his sixth goal of the season.
Porter put the Wolverines in front to stay at 17:54 with his 22nd goal of the year and second on the weekend to make it a 2-1 game.
In the second period, Michigan would add two more. Caporusso deflected a shot by defenseman Kevin Quick past Phillips at 4:56 to build the lead to 3-1. The goal was Caporusso’s sixth of the year and second of the weekend.
The lead would go to 4-1 at 15:16 of the second when Rust took a feed from Carl Hagelin out of the left corner and one-timed a blast past Phillips for his ninth goal of the year. The goal sent Phillips to the bench after 35:16 of action in favor of junior Jordan Pearce.
In the third period, the Irish held a 12-5 edge in shots but could not dent Sauer. With three minutes left in the game, Irish head coach Jeff Jackson pulled Pearce in favor of a sixth attacker. At the 17:00 minute mark, Turnbull closed the scoring with an empty net goal. Brandon Naurato poked the puck away from an Irish player to Turnbull who picked up his ninth goal of the season.
On the night, Notre Dame’s power-play struggles continued as the Irish were 0-for-4 with the extra man, getting just one shot on goal while on the power play.
Notre Dame out shot the Wolverines, 33-30 in the game. Sauer made 32 stops while Phillips had 15 and Pearce finished with 10 over the final 23:49 that he played.
The Irish now return home for a weekend home-and-home series with Bowling Green. Notre Dame plays at home on Friday, Jan. 25 in a 7:35 p.m. game. The two teams then meet in Bowling Green, Ohio on Saturday in a 7:05 p.m. contest.
IRISH NOTES:
** The loss on Saturday night drops Notre Dame to 0-6-0 in games played at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Five of the six losses have come against Michigan.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#1/#1 Michigan (22-2-0/15-1-0) 2 2 1 - 5#8/#8 Notre Dame (18-9-1/11-6-1) 1 0 0 - 1
Scoring First Period: UM: Chad Kolarik 18 (Tim Miller, Chris Summers), SHG, 6:41; ND: Ben Ryan 6 (Dan Kissel), 14:38; UM: Kevin Porter 22 (Miller), 17:54. Penalties: UM: 2 for 4 minutes; ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: UM: Louie Caporusso 6 (Kevin Quick), 4:56; UM: Matt Rust 9 (Carl Hagelin), 15:16. Penalties: UM: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: UM: Travis Turnbull 9 (Brandon Naurato), ENG, 17:00. Penalties: MSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Michigan 10 - 15 - 5 - 30Notre Dame 11 - 10 - 12 - 33
Goaltender Saves:UM - Billy Sauer (60:00) 10 - 10 - 12 - 32ND - Brad Phillips (35:16) 8 - 7 - x - 15 Jordan Pearce (23:49) x - 6 - 4 - 10
Power Plays:UM: 0 for 3ND: 0 for 4
Attendance: 10,831