Jan. 18, 2005
Green Bay, Wis. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish traveled to the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wis., looking to find their offensive attack. Instead, the Irish ran into the eighth-best power-play in the nation as Michigan Tech scored three power-play goals on the way to a 6-2 win in front of 3,112 at the Resch Center.
Junior left wing Nick Anderson paced the Michigan offense with a pair of power-play goals, including the game winner in the second period.
The loss, the fourth in a row for the Irish, drops Notre Dame to 5-14-5 on the season while the win improves Michigan Tech to 3-17-1 overall.
The Huskies got on the scoreboard first at 3:56 of the opening period when Wilson beat Irish goaltender Morgan Cey from the high slot on a shot that snuck in under the crossbar. Left wing Ryan Markham set up the play as he kept an Irish clearing attempt in at the blue line.
Notre Dame evened the score at 17:21 of first as the Irish defense crashed the net to beat goaltender Cam Ellsworth. Center Jason Paige moved the puck to the left point to defenseman Luke Lucyk. The freshman defender carried the puck in deep and slid a centering pass through the crease that defensive partner Chris Trick was able to get his stick on to redirect the puck behind Ellsworth. The goal was Trick’s second of the season while Lucyk picked up the first point of his collegiate career.
The Huskies took control in the second period scoring three times to one for the Irish.
Chris Conner gave Michigan Tech a 2-1 lead at 2:33 of the middle period when he was left alone in front of the net to take a centering pass from Murphy and lifted it over a sliding Cey for his ninth of the year.
The Irish came back to tie the score 2-2 just 37 seconds later when Tim Wallace put defenseman Dan VeNard in alone at the Tech blue line. VeNard beat Ellsworth from in close for the first collegiate goal of his career at 3:10.
Michigan Tech would add on two more goals to build the lead to 4-2 after two periods of play. Nick Anderson scored on the power play at 7:57 when he snapped a shot from the bottom of the left wing circle under the cross bar for his fifth goal of the season.
Ryan Markham gave the Huskies a two-goal lead at 11:46 when he banged a rebound past Cey for his first goal of the season. Linemate Malcolm Gwilliam set the play up when he took the puck away from the Irish defense and got a strong shot on Cey. The senior goaltender couldn’t control the rebound and Markham was there to slam it home.
The Huskies closed the game with a pair of third-period power-play goals. Anderson got his second of the night at 15:26 and Brandon Schwartz closed the scoring with a power-play tally at 19:25 for the 6-2 final.
In the game, the two teams had 39 shots each. Cey made 33 saves for the Irish while Ellsworth had 37 saves on the night for the Huskies.
Notre Dame was 0-for-6 on the power-play and Michigan Tech was 3-for-5.
Notre Dame returns home this coming weekend to face the fifth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in a pair of games. Friday’s game (Jan. 21) will be played at the Joyce Center at 8:05 p.m. Saturday’s game will be played at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Faceoff there is set for 7:05 p.m. (CST).
IRISH NOTES:
** Notre Dame wore its green jerseys for the Michigan Tech game. Coach Dave Poulin used all five former Green Bay Gamblers in the starting lineup, meaning that defensemen Noah Babin and Joe Zurenko started at forward between center Victor Oreskovich. Wes O’Neill and Dan VeNard got the start on the blue line.
** Junior center Tim Wallace played in his 103rd consecutive game for the Irish. He has not missed a game in his career. The Notre Dame record for consecutive games played is 114 and was set by defenseman Evan Nielsen ’03 as he did not miss a game from early in his sophomore year through the end of his senior season.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F
Notre Dame (5-14-5) 1 1 - 0 - 2
Michigan Tech (3-17-1) 1 3 - 2 - 6
Scoring
First Period: MTU: Clay Wilson 3 (Ryan Markham), 3:56; ND: Chris Trick 2 (Luke Lucyk, Jason Paige), 17:21.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; MTU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: MTU: Chris Conner 9 (Colin Murphy, Lars Helminen), 2:33; ND: Dan VeNard 1 (Tim Wallace, Brock Sheahan), 3:10; MTU: Nick Anderson 5 (Murphy, Brandon Schwartz), PPG, 7:57; MTU: Ryan Markham, Malcolm Gwilliam), 11:46.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; MTU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: MTU: Anderson 6 (Tyler Shelast, Schwartz), PPG, 15:26; MTU: Schwartz 5 (Murphy, Cam Ellsworth), PPG, 19:25
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; MTU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 12 - 12 - 15 - 39
Michigan Tech 11 - 15 - 13 - 39
Goaltender Saves:
ND - Morgan Cey (60:00) 10 - 12 - 11 - 33
MTU - Cam Ellsworth (60:00) 11 - 11 - 15- 36
Power Plays:
ND: 0 for 6
MTU: 3 for 5
Attendance: 3,1112