Jan. 7, 2006
(Omaha, Neb.) — After an impressive 4-1 win over Nebraska-Omaha on Friday night, Notre Dame came into Saturday’s game looking for a CCHA sweep. Instead, they settled for a hard-fought 2-2 tie and three points on the weekend in front of a season-best crowd of 7,624 at the Qwest Center.
For the second night in a row, the Irish rode the outstanding goaltending of junior David Brown who made 32 saves, including four big ones in overtime. He was named the game’s first star for both games of the weekend series as he gave up three power-play goals in the series.
Notre Dame got goals from Wes O’Neill and Tim Wallace in on the night while Kaleb Betts and Mick Lawrence tallied for the Mavericks.
The tie gives the Irish a 7-11-2 overall record and a 5-7-2 mark in the CCHA. Nebraska-Omaha is now 11-10-1 overall and 5-8-1 in conference play.
After a scoreless first period that saw the Irish out shoot UNO by a 13-6 margin, they used the power play to take the first lead of the night at 2:44 of the second period.
With Notre Dame getting good movement around the perimeter, Mark Van Guilder moved the puck across the ice from the left wing circle to Josh Sciba at the right circle. Sciba dropped the puck back to O’Neill at the center point and the junior defenseman one-timed a low, hard shot that beat Maverick goaltender Jerad Kaufmann through his pads. The goal was O’Neill’s third of the season.
Nebraska-Omaha got the equalizer with a power-play goal of their own at 6:39. Lawrence moved the puck from behind the Notre Dame goal to the left wing boards where Scott Parse moved it toward the goal and slid the puck in front to Betts who redirected it behind Brown for his second goal of the year.
The Irish retook the lead with the help of a Nebraska-Omaha turnover in their zone. A Maverick clearing attempt was knocked down inside the blue line by Tim Wallace who whipped a quick wrist shot past Kaufmann at 10:31 for his ninth goal of the season.
The Mavericks got what would be the tying goal and final goal of the night at 8:21 of the third period with their second power-play goal on the night. Scott Parse fired a shot from the high slot that knuckle-balled on Brown. The Irish goaltender made the initial save but couldn’t control the rebound. Betts knocked the loose puck out of the air and Lawrence swept it past Brown on the right side of the goal to make it 2-2. For Lawrence, the goal was his seventh of the season.
In overtime, Nebraska-Omaha had two great scoring chances on their four shots on goal, but Brown was equal to the task as he helped the Irish to their three-point weekend.
For the game, the Mavericks out shot Notre Dame by a 34-30 margin. Kaufmann made 28 saves in goal for the Mavericks.
Notre Dame returns home for their only home games in January when they face the No.2 ranked Miami RedHawks on Jan. 13-14 at the Joyce Center. Game time on Friday, Jan. 13 is 7:35 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 OT - F
Notre Dame (7-11-2/5-7-2) 0 2 0 0 - 2
Nebraska-Omaha (11-10-1/5-8-1) 0 1 1 0 - 2
Scoring
First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UNO: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Wes O’Neill 3 (Mark Van Guilder, Josh Sciba), PPG, 2:44; UNO: Kaleb Betts 2 (Scott Parse, Mick Lawrence), PPG, 6:37; ND: Tim Wallace 9 (unassisted), 10:31.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; UNO: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: UNO: Lawrence 7 (Betts, Parse), PPG, 8:21.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UNO: 4 for 8 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UNO: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 13 - 11 - 6 - 0 - 30Nebraska-Omaha 6 - 13 - 11 - 4 - 34
Goaltender Saves:
ND - David Brown (65:00) 6 - 12 - 10 - 4- 32UNO - Jerad Kaufmann (65:00) 13 - 9 - 6 - 0 - 28
Power Plays:
ND: 1 for 6
UNO: 2 for 7
Attendance: 7,624