Dec. 3, 2010
Oxford, Ohio – Over the last three seasons, the Miami RedHawks have had Notre Dame’s number, winning six straight meetings going into Friday’s game at Steve Cady Arena.
That all changed on Friday night as the Irish rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to pull out a 5-4 win over the RedHawks in front of a crowd of 2,937 for their first win against Miami since Nov. 9, 2007.
Freshman right wing Bryan Rust scored a pair of goals and had a three-point night to lead Notre Dame’s attack. Ryan Guentzel, Nick Larson and T.J. Tynan added solo goals in the Irish victory. Freshman left wing Anders Lee had three assists on the night.
Trent Vogelhuber, Reilly Smith, Carter Camper and Matt Tomassoni scored for Miami.
The win improved the 12th-ranked Irish to 10-4-2 overall and 8-2-1-1 in the CCHA as they moved back into first place in the CCHA with 26 points, two points ahead of the RedHawks. Miami, ranked sixth in the nation, is now 9-5-3 on the year and 7-4-2-1 in the conference.
Miami took its first two-goal lead of the game, scoring twice in the final 3:15 of the first period.
Vogelhuber made it 1-0 at the 16:45 mark with his third goal of the season. The Irish failed to clear the puck at the blue line where defenseman Vincent LoVerde kept it in. He moved it to center Andy Miele who got a shot off from the slot that Irish goaltender Mike Johnson stopped. The puck ended up to the right of Johnson where Vogelhuber got to it first, popping it into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
The RedHawks’ potent power play percolated with one minute left in the period as Smith banged a shot from the slot past Johnson for his 12th of the season. Smith was wide open in the middle after a great set up from Pat Cannone (three assists) and Camper at the 19-minute mark for a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Notre Dame finally broke through on Miami goaltender Cody Reichard who had back-to-back shutouts against the Irish over the last two seasons at 2:28 as Rust got his second of the year to make it a 2-1 game.
Lee carried the puck down the left boards into the corner where he centered it into the slot. The puck went off Tynan to Rust who lifted a backhander over Reichard’s glove and under the crossbar.
The score would remain that way until the 18:18 mark when the RedHawks scored their seccond power-play goal of the night, this time with a four-on-three advantage.
Camper, the nation’s leading scorer, picked up his 13th goal of the year when he took a pass on the goal line from Cannone and tucked it between Johnson’s pads to make it a 3-1.
Notre Dame answered right back in the final minute of the period when Guentzel got his third of the year at 19:32. Freshman right wing Mike Voran took a puck off the right boards in the neutral zone and fed Guentzel at the Miami blue line. Guentzel moved into the right circle and whipped a wrist shot over Reichard’s glove to make it 3-2 after two periods of play.
Scoring opportunities were tough to come by over the first two periods as shots were just 12-9 after 40 minutes.
After being down twice by two goals, the Irish took the lead in the third period with a pair of goals in the first half of the stanza.
Rust picked up his second of the night at 5:23 to tie the game at 3-3. The freshman right wing benefited from a great hustle play by defenseman Shayne Taker. Lee dumped the puck into the right wing corner and Taker beat the Miami defense to it and centered it into the right circle where Rust whistled a wrist shot past Reichard for his third goal of the season.
Notre Dame would take its first lead of the night at 9:37 when Larson, on his off wing, snapped a shot from the right face-off dot through Reichard’s pads for his fifth goal of the season. Voran picked up his second assist of the night on the goal.
Miami wasn’t done though as Tomassoni tied the game at 16:44 with a wrist shot from the slot off assists by Cannone and Smith to tie the game at 4-4.
Just 40 seconds later, the Irish capitalized on a turnover in the Miami zone to get the game winner. Lee stripped the defense behind the goal and fed Rust on the right wing boards. Rust passed across to Tynan who was parked in front and redirected the pass in one motion over Reichard for the game winner at 17:24. The goal was his ninth of the season.
Miami pulled its goaltender with 1:10 left but the Irish held the RedHawks off the board for the big come-from-behind win. Notre Dame out shot Miami, 23-20, in the game. Johnson and Reichard each had 18 saves in the game.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Steve Cady Arena.
** IRISH NOTES **
* T.J. Tynan was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association’s national rookie of the month for November. The freshman center had six goals and six assists to lead the CCHA in scoring for the month.
* Notre Dame’s talented freshman class accounted for 11 of the team’s 13 points in the win, getting three goals and eight assists on the night.
*Each team has one player that has been selected to attend Canada’s World Junior Selection Camp, Dec. 12-15, in Toronto. Notre Dame sophomore center Riley Sheahan will be joined by Miami sophomore left wing Reilly Smith.
* Notre Dame is now 3-3-2 on the road this season to go with 6-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on neutral ice.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#12/#12 Notre Dame (10-4-2/8-2-1-1) 0 2 3 - 5#6/#6 Miami (9-5-3/7-4-2-1) 2 1 1 - 4
Scoring
First Period: MU: Trent Vogelhuber 3 (Andy Miele, Vincent LoVerde), 16:45; MU: Reilly Smith 12 (Pat Cannone, Carter Camper), PPG, 19:00.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; MU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Bryan Rust 2 (T.J. Tynan, Anders Lee), 2:28; MU: Camper 12 (Cannone, Miele(, PPG, 18:18; ND: Ryan Guentzel 3 (Mike Voran), 19:31.
Penalties: ND: 5 for 10 minutes; MU: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: ND Rust 3 (Shayne Taker, Lee), 5:23: Nick Larson 5 (Voran), 9:37; MU: Matt Tomassoni 3 (Cannone, Smith), 16:44; ND: Tynan 9 (Rust, Lee), 17:24.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; MU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 3 - 6 - 14 - 23Miami 6 - 6 - 10 - 22
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (60:00) 4 - 5 - 9 - 18MU: Cody Reichard (58:50) 3 - 4 - 11 - 18
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 2MU: 2 for 4
Attendance: 2,937