Dec. 6, 2003
Kalamazoo, Mich. – The Notre Dame hockey team rolled into Kalamazoo, Mich., on Friday night looking to keep their hot, early-season play rolling versus the Broncos. Instead, they leave Western Michigan with a pair of losses as the Broncos knocked off the Irish 6-4 at Lawson Arena.
The Irish, who came into the weekend having surrendered just eight goals in their previous five games, surrendered 14 on the weekend to the Broncos.
For the second night in a row, Western was led by senior center Jeff Campbell who scored a pair of first-period goals. Brent Walton added a goal and two assists as did Dana Lattery in the win. Jeremy Cheyne and Paul Szczechura added the Broncos other two goals.
Notre Dame got a pair of goals from freshman Michael Bartlett and single markers from Mike Walsh and Cory McLean in the loss.
The loss drops the Irish to 8-5-2 overall and 7-5-2 in CCHA play. The sweep improves Western Michigan to 9-8-2 overall and 5-5-1 in the conference.
“These were the worst two games that we’ve played this season. Why they happened this weekend, I can’t tell you,” said head coach Dave Poulin following the game.
“We didn’t do the little things that we’ve done so well this season. Like clearing our zone, dumping the puck to areas we can get to it, finishing checks. We played one good period of hockey this weekend and that was the third period of tonight’s game,” added Poulin.
Notre Dame got the first goal of the game at 9:02 of the first period as Bartlett connected for his first of two on the night. Center Matt Amado took a long breakout pass from defenseman Tom Galvin and carried it through center ice before making a move to the left wing. He got a backhander off that goaltender Scott Foster stopped but Bartlett jumped on the rebound and flipped it over Foster for his third goal of the season.
The lead didn’t last long as Campbell got his first of two in the opening stanza just 32 seconds later at 9:34. Campbell, who had two goals on Friday night and 18 points (9g, 9a) in 12 games versus Notre Dame in his career, took a feed from Pat Dwyer in front, deked goaltender David Brown to the ice and slid the puck under the Irish goaltender for his eighth of the season.
The Irish would take a 2-1 lead at 15:49 when sophomore left wing Mike Walsh one-timed a Tim Wallace centering pass from the high slot through Foster’s pads for his seventh of the season.
The lead would last just 47 seconds as Campbell was able to walk the puck out of the left wing corner, take a shot that Brown stopped and then lifted the rebound over the sprawling goaltender for his ninth of the year at 16:36.
The Broncos took over the game early in the second period scoring twice to take a 4-2 lead on goals by freshman Paul Szczechura and Jeremy Cheyne 1:54 apart at 2:01 and 3:55.
The Irish cut the lead to 4-3 on Bartlett’s second of the night, this one on the power play at 6:24 of the period. Rob Globke set up the goal with a pass from the right side of the WMU goal to Bartlett on the left side. He fired the puck inside the left post for his fourth of the season.
Globke’s assist on Bartlett’s goal made him the 40th player in Notre Dame history to score 100 points in his Notre Dame playing career.
The Irish almost got the equalizer four minutes later as the teams skated four-on-four. Amado carried the puck down the left side and fired from the top of the lefr wing circle. His shot rang off the post to the right of Foster and it was still a 4-3 game.
Western took advantage of the Amado’s shot off the post as they scored on their next good opportunity as Lattery scored on a wrap-around goal to make it 5-3 at 11:44.
The Irish had several scoring chances late in the period and finally scored at 16:22 when Cory McLean got his seventh of the season at 16:22 to cut the lead to 5-4. Wes O’Neill’s shot from the left point was stopped by Foster but the rebound bounced through the crease to McLean who flipped it into an open net.
In the third period, the defenses took over as the teams combined for just 14 shots on goal. Walton closed the scoring in the game when he scored into an open net with just nine seconds left as the Irish had pulled Brown with 1:20 left in the game.
For the night, Western Michigan outshot the Irish 39-24. Brown, who saw his eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) snapped in the loss, made 33 saves on the night. Foster finished with 20 for the Broncos.
The Irish now break for finals and the Christmas holidays and will return to action on Dec. 27th when they travel to Estero, Fla., to face Cornell in the opening round game of the Everblades Collegiate Hockey Classic. The tournament also features the University of Maine and Ohio State.
IRISH NOTES:
** Notre Dame extended its string of games with a power play goal to nine in a row with Bartlett’s second-period power-play tally.
** With two assists on the night, Globke now has 101 points in his career on 59 goals and 42 assists.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 – F
Notre Dame (8-5-2/7-5-2) 2 2 0 – 4
Western Michigan (9-8-2/5-5-1) 2 3 1 – 6
Scoring
First Period: ND: Mike Bartlett 3 (Matt Amado, Tom Galvin), 9:02; WMU: Jeff Campbell 8 (Pat Dwyer, Brent Walton), 9:34; ND: Mike Walsh 7 (Tim Wallace, Aaron Gill), 15:49; WMU: Campbell 9 (Brett John), 16:36.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; WMU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: WMU: Paul Szczechura 3 (Walton, Dana Lattery), 2:01; WMU: Jeremy Cheyne 9 (Kyle Bushee, Szczechura), 3:55; ND: Bartlett 4 (Rob Globke, Neil Komadoski), PPG, 6:24; WMU: Lattery 11 (Lucas Drake, Reid Yantzi), 11:44; ND: Cory McLean 7 (Wes O’Neill, Globke), 16:22.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; WMU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: WMU: Walton 7 (Lattery, Drake), ENG, 19:51.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; WMU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 6 – 12 – 6- 24
Western Michigan 17 – 14 – 8 – 39
Goaltender Saves:
ND – David Brown (58:49) 15 – 11 – 7 – 33
WMU – Scott Foster (60:00 4 – 10 – 6 – 20
Power Plays:
ND: 1-4
WMU: 0-3
Attendance: 3,214