Oct. 27, 2001
BOSTON – The Notre Dame hockey team got strong penalty-killing and a clutch shorthanded goal late in the third period to pull out a 3-3 overtime tie at Northeastern on Saturday night.
The Irish killed off nine-of-ten Northeastern power play chances and freshman Brad Wanchulak scored a shorthanded goal with just 3:53 left in the game to pull out the come-from-behind tie to salvage a tie on the road trip that included a 4-1 loss to Boston College on Friday night.
With the Irish trailing 3-2 and killing a penalty late in the third period, defenseman Evan Nielsen cleared a loose puck to center ice where Connor Dunlop beat the Northeastern defenseman and pushed the puck ahead to Wanchulak who broke in alone on Northeastern’s Jason Braun lifting a wrist shot home for the tying goal at 16:07.
“I thought our effort tonight was terrific,” said Poulin. “I know it’s in that locker room and they really showed how hard they can play tonight.”
The tie moves the Irish to 0-4-2 on the season while Northeastern is now 2-2-2.
Junior goaltender Tony Zasowski made his first start of the season for Notre Dame and stopped 28 shots on the night. Braun kicked out 19 of 22 Irish shots for the Huskies.
“Tony played well for us. Even though it was his first game of the season, he’s played a lot of hockey in his career and we know what he can do for us,” commented Poulin.
For the third consecutive game, the Irish scored first. Aaron Gill found John Wroblewski from the left wing boards as the junior right wing trailed the play. Using a Northeastern defenseman as a screen, Wroblewski fired a low, hard wrist shot from the top of the left wing circle that beat Braun to the far post at 4:59.
Northeastern tied the score at 14:55 when left wing Mike Ryan cashed in on a two-on-one with Jaron Herriman. Herriman carried the puck along the right wing boards and fed Ryan as he went hard to the net. Ryan beat Tony Zasowski in close for his third of the season.
Ryan beat Zasowski less than two minutes later on a power play goal. Willie Levesque centered the puck from the right wing corner to Jason Guerriero whose shot from the slot was stopped by Zasowski. Ryan was there for the rebound that he flipped past the Irish goaltender for a 2-1 Northeastern lead at 17:43.
Notre Dame evened the score at 5:33 of the second period with the goal coming from an unlikely source. Jon Maruk took a feed from Dunlop in the right wing circle and fired a shot past Braun for the first goal of his Notre Dame career. The senior forward transferred to Notre Dame from Alaska Anchorage and is in his second season with the Irish.
“We need to get scoring from guys like Jon Maruk and John Wroblewski. We can’t depend on three or four guys to do the scoring, It has to be a team-effort and we got that tonight,” explained Poulin.
The 2-2 lead was shortlived though. With the teams skating four-on-four, the Huskies regained the lead at 8:06 of the second stanza. Defenseman Tim Judy jumped into the play in front of the Notre Dame net and scored off a scramble to the right of Zasowski. Jason Guerriero and Ryan picked up assists on the goal.
The Irish close out their six-game road trip next weekend when they travel to Marquette, Mich. for a pair of games with the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Nov. 2 and 3. Game time both nights is 7:05 p.m.
Notes: Notre Dame goaltender Tony Zasowski made his first start of the season versus Northeastern. The junior goaltender was 5-11-3 last season with a 4.01 goals against average and a .878 save percentage. Freshman Morgan Cey had started Notre Dame’s first five games this season.
The Irish entered tonight’s game having killed off 11 consecutive penalties. They have now killed 20 of the last 21 opponent man-advantages and have given up just three power play goals this season.
Game Summary: 1 2 3 OT FNotre Dame (0-4-1) 1 1 1 0 3Northeastern (2-2-1) 2 1 0 0 3
ScoringFirst Period: ND: John Wroblewski 1 (Aaron Gill), 4:59, NU: Mike Ryan 3(Jaron Herriman), 14:55, NU: Ryan 4 (Willie Levesque, Jason Guerriero),PPG, 17:43.ND: 5 for 10 minutes, NU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Jon Maruk 1 (Connor Dunlop), 5:33, NU: Tim Judy 1(Jason Guerriero, Ryan), 8:06.Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes, NU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Brad Wanchulak 2 (Dunlop, Evan Nielsen), SHG, 16:07.Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes, NU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes, NU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 5 - 11 - 6 - 0 - 22Northeastern 8 - 15 - 6 - 2 - 31
Goaltender Saves:ND - Tony Zasowski (65:00) 6 - 14 - 6 - 2 - 28NU - Jason Braun (65:00) 4 - 10 - 5 - 0 - 19
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 5NU: 1 for 10
Attendance: 2,851