Jan. 21, 2011
Columbus, Ohio – With the game tied 1-1 in the second period, Ohio State scored twice in a 12-second span to break open a tight game on the way to the five-goal victory.
Paul Kirtland, Dan Dries, Peter Boyd, Travis Statchuk, C.J. Severyn and John Albert all scored for the Buckeyes with Cory Schneider picking up three assists and Curtis Gedig and Sergio Somma two each in the win. Freshman T.J. Tynan scored the lone goal for the Irish.
The loss is the second in a row for Notre Dame as the Irish record falls to 15-9-3 overall and 12-6-1-1 in the CCHA. The Buckeyes, winners of seven of their last nine, improve to 13-9-3 overall and 8-7-2-2 in conference play. The Notre Dame loss coupled with Michigan’s 2-0 win over Alaska drops the Irish into second place, two points behind the Wolverines.
“Ohio State took advantage of their opportunities and we didn’t. That’s really what it boils down to,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson.
“So the score matches the breaks that you create and they created some breaks. They scored some different type goals against us, but we’ve had a lot of those scored against us this year; just crazy kind of bounces and deflections that turn into goals. I’m a big believer that those bounces are a direct result of creating them.”
The Buckeyes took advantage of and early chance at 4:50 of the opening period with Kirtland scoring his second goal of the year by being in the right place at the right time.
Gedig threw a shot from the blue line at the Notre Dame goal from the right boards that Irish goaltender Mike Johnson was able to stop. Schneider (three assists) got the rebound in front of Johnson who tried to poke check the puck. As he poked, an Irish defenseman knocked Schneider and Johnson off their skates. Kirtland gathered the puck at the top of the crease and backhanded it into the open cage to put the Irish down by a goal.
The score remained 1-0 until late in the period when Ohio State was whistled for a pair of minor penalties on the same play at the 17:34 mark, giving Notre Dame a five-on-three power-play chance.
The Irish capitalized with the help of a fortunate bounce of their own as Tynan got his team-best 16th goal of the year at 18:11.
Defenseman Sam Calabrese kept an Ohio State clearing attempt in at the left point and moved it down the boards to Tynan. The freshman center came off the left boards and tried to center a pass in front. The pass hit Buckeye defenseman Sean Duddy in front and deflected past goaltender Cal Heeter to tie game at 1-1.
In the second period, Notre Dame saw the 1-1 tie turn into a 3-1 Ohio State advantage in the span of 12 seconds.
Dries got what proved to be the game winner at 11:22 when he fired the second rebound of a shot by Somma past Johnson from the bottom of the left circle for his 13th goal of the year and a 2-1 lead.
Twelve seconds later a weird bounce off the stanchion behind the Notre Dame goal set up the Boyd’s seventh goal of the year.
Center Jeff McNeill fired the puck in from the neutral zone off the glass in the left corner. Johnson went out to play the puck but it deflected off a stanchion that holds the glass in front to Boyd who was all alone to deposit the puck into the open net at 11:34 for the 3-1 lead.
“Our team is a little fragile right now. We’ve given up some crazy bounces and crazy goals in the last couple of games,” said Jackson.
“I think we deflated a bit after the goal went in off the stanchion. We didn’t respond well to that.”
Statchuk made it 4-1 at the 5:21 mark on a power-play, scoring his first career goal as he took a centering feed from Chris Crane and whipped a wrist shot from the left hash mark past Johnson. That ended Johnson’s night as he was replaced by freshman Steven Summerhays.
Ohio State didn’t waste much time in welcoming the new Irish goaltender as Severyn took advantage of another bounce off the boards to bang one in at 6:02 for his sixth goal of the season and a 5-1 lead.
The Buckeyes closed the scoring at 12:34 when Albert scored his 11th goal of the year, beating Summerhays off a 3-on-2 rush.
On the night, Ohio State out shot the Irish, 38-36. Johnson played 45 minutes in goal, making 20 saves on the night. Summerhays played the final 14:39, giving up two goals with 12 saves.
Notre Dame was 1-for-5 on the power play while Ohio State was 1-for-7. The Irish will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday night, a tough task against a team playing as well as the Buckeyes are.
“Ohio State is playing with a lot of energy and they are getting great goaltending. That’s a nice combination,” said Jackson.
“They have some good senior offensive players who are making things happen and they take advantage of their opportunities. Give them credit.”
The two teams close out the series on Saturday night with a 7:05 p.m. game at Value City Arena.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#8/#8 Notre Dame (15-9-3/12-6-1-1) 1 0 0 - 1Ohio State (13-9-3/7-7-2-2) 1 2 3 - 6
Scoring First Period: OSU: Paul Kirtland 2 (Cory Schneider, Curtis Gedig), 4:50; ND: T.J. Tynan 16 (Sam Calabrese), PPG, 18:11.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; OSU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: OSU: Dan Dries 13 (Sergio Somma, Schneider), 11:22; OSU: Peter Boyd 7 (Jeff McNeil), 11:34.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; OSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: OSU: Travis Statchuk 1 (Chris Crane, Gedig), PPG, 5:21; OSU: C.J. Severyn 6 (Boyd, Schneider), 6:02; OSU: John Albert 11 (Somma, Boyd), 12:34.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; OSU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 14 - 10 - 12 - 36Ohio State 11 - 10 - 17 - 38
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (45:00) 10 - 8 - 2 - 20 Steven Summerhays (14:39) x - x - 12 - 12OSU: Cal Heeter (60:00) 13 - 10 - 12 - 35
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 5OSU: 1 for 7
Attendance: 4,738