Dec. 5, 2008
Big Rapids, Mich. – Senior goaltender Jordan Pearce stopped 30-of-31 shots and Notre Dame got single goals from Ben Ryan, Calle Ridderwall and Christian Hanson to win their sixth straight road game, 3-1, at Ferris State.
Blair Riley had the lone goal for the Bulldogs, who out shot the Irish by a 31-27 margin, only to run into a red-hot Irish goaltender. Pearce came up big in the first period, making 13 saves before Notre Dame could get its offense untracked.
The victory extends top-ranked Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2) and is the sixth straight on the road for the Irish. They improve to 11-3-2 on the season and 7-2-2-2 in the CCHA, good for 18 points. Ferris State falls to 7-7-3 on the season and 6-5-2-0 in the conference, four points behind the Irish.
The Bulldogs came out fast in the opening period, out shooting Notre Dame by a 13-5 margin, only to have Pearce turn them all aside.
Ferris State took the first lead of the game just 53 seconds into the second period as the Bulldogs scored at the end of a five-on-three power play. Pearce stopped a shot from the slot by defenseman Zach Redmond but couldn’t control the rebound with Riley firing it over Pearce from the right side of the goal for his sixth of the season.
Notre Dame got its offense untracked midway through the middle period with Erik Condra setting up Ryan for his third goal of the year at 8:29.
Ian Cole started the play along the right boards when he redirected a pass from defensive partner Kyle Lawson to Condra streaking into the Ferris State zone. Condra burst down the middle and flipped a backhander on goaltender Tyler Nelson. The freshman made the stop but Ryan tucked the rebound home to make it 1-1.
The Irish power play would get its first of the night just 1:12 later with Ridderwall scoring on the backhand at 9:41 to give Notre Dame the 2-1 lead.
Freshman Billy Maday ran his point streak to six games (5-3-8) when he fired a low, hard shot from the top of the left circle. Hanson deflected the shot across the crease to Ridderwall who flipped it past Nelson to run his scoring streak to six games also with his eighth goal of the year.
The second power-play goal of the night proved to be the insurance goal as Hanson scored his team-high 10th goal of the year at 16:02 for the final of 3-1.
Kevin Deeth fed the puck out of the right corner to Ridderwall who got of a shot. Nelson made the stop only to have Hanson fire a wrister past him for the goal that gave Notre Dame its two-goal lead.
Ferris State looked like they cut the lead to 3-2 with 51 seconds left as they beat Pearce after pulling the goaltender with 1:05 left in the game for a sixth attacker. The only problem was that seven men got on the ice, resulting in a too-many men on the ice penalty for the Bulldogs.
Nelson finished the game with 24 saves for Ferris State. Notre Dame was 2-for-7 on the power play and the Bulldogs were 1-for-6.
Notre Dame and Ferris State will meet in game two of the series on Saturday night at Ewigleben Arena with face off set for 7:05 p.m.
IRISH NOTES:
** Calle Ridderwall, Christian Hanson and Billy Maday each extended their scoring streaks to six games. Ridderwall now has six goals and nine assists for 15 points, Hanson has six goals and eight assists for 14 points and Maday has five goals and three assists for eight points.
** The Irish have now scored in power-play goals in each of their last six games, going 18-for-41 (43.9%) with the man-advantage.
** Tonight’s game marked the second consecutive game that Notre Dame surrendered the first goal of the game. In 16 games this year, the Irish have scored first 10 times and are 7-1-2. When the opposition scores first, the Irish are 4-2-0.
GAME SUMMARY
1 2 3 - F#1/#1 Notre Dame (11-3-2/7-2-2-2) 0 2 1 - 3Ferris State (7-7-3/6-5-2-0) 0 1 0 - 1
First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; FSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: FSU: Blair Riley 6 (Zach Redmond, Justin Menke), PPG, 00:53; ND: Ben Ryan 3 (Erik Condra, Ian Cole), 8:29; ND: Ridderwall 8 (Christian Hanson, Billy Maday), PPG, 9:41.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; FSU: 7 for 20 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Hanson 10 (Ridderwall, Kevin Deeth), PPG, 16:02.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; FSU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 5 - 13 - 9 - 27Ferris State 13 - 10 - 8 - 31
Goaltender Saves:ND - Jordan Pearce (59:40) 13 - 9 - 8 - 30FSU - Taylor Nelson (59:43) 5 - 11 - 8 - 24
Power Plays:
ND: 2 for 7FSU: 1 for 6
Attendance: 1,396