Nov. 27, 2010
Grand Forks, N.D. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team made its first appearance in Grand Forks, N.D., since January of 1999 and North Dakota played rude hosts, handing the Irish a 6-3 win in front of a sell-out crowd of 11,680 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday night.
Five different Figthing Sioux players scored in the game as Jason Gregoire scored twice with Mike Cichy, Corban Knight, Evan Trupp and Chay Genoway adding single goals for North Dakota while Notre Dame got goals from David Gerths, Ryan Guentzel and Jeff Costello in the loss.
The Fighting Sioux fired a season-high 39 shots against the Irish with Notre Dame goaltender Mike Johnson making 33 saves on the night. The Irish had 30 shots in the game and North Dakota goaltender Aaron Dell finished with 27 stops. The most Notre Dame had given up in a game this season was 34 to Boston University and Lake Superior State.
The loss dropped the 11th-ranked Irish to 9-4-1 on the season while the 10th-ranked Fighting Sioux improved to 9-5-1 on the season.
North Dakota dominated the first period; out shooting Notre Dame by a 15-3 margin while taking a 2-0 lead with Johnson’s goaltending keeping the Irish in the game.
The Sioux got the first goal of the night at 7:16 as Cichy fired a rebound over Johnson for his third goal of the season.
An Irish clearing attempt was stopped on the left wing boards by defenseman Ben Blood who fired a shot from the left circle that Johnson stopped. The rebound ended up on Cichy’s stick and he tucked it under the cross bar for a 1-0 lead.
North Dakota looked like they had scored at 15:13 when another rebound was directed behind Johnson off the skate of Matt Frattin. The goal was reviewed and the officials ruled that Frattin had directed the puck in with his skate.
The Fighting Sioux would finally get their second goal at 16:57 when Knight flipped the rebound of Gregoire’s shot over Johnson for his eighth goal of the year. Gregoire walked the puck out from behind the net and got a shot on goal. Knight was there to dump it over the Irish goaltender and the Sioux led 2-0.
North Dakota’s 15 shots were a season high against Notre Dame in one period while the three shots for Irish equaled a season low.
Notre Dame cut the lead in half with the first goal of the second period as Gerths won a battle in front to get his fifth of the season at 9:44
Right wing Bryan Rust threw a shot from the right boards towards the North Dakota goal. The puck bounced free in front where Nick Larson got off two shots with Aaron Dell making the stops. Gerths crashed the crease and was able to jam the puck under Dell to make it a 2-1 game.
The Fighting Sioux restored the lead to 3-1 at 10:37 when Trupp scored, redirecting a Matt Frattin centering pass behind Johnson for his fourth of the season.
Notre Dame answered that goal 46 seconds later with Guentzel doing the honors at 11:23. The senior right wing stripped a North Dakota defenseman of the puck along the right boards and carried it in front where he lifted a backhander over Dell for his second of the year to make it 3-2.
The home standing Sioux would score one more in the period as Chenoway scored on a slap shot from the right point at 18:22 for his third of the year to make it 4-2 as the teams went into the second intermission.
The North Dakota lead would go to 5-2 just 1:13 into the third period as Gregoire scored on a power -play for his fifth goal of the season. Cichy fired a shot from the slot that Johnson stopped but Gregoire beat the Irish defense to the puck to lift it over Johnson.
The Irish got a late power-play chance and converted at 17:57 when Costello took a feed from Billy Maday on the right side of the crease and redirected the puck behind Dell to cut the lead to 5-3.
Gregoire closed the scoring at 18:26 when he intercepted a pass in the Irish zone and caught Johnson trying to get off the ice for a sixth attacker and was able to shoot it past him as he tried to scramble back into the goal.
Notre Dame and North Dakota will meet in game two of the series on Saturday night with opening face off set for 7:07 p.m. (CT).
** IRISH NOTES **
* The last time the Irish played in Grand Forks was Jan. 2-3, 1999 with North Dakota ranked first in the nation. The Sioux won the first game, 8-1, and the Irish bounced back to take the second game, 4-3.
* Notre Dame’s last win against a team from the WCHA came on Jan. 3, 2009 when the Irish defeated Minnesota-Duluth, 3-1, in the championship game of the Shillelagh Tournament. The Irish are 0-1-1 versus WCHA teams since then.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#11/#11 Notre Dame (9-4-1) 0 2 1 - 3#10/#9 North Dakota (9-5-1) 2 2 2 - 6
Scoring First Period: UND: Mike Cichy 3 (Ben Blood), 7:16; UND: Corban Knight 8 (Jason Gregoire), 16:57.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: ND: David Gerths 5 (Nick Larson, Bryan Rust), 9:44; UND: Evan Trupp 4 (Matt Frattin, Derek LaPoint), 10:32; ND: Ryan Guentzel 2 (unassisted), 11:23; UND: Chay Genoway 3 (Danny Kristo, Brad Malone), 18:22.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UND: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: UND: Gregoire 5 (Cichy, Knight), PPG, 1:13; ND: Jeff Costello 11 (Billy Maday, Shayne Taker), PPG, 17:57; UND: Gregoire 6 (unassisted), 18:26.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 3 - 9 - 18 - 30North Dakota 15 - 11 - 13 - 39
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (60:00) 13 - 9 - 11 - 23UND: Aaron Dell (60:00) 3 - 7 - 17 - 27
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 5UND: 1 for 7
Attendance: 11,680 (sellout)