Oct. 3, 2004
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Blue team exploded for four goals over the final 8:04 of the second half to snap a 2-2 tie on the way to a 6-3 win over the gold team in Notre Dame’s annual Blue-Gold intrasquad game on Sunday afternoon. The game, played to benefit the Hockey Coaches’ Foundation for cancer research drew over 1,000 fans to the Joyce Center. Each Notre Dame player played the game in honor of a family member or friend stricken with cancer.
Sophomore Matt Williams-Kovacs (Calgary, Alb.) and junior Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) scored a pair of goals in the 6-3 victory. Williams-Kovacs rebound of a Mark Van Guilder (Fr., Roseville, Minn.) shot with 6:33 left in the game proved to be the game winner. Brad Wanchulak (Sr., Edson, Alb.) and Matt Amado (Jr., Surrey, B.C.) added insurance goals 19 seconds apart at 16:38 and 16:57 to close out the Blue team scoring.
The Gold squad got goals from Tony Gill (Jr., Rochester, Minn.), Tim Wallace (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) and Josh Sciba (So., Westland, Mich.) in the game.
In the game, the Blue team out shot the Gold by a 30-26 margin. Senior Morgan Cey (Wilkie, Sask.) stopped 20 of 23 shots he faced in 31:02 minutes of playing time. Freshman walk-on goaltender Terry Robinson (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) stopped all three shots he faced in the final 8:58 for the victory as he entered the game with the score tied, 3-3.
Sophomore David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.) faced 15 shots, making 13 saves in 23:25 minutes. Rory Walsh (Jr., Milton, Mass.) played the final 16:35, facing 15 shots and making 11 saves. He took the loss in goal.
The Blue team was awarded the Edward Slaggert Trophy that goes each year to the winner of the Blue-Gold game. Williams-Kovacs was the winner of the George Komadoski Trophy that goes to the most valuable player of the Blue-Gold game.
The intrasquad scrimmage came on the team’s second official day of practice and head coach Dave Poulin was pleased with the progress of his team.
“We got some offense going today which was good to see. We’ll be strong defensively with Morgan (Cey) and David (Brown) in goal. I thought they both played well this afternoon,” said Poulin.
“The freshman seemed to handle things pretty well. We don’t have much time to get ready with the No. 4 team in the country coming in here Thursday night.”
Notre Dame opens the 2004-05 regular season this coming Thursday night, October 7 at 7:35 p.m. when the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs make their first appearance at the Joyce Center since Feb. 10, 1980 when both schools were members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Last season, the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. They are the coaches preseason pick to win the WCHA and are ranked fourth in the nation in the USA Today preseason poll. The two teams will also play on Friday, October 8 with faceoff set for 7:35 p.m.
Blue-Gold Summary:
1 2 – F Blue 2 4 – 6 Gold 1 2 – 3
First Period: G – Tony Gill (penalty shot), 6:16; B – Matt Williams-Kovacs (Brock Sheahan), 8:02; B- Mike Walsh (Chris Trick), 17:00. Penalties: G – Jason Paige (hooking), :45; G – Tim Wallace (obs.-hooking), 2:21; B – Matt Amado (hooking), 6:16; G – T.J. Jindra (holding); G – Brian D’Arcy (interference), 13:36.
Second Period: G- Tim Wallace (Michael Bartlett), :47; B – M. Walsh (Andrew Eggert), 6:10; G – Josh Sciba (T.J. Jindra, Jason Paige), 8:04; B – Williams-Kovacs (Mark Van Guilder), 13:27; B – Brad Wanchulak (unassisted), 16:38; B – Matt Amado (unassisted), 16:38. Penalties: B- Matt Amado (interference), 2:28; G – Noah Babin (holding), 3:25; B – Dan VeNard (tripping), 5:13; G – Babin (holding), 5:59.
Shots on Goal:
Blue: 12-18-30
Gold: 11-15-26
Saves:
B – David Brown, 23:25 min, (13 saves)
Rory Walsh, 16:35 min, (11 saves) – L
G – Morgan Cey, 31:02 min (20 saves)
Terry Robinson, 8:58 min (3 saves) – W