Nov. 15, 2008
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 1 
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Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame hockey team closed out its weekend series with Lake Superior State, getting five goals from five different players on the way to a 5-2 win in front of a sellout crowd at the Joyce Center on Saturday night.
Billy Maday, Erik Condra, Christiaan Minella, Teddy Ruth and Calle Ridderwall each scored single goals as the Irish overcame first period deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to roll to the three-goal victory. Ridderwall turned in a career high three-point game with his goal and two assists on the night. Brett Blatchford, Christian Hanson and Kevin Deeth also chipped in two-assist games.
Lake Superior got both its goals in the first period as Josh Sim scored on a deflection and Zac MacVoy added a short-handed tally.
The victory runs Notre Dame’s current unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1) as the Irish improve to 7-3-1 overall and 3-2-1-1 in CCHA play, good for eight points in six league contests. The Lakers fall to 3-4-3 overall and 3-3-2-1 in the conference, good of nine points in eight CCHA games.
“I thought our guys came much better prepared to play tonight, the way they needed to play,” said head coach Jeff Jackson.
“Lake Superior is a really good team at clogging up the passing lanes and they do a great job clogging things up down low defensively. It’s hard to generate offense and the guys did a much better job of that tonight.”
The Irish got off to a slow start in this one surrendering a pair of first period goals due to some untimely turnovers.
Josh Sim got Lake Superior on the scoreboard at the 5:06 mark of the opening stanza when he deflected a shot by Tyson Robbins from the right point past goaltender Jordan Pearce. The goal was his third of the season.
The Irish answered back less than three minutes later when Maday scored his team-high fifth goal of the season with assists from Deeth and Ridderwall at 7:47 to even the score at 1-1.
Notre Dame had three power-play chances in the first period but the Lakers would take a 2-1 lead as they scored a short-handed marker at 15:09. MacVoy did the honors as the Irish turned the puck over at the blue line with a man advantage and MacVoy raced the length of the ice to beat Pearce in close for his sixth goal of the season.
With time running out in the first period and Notre Dame enjoying its third power play of the period, the Irish were able to even the score at the 19:44 mark.
Condra got the tying goal when he whipped a centering feed from Ryan Thang past Brian Mahoney-Wilson for his third goal of the season to tie the contest at 2-2 heading into the first intermission.
“Between periods coach came in and told us we were playing okay but we were a little bit too loose with the puck and we weren’t coming back hard to the net,” explained Hanson.
“There were a couple of things that we needed to tighten the ship up on and we just went out there in the second and did it.”
While the Irish were holding the Lakers off the scoreboard, they were able to snap the tie at 12:14 of the second when Minella fired the rebound of a shot from the right side of the goal past Mahoney-Wilson for his third goal of the season and the second of the weekend. Hanson got the original shot on goal as he deflected a Blatchford shot from the top of the crease.
“It was really great to be able to bounce back tonight, especially after the mediocre first period we had,” said Hanson.
“We were able to come out and have a strong second period and control the tempo and get a goal and then finish them off in the third. This game was huge for us.”
In the third the Irish were able to break it open at the 7:33 mark when Ruth drilled a shot from the top of the right circle inside the right post past Mahoney-Wilson for his first goal of the season. Deeth and Ridderwall did the work in the right wing corner to get the puck back to Ruth for the 4-2 lead.
Ridderwall then closed out his three-point night with a power-play goal at 17:31 for the 5-2 final. Blatchford fired a shot from the left point that Hanson deflected in front. Ridderwall was able to get to the loose puck and tuck it home for his third goal of the season to cap a big weekend for the sophomore from Sweden. He scored the winning goal in a shootout on Friday night.
“I’m more confident; it’s my second year. Playing in the Frozen Four in big games really helps build your confidence,” said Ridderwall.
“I have a lot of confidence playing with Kevin Deeth and Billy Maday. We are finding each other out there pretty well.”
On the night, the Irish out shot the Lakers by a 39-22 margin. Mahoney-Wilson was kept busy all night and finished with 34 saves. Pearce stopped 20-of-22 shots after facing 43 on Friday night. The Irish were 2-for-7 with the power play while Lake Superior was 0-for-4.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - FLake Superior State (3-4-3/3-3-2-1) 2 0 0 - 2#9/#9 Notre Dame (7-3-1/3-2-1-1) 2 1 2 - 5
Scoring First Period: LSSU: Josh Sim 3 (Tyson Hobbins), 5:06; ND: Billy Maday 5 (Kevin Deeth, Calle Ridderwall), 7:47; LSSU: Zac MacVoy 6 (unassisted), SHG, 15:09; ND: Erik Condra 3 (Ryan Thang, Ben Ryan), PPG, 19:44.
Penalties: LSSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Christiaan Minella 3 (Christian Hanson, Brett Blatchford), 12:14.
Penalties: LSSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Teddy Ruth 1 (Deeth, Ridderwall), 7:33; ND: Ridderwall 3 (Hanson, Blatchford), PPG, 17:31.
Penalties: LSSU: 6 for 12 minutes; ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Lake Superior 9 - 7 - 6 - 22Notre Dame 16 - 10 - 13 - 39
Goaltender Saves:LSSU - Brian Mahoney-Wilson (60:00) 14 - 9 - 11 - 34ND - Jordan Pearce (59:44) 7 - 7 - 6 - 20
Power Plays:LSSU: 0 for 4ND: 2 for 7
Attendance: 2,732 (sellout)