Jan. 19, 2007
Kalamazoo, Mich. – Right wing Jeff Pierce scored his ninth goal of the season with just 2:46 left in the game to give Western Michigan a 3-2 win over the third-ranked Irish on Friday night in front of 3,534 at Lawson Arena.
Pierce’s goal offset a Notre Dame comeback as defenseman Kyle Lawson (ppg) and left wing Garrett Regan (shg) wiped out a 2-0 third-period deficit to tie the game at 2-2. Patrick Galivan and Jeff LoVecchio staked the Broncos to that 2-0 lead with a goal in each period.
The loss snapped Notre Dame’s eight-game CCHA winning streak that started on Dec. 2 and gives the Irish a 13-3-1 record in the conference. They remain one point ahead of second-place Miami as the RedHawks and Ohio State battled to a 4-4 tie on Friday. Notre Dame is now 19-5-1 overall while Western Michigan improves to 8-9-1 in league action.
The Irish out shot the Broncos in the game, 31-19, with David Brown making 16 saves for Notre Dame while Daniel Bellissimo stopped 29 on the night. For Brown, the loss ended his personal nine-game winning streak that started back on Dec. 2 versus Alaska.
.For just the sixth time this season, the Irish gave up the first goal of the game as the Broncos got on the scoreboard at 7:17 of the opening period.
The loss snapped Notre Dame’s eight-game CCHA winning streak that started on Dec. 2 and gives the Irish a 13-3-1 record in the conference. They remain one point ahead of second-place Miami as the RedHawks and Ohio State battled to a 4-4 tie on Friday. Notre Dame is now 19-5-1 overall while Western Michigan improves to 8-9-1 in league action.
The Irish out shot the Broncos in the game, 31-19, with David Brown making 16 saves for Notre Dame while Daniel Bellissimo stopped 29 on the night. For Brown, the loss ended his personal nine-game winning streak that started back on Dec. 2 versus Alaska.
.For just the sixth time this season, the Irish gave up the first goal of the game as the Broncos got on the scoreboard at 7:17 of the opening period.
With Western Michigan pressuring the Notre Dame goal, LoVecchio’s shot from the left circle missed the goal with the puck going into the right wing corner. Paul Szczechura tracked down the loose biscuit and carried it along the goal line. His centering pass was deflected by Patrick Galivan who was camped in front of David Brown for his fourth goal of the season.
The Broncos would make it 2-0 at the 5:47 mark of the second period with a short-handed goal. Center Jason Moul picked up a loose puck near the Western blueline and fed it ahead to LoVecchio at the Notre Dame line. LoVecchio carried the puck to the top of the right wing circle and fired a shot that climbed over Brown’s blocker into the top left corner for his 12th goal of the season. The short-hander was just the second of the season surrendered by the Irish.
The Irish comeback began with a power-play goal an area where they struggled, going 1-for-9 in the game.
Ryan Thang dug the puck out of the left wing corner and moved it back to Noah Babin on the left point. Babin fed it across to Lawson at the center point and the freshmen defenseman flipped a wrist shot at the Western goal that floated past Bellissimo at 6:19 for his third goal of the year. That cut the Bronco lead to 2-1.
Just 1:30 later, the Irish tied the game with a short-handed goal by Regan. Mark Van Guilder stepped in front of a pass in the neutral zone and fed the puck ahead to Regan. The sophomore left wing carried it in on goal and fired a shot that beat Bellissimo through the five-hole at 7:49. The goal was Regan’s 10th of the season and the sixth short-handed goal by the Irish.
Western would get the final goal of the night though at 17:14 off a face off. Mark Letestu won the draw to the right point to Nathan Ansell. Ansell moved the puck to Pierce who fired from the slot. Brown made the initial save, but Pierce picked up the rebound and back-handed it past the Irish goaltender for his ninth of the season.
Notre Dame was able to pull Brown in the final minute and apply pressure, but the Broncos held the Irish off the scoreboard for the 3-2 win.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at Lawson Arena. Game time is 7:35 p.m. with the game being televised by Comcast Local.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#3/#3 Notre Dame (19-5-1/13-2-1) 0 0 2 - 2Western Michigan (9-12-1/8-9-1) 1 1 1 - 3
Scoring First Period: WMU: Patrick Galivan 4(Paul Szczechura, Jeff LoVecchio), 7:17.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; WMU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: WMU: LoVecchio 12 (Jason Moul), SHG, 5:47.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; WMU: 6 for 12 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Kyle Lawson 3 (Noah Babin, Ryan Thang), PPG, 6:19; ND: Garrett Regan 10 (Mark Van Guilder, Babin), SHG, 7:49; WMU: Jeff Pierce 9 (Nathan Ansell, Mark Letestu), 17:14.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; WMU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 14 - 10 - 7 - 31Western Michigan 6 - 4 - 9 - 19
Goaltender Saves:ND - David Brown (59:05) 5 - 3 - 8 - 16WMU - Daniel Bellissimo (60:00) 14 - 10 - 5 - 29
Power Plays:
ND: 1 for 9
WMU: 0 for 4
Attendance: 3,534