March 7, 2010
Columbus, Ohio – The Notre Dame hockey team saw the 2009-10 season come to an end on Saturday night at the OSU Ice Rink as the Irish dropped an 8-2 decision to Ohio State in game two of the best-of-three series with the Buckeyes.
Ohio State jumped on Notre Dame in the first period, scoring twice in the first four minutes and four times in the opening stanza for a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Hunter Bishop finished the night five points, scoring three goals and adding two assists while Sergio Somma added a pair to lead the OSU attack. Matt Bartkowski, Mathieu Picard and C.J. Severyn added single goals in the game. Calle Ridderwall and Christiaan Minella scored Notre Dame’s goals in the game.
Bishop’s five-point night marked the first time that the Irish gave up five points in a game to one player since Yale’s Jeff Hamilton had five (2g, 3a) on Jan. 27, 2001.
Offense wasn’t a problem for Notre Dame as the Irish out shot the Buckeyes, 49-25, but for the second night in a row could not figure out starting goaltender Dustin Carlson, who finished with 47 saves. Mike Johnson made his 13th consecutive start for the Notre Dame but gave up four goals on nine shots in the first period. Senior Tom O’Brien finished the game giving up four goals on 16 shots over the final 40 minutes.
The loss ended Notre Dame’s season with a 13-17-8 record, the team’s worst finish since the 2005-06 season when the Irish were 13-19-4 in Jeff Jackson’s first season. That was also the last time that Notre Dame lost in an opening round series as the Irish have advanced to Joe Louis Arena in each of the last three years for the conference finals. Ohio State improved to 14-16-6 and will advance to the second round of the CCHA playoffs next weekend against Miami, the top seed in the tournament.
The Buckeyes got on the scoreboard at 3:36 of the first period as Bartkowski started the scoring with a power-play goal. With the puck in the left corner, left wing Kyle Reed moved the puck from behind the goal line to Bartkowski on the left boards near the left circle. The sophomore defenseman walked the puck in front and fired a shot through a screen, beating Johnson for a 1-0 lead.
Just 24 seconds later, the Buckeyes made it 2-0, capitalizing on turnover as Somma whipped a shot past Johnson for his 13th of the year at the 4:00 mark. Zac Dalpe forced the turnover to the left of Johnson and Peter Boyd centered it to Somma in the slot.
The lead would go to 3-0 at the 12:20 mark as Picard scored his third of the weekend and sixth of the season, firing a shot from the high slot over Johnson’s glove hand. The goal was set up by defenseman Chris Reed who carried the puck across the right circle and was checked off the play by the Irish defense. The loose puck found its way to Picard who was able to find the back of the net. Reed finished the game with four assists in the Buckeye win.
Ohio State wasn’t done. Severyn got his eighth of the season as he was set up in the slot by a pass from Hunter Bishop. The junior center drilled a shot inside the left post to give the Buckeyes the 4-0 lead.
In the period, Notre Dame out shot Ohio State by a 15-9 margin but Carlson stopped everything the Irish threw at him.
Notre Dame started the second period on a five-on-three power play due to a scrum around the Ohio State goal at the 20:00 minute mark of the first period that resulted in a pair of penalties to the Buckeyes.
The Irish took advantage of the five-on-three 46 seconds into the period with Ridderwall poking a rebound past Carlson. Ian Cole boomed a shot from the left point that hit the cross bar and deflected down into the crease. Ridderwall, the CCHA’s leading power-play man was there to put the puck home to cut the lead to 4-1. The goal was his team-high 19th of the year and the power-play goal was his 11th of the year.
The Irish would have another opportunity at the 13:41 mark when Buckeye defenseman Corey Toy was given a five-minute major for checking from behind. Notre Dame would fail to score with the advantage but Ohio State made it 5-1, getting a short-handed goal at 14:41. Bishop got his first of two goals in the game when he carried the puck down the left side and beat Tom O’Brien from in close for his 10th goal of the season. O’Brien replaced Johnson in goal for Notre Dame to start the second period.
Bishop’s second of the night came at 19:06 and made it 6-1. John Albert picked off an errant pass along the left boards and found Bishop alone on the left hash mark. The junior left wing whipped a shot over O’Brien’s stick hand for his 11th of the year.
Ohio State tacked on two more in the third period to one for the Irish. Minella made it 6-2 when he picked up his second of the season at 11:54, flipping the rebound of a Nick Larson shot past Carlson. Joe Lavin also assisted on the goal.
Somma picked up his second of the night at 14:21 and Bishop wrapped up his hat trick as Somma set him up at the 17:25 mark for his 12th goal of the year.
**IRISH NOTES**
– Senior center Kevin Deeth set Notre Dame’s career mark for games played by playing in his 164th career game against Ohio State on Saturday night. He passes Mark Van Guilder `08, who played in 163 games.
– With an assist in Saturday’s game, senior captain Ryan Thang moved into sole possession of 34th on the all-time points list with 115 career points (57g, 58a). He broke a tie with Kevin Deeth who finishes his career ranked 35th with 114 points (35g, 79a).
– Calle Ridderwall’s power-play goal gives him 19 goals on the season, the most by an Irish player since Ryan Thang had 20 in 2006-07. His 11 power-play goals equal his career high set last season and are the most since Aniket Dhadphale `99 had 12 during the 1997-98 season.
– The eight goals given up by the Irish on Saturday night were the most Notre Dame has surrendered in a game since Nov. 4. 2005 in an 8-5 loss to Michigan. Ohio State’s four, first-period goals were a season high against the Irish in one period.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - FNotre Dame (13-17-8/9-12-7-2) 0 1 1 - 2Ohio State (14-16-6/10-12-6-4) 4 2 2 - 8
Scoring
First Period: OSU: Matt Bartkowski 5 (Kyle Reed, Zac Dalpe), PPG, 3:36: OSU: Sergio Somma 13 (Peter Boyd, Dalpe), 4:00; OSU: Mathieu Picard 5 (Chris Reed. K. Reed), 12:20; OSU: C.J. Severyn 8 (Hunter Bishop, C. Reed), 17:53.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; OSU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Calle Ridderwall 19 (Ian Cole, Ryan Thang), PPG, 00:46; OSU: Hunter Bishop 10 (Chris Reed), SHG, 14:41; OSU: Bishop 11 (John Albert, Severyn), 19:06.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; OSU: 5 for 21 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Christiaan Minella 2 (Nick Larson, Joe Lavin), 11:54; OSU: Somma 14 (Bishop, C. Reed), PPG, 14:21; OSU: Bishop 12 (Somma, Dustin Carlson), 17:25.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 14 minutes; OSU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 15 - 17 - 17 - 49Ohio State 9 - 7 - 9 - 25
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (20:00) 5 - x - x - 5 Tom O'Brien (40:00) x - 5 - 7 - 12OSU: Dustin Carlson (60:00) 15 - 16 - 16 - 47
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 6OSU: 2 for 3
Attendance: 800 (sellout)