Dec. 2, 2005
(Kalamazoo, Mich.) – For Notre Dame it was a case of too little, too late as the Irish battled back from a 4-1, scoring a pair of goals, only to drop a 4-3 decision to the Western Michigan Broncos in front of a sellout crowd at Lawson Arena on Friday night.
The Broncos got a hat trick from senior right wing Brent Walton and a single goal from Daryl Moore while goaltender Daniel Bellissimo made 32 saves to preserve the 4-3 win for Western Michigan.
Tim Wallace, Jason Paige and Josh Sciba scored single goals for the Irish as they see their winless streak extended to five games (0-4-1) with the loss. Overall Notre Dame is now 3-9-1 overall and 2-6-1 in the CCHA. Western Michigan improved to 4-7-2 and 4-4-1 in conference play.
Fans arriving late at Lawson Arena missed two quick goals as the teams traded goals in the first 33 seconds.
Wallace got the Irish on the board first when he scored just nine seconds into the game off a Matt Amado assist. Wallace whipped a shot from the high slot over Bellissimo’s blocker for his sixth goal of the season.
Wallace’s goal was the quickest in Notre Dame history, just nine seconds into the game, surpassing the previous mark (00:12) by three seconds. Sterling Black turned in that goal on Jan. 6, 1990 versus Arizona.
It took Western Michigan just 24 seconds to tie the game as Moore scored off a face off at the 33 second mark. The senior left wing took a shot from the bottom of the right wing circle that appeared to hit a stick and pop over Irish goaltender Jordan Pearce’s right shoulder, rolling into the goal for Moore’s first of the season.
From there it was the Brent Walton Show. He gave the Broncos the lead for good at 3:23 via the power play. Western Michigan’s leading scorer took a pass from Ryan Marhle at the bottom of the right wing circle and fired a wrist shot between Pearce’s glove and the right post for a 2-1 lead.
Walton continued with the hot hand in the second period, scoring both Western Michigan goals in the middle stanza.
His second goal of the night was also his second power-play tally of the night. Walton one-timed a shot from the top of the left wing circle that beat Pearce low to the ice at 15:53 for his ninth goal of the year.
The senior from Elmira, Ont., then wrapped up his hat trick just 44 seconds later at 16:37 when he picked the rebound of a Jason Moul shot out of a scramble in front and tucked it under Pearce to give Western Michigan a 4-1 lead. For Walton, the hat trick was the second of his career and gave him seven goals in the last five games.
The Irish would begin their comeback rally late in the second period off a Bronco turnover. The loose puck found its way to Paige in the slot where he knocked it down, spun around and fired a shot under the cross bar and over Bellissimo’s glove at 18:22 for his first goal of the season.
Notre Dame would cut the lead to one goal midway through the final period off some strong puck handling by sophomore defenseman Brock Sheahan. The Irish defenseman carried the puck down the right wing boards and cut to the front where he tried to stuff a shot through Bellissimo’s pads. The goaltender made the save but the rebound came to Sciba who tucked it in the goal at 10:04 for his eighth goal of the season.
Bellissimo came up with several key saves late in the game to give Western Michigan the 4-3 victory. On the night, the Irish out shot Western Michigan by a 35-23 margin. Pearce played the first two periods for Notre Dame, making 12 saves. David Brown played the final 20 minutes, making seven saves in the Irish goal.
The loss extended Notre Dame’s road winless streak to 17 games (0-15-2) as the Irish have not won away from home since Nov. 26, 2004.
Notre Dame will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday night when the two teams close out the home-and-home series at the Joyce Center. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
| GAME SUMMARY | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
| Notre Dame (3-9-1/2-6-1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Western Michigan (4-7-2/4-4-1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Scoring
First Period: ND: Tim Wallace 6 (Matt Amado), 00:09; WMU: Daryl Moore 1 (unassisted), 00:33; WMU: Brett Walton 8 (Ryan Mahrle, Daniel Bellissimo), PPG, 3:23.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; WMU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: WMU: Walton 9 (Mahrle), PPG, 15:53; WMU: Walton 10 (Jason Moul, Jonathan Lupa), 16:37; ND: Jason Paige 1 (unassisted), 18:22.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; WMU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Josh Sciba 8 (Brock Sheahan, Erik Condra), 10:04.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; WMU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
| Notre Dame | 11 – 11 – 13 – 35 |
| Western Michigan | 9 – 7 – 7 – 23 |
Goaltender Saves:
| ND – Jordan Pearce (40:00) | 7 – 5 – X – 12 |
| David Brown (19:36) | x – x -7 – 7 |
| WMU – Daniel Bellissimo (60:00) | 10 – 10 – 12 – 32 |
Power Plays:
ND: 0 for 4
WMU: 2 for 6
Attendance: 3,935 (sellout)