Dec. 10, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. – Sophomore right wing Mike Voran scored a pair of goals and teammates Jeff Costello and T.J. Tynan added single goals to lead Notre Dame to a 4-1 win over Ferris State on Saturday night at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The win snapped a four-game Irish losing streak.
Sophomore goaltender Steven Summerhays stopped 22-of-23 Bulldog shots to pick up his fourth win of the season. Ferris State’s lone goal came off the stick of Garrett Thompson in the second period.
The win gives seventh-ranked Notre Dame an 11-6-3 overall record and an 8-3-3-0 CCHA record as the Irish head into the break for finals and the Christmas holidays. They are currently tied with Western Michigan for second place in the conference as each team has 27 points on the season. Ninth-ranked Ferris State falls drops to 11-6-1 on the year and 7-6-1-0 in the conference. The Bulldogs enter the break in fifth place in the CCHA.
“It was a relief for all of us, the players, the staff to get this win,” said head coach Jeff Jackson following the game.
“After having such a good stretch (11-game unbeaten streak), the last four games have been pretty miserable. It was a grinding game; it always is against Ferris. They play a hard style that is tough to play against. They are a good team defensively. I thought we did a much better job tonight getting pucks to the net and we got really good goaltending.”
The Irish, who had been outscored 20-6 in their four-game losing streak, came out fast and peppered the Ferris State goaltender with 16 shots in the opening period, getting the only goal of the period at 6:59.
With Scott Czarnowczan off for interference, the Notre Dame power play got the Irish the early lead as Costello got his first of the season. With Notre Dame in a line change, Costello came off the bench as Tynan moved the puck along the right wing boards to Anders Lee. Lee carried it into the Ferris State zone and found Costello moving down the middle. The sophomore left wing wasted little time as he whipped a wrist shot from the right circle over Motte and under the cross bar to break his season-long slump and give Notre Dame the lead.
“We were changing lines on the power play and Anders (Lee) brought the puck into their zone. He was looking for someone and I saw a lane to the net and some open ice. He found me and I just ripped it,” said Costello with a laugh.
Ferris State got the equalizer at 11:35 of the second period when Thompson took a drop pass from Nate Milam in the slot and fired a shot that slipped through Summerhays’ pads for his third goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
Much like Friday night’s game at Big Rapids, Mich., Saturday’s contest was quite chippy with the Irish getting eight power-play chances in the game. They capitalized at 19:45 of the second period with their second man-advantage goal of the night with Tynan getting his seventh goal of the year.
Off a face off in the left circle, Billy Maday, who had two assists on the night, won the draw back to Lee at the top of the circle. Lee whistled a shot wide of the goal that ended up in the right corner where Maday tracked it down. He fed Riley Sheahan at the left point and he moved it to Tynan at the left face-off dot. Tynan ripped a one-timer just inside the left post to beat Motte and give the Irish a lead they never relinquished at 2-1.
Voran would take over the scoring in the third period, adding a pair of insurance goals while Summerhays stopped all 11 shots the Bulldogs fired at him.
“My teammates played great in front of me tonight. Everyone really pitched in and probably made me look better than I was tonight,” said Summerhays.
Voran’s first goal came at 2:38 and was a case of being in the right spot at the right time. Defenseman Shayne Taker threw a shot from the left point towards the goal. Costello got his stick on it to deflect the shot off of Motte’s pads and the rebound bounced to the right side of the crease where Voran swooped in to tuck it into the net for his third goal of the season.
“It felt good to get a couple of goals tonight,” said Voran, who recorded the first multiple-goal game of his career.
“This was a huge win for us going into break on a positive note. It’s a fresh start for us. At the end of the day, winning was our main goal and we got that done.”
The score would remain that way until the final minute when the Bulldogs pulled Motte in favor of a sixth attacker. Maday broke up a rush at center ice and threw the puck back into the Ferris State zone where Voran outraced a Bulldog defenseman and directed the puck into the goal for the final score of 4-1. The goal was his fourth of the season.
On the night, the Irish outshot Ferris State by a 29-23 margin. Motte finished with 25 saves for the game.
On Friday night, the two teams combined for 66 minutes in penalties at Ewigleben Arena. Saturday’s game saw the two teams combine for 68 minutes. Notre Dame had eight power-play chances and scored twice with the man advantage. The Bulldogs were 0-for-4 on their chances.
The Irish will now break for 21 days for finals and the Christmas holidays. They return to action on New Year’s Eve at the Compton Family Ice Arena when Boston University comes to town for a 7:05 p.m. game.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#10/#9 Ferris State (11-6-1/7-6-1-0) 0 1 0 - 1#7/#7 Notre Dame (11-6-3/8-3-3-0) 1 1 2 - 4
Scoring
First Period: ND: Jeff Costello 1 (Anders Lee, T.J. Tynan), PPG, 6:59.
Penalties: FSU: 8 for 16 minutes; ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Second Period: FSU: Garrett Thompson 3 (Nate Milam, Simon Denis), 11:35; ND: T.J. Tynan 7 (Riley Sheahan, Billy Maday), PPG, 19:45.
Penalties: FSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Mike Voran 3 (Jeff Costello, Shayne Taker), 2:38; ND: Voran 4 (Maday), ENG, 19:37.
Penalties: FSU: 4 for 16 minutes; ND: 3 for 14 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Ferris State 4 - 8 - 11 - 23Notre Dame 16 - 8 - 5 - 29
Goaltender Saves:FSU: CJ Motte (59:24) 15 - 7 - 3 - 25ND: Steven Summerhays (59:58) 4 - 7 - 11 - 22
Power Plays:FSU: 0 for 4ND: 2 for 8
Attendance: 4,487