Dec. 9, 2011
Big Rapids, Mich. – Junior center Matthew Kirzinger had a goal and two assists and goaltender Taylor Nelson stopped 28-of-29 shots as Ferris State handed Notre Dame a 4-1 loss on Friday night at Ewigleben Arena.
The Bulldogs also got goals from Andy Huff, Kyle Bonis and Jordie Johnston in the win while Sam Calabrese had the lone goal for Notre Dame.
The loss extended the Irish losing streak to four in a row as they fall to 10-6-3 on the year and 7-3-3-0 in the CCHA. Ferris State snapped its two-game losing streak and is now 11-5-1 overall and 7-5-1-0 in conference play.
Ferris State scored the games first goal at 11:41 of the opening period as Huff fired a rebound past Johnson. Defenseman Chad Billins blasted a shot from the left point that the Notre Dame netminder got his pads on. The rebound headed towards the right circle where Huff one-timed it past Johnson to make it 1-0. Kirzinger picked up his first point of the night with a helper on the play.
Notre Dame would continue to put pressure on Nelson in the Ferris State goal but could not get the puck past him despite a 14-7 edge in shots. The Bulldogs, however, scored twice on their seven shots to build a 3-0 lead.
Kirzinger continued his big night as he scored short-handed at 7:09 of the second. With the Irish applying pressure in the Ferris State zone, the puck came around the right wing boards and got the Irish forwards, setting up a 2-on-1 with Kirzinger carrying the puck and Cory Kane breaking down the middle.
A junior from Saskatoon, Sask., Kirzinger carried the puck at Johnson, made a move to pull the Notre Dame goaltender down, went around and slid the puck into the open net for his third goal of the season. The shorty was the first given up by the Irish this season and Kirzinger’s second of the year.
The lead would go to 3-0 at 16:55 when Bonis crashed the net to jam the rebound of a Kirzinger shot past Johnson for his ninth goal of the season.
Notre Dame finally broke through on Nelson as the game got chippy midway through the third period. Aaron Schmit was given a five-minute major for a contact to the head penalty at 7:56 and with the teams playing four a side, Calabrese got his first goal of the season as he blasted a shot from the right circle past the senior goaltender to make it a 3-1 game. Jeff Costello and Mike Voran picked up the assists on the play.
Just over a minute after Schmit’s major, Notre Dame’s Stephen Johns was given a major for kneeing and the Bulldogs scored on the 4-on-3 power-play chance as Johnston tapped a centering pass from Travis Ouellette past Johnson for his seventh goal of the season and what would be the final score of 4-1.
For the game, Notre Dame out shot Ferris State by a 29-23 margin. Johnson finished the game with 19 saves for the Irish. The Bulldogs were 1-for-6 on the power play while Notre Dame was 0-for-3. The two teams combined for 66 minutes in penalties on the night.
Notre Dame and Ferris State close out the two-game series on Saturday night, Dec. 10 at the Compton Family Ice Arena with the opening face off set for 7:05 p.m. The game is the final game of the first half for the Irish as they break for 21 days for finals and the Christmas holidays.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#7/#7 Notre Dame (10-6-3/7-3-3-0) 0 0 1 - 1#10/#9 Ferris State (11-5-1/7-5-1-0) 1 2 1 - 4
Scoring First Period: FSU: Andy Huff 3 (Chad Billins, Matthew Kirzinger), 11:41.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; FSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: FSU: Kirzinger 3 (unassisted), SHG, 7:09; FSU: Kyle Bonis 9 (Kirzinger, Derek Graham), 16:55.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; FSU: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Sam Calabrese 1 (Jeff Costello, Mike Voran), 8:13; FSU: Jordie Johnston 7 (Travis Ouellette, Billins), PPG, 9:07
Penalties: ND: 8 for 27 minutes; FSU: 7 for 25 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 8 - 14 - 7 - 29Ferris State 12 - 7 - 4 - 23
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (59:47) 11 - 5 - 3 - 19FSU: Taylor Nelson (60:00) 8 - 14 - 6 - 28
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 5FSU: 1 for 6
Attendance: 2,046