January 2, 1999
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota erupted for three goals in the game’s first two minutes and added another quick start to the second period en route to an 8-1 victory for the No. 1-ranked Fighting Sioux over an undermanned and No. 9-ranked Notre Dame squad, in the first game of a two-game weekend series Saturday at Engelstad Arena.
Notre Dame (9-6-2) showed a visible lack of cohesiveness, after taking 27 days off from competition, while North Dakota (13-1-1) lived up to its top ranking despite a 20-day layoff. The loss was the fifth straight for the Irish while extending North Dakota’s winning streak to eight games.
Notre Dame opened the game without the services of sophomore left wing Dan Carlson-who is wrapping up play with Team USA at the World Junior Championship-and sophomore defenseman Ryan Clark, who has begun rehabilitation from Dec. 23 shoulder surgery. The Irish depth then took another hit midway through the opening period, when senior right wing and team captain Brian Urick was whistled for hitting from behind and slapped with a game misconduct penalty that forced Urick to sit out the remainder of the game (8:27). The penalty initially was called a game disqualification, which would have forced Urick to miss Sunday’s game as well.
Just minutes later, North Dakota also lost a player-freshman defenseman Paul Murphy-to a hitting-from-behind/game-misconduct penalty, at the 10:35 mark of the first period.
The loss represented the largest margin of defeat for Notre Dame since an 11-1 loss at Michigan on Jan. 20, 1996. The game was the first between the two teams since 1980-81, Notre Dame’s last season in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Irish sophomore right wing Matt Van Arkel scored midway through the second period to avert the shutout. Junior defenseman Tyson Fraser smacked the puck up the left boards and Van Arkel slanted in before tucking the puck inside the far right post for his sixth goal of the season and first in the last eight games.
The Irish elected to pull senior goaltender Forrest Katt from the game, after the Sioux scored three quick goals and added a power-play score at 7:13. Freshman Jeremiah Kimento played the final 52-plus minutes in net for Notre Dame, stopping 27 shots while making four saves.
The Sioux opened the scoring on the ninth goal of the season by senior center Jason Blake, who poked the puck in at the 0:51 mark after junior left wing Brad DeFauw won a faceoff in the Irish zone. Just 15 seconds later, sophomore right wing Lee Goren tipped home his 13th goal of the season after a crisp pass from the top of the right circle by Blake. The Sioux claimed a 3-0 lead 35 seconds later, when sophomore center Wes Dorey tapped home an endline pass by senior defenseman Brad Williamson (his first of four assists), for Dorey’s third goal of the season.
Crisp power-play passes set up a goal by senior right wing Jay Panzer at the 7:17 mark, with Panzer’s brother Jeff providing the primary assist.
North Dakota scored twice in the first two minutes of the second period. Senior right wing Jeff Ulmer took a pass from brother Jason and rifled a from the left circle past Kimento for his fourth goal of the season (0:29). Just 1:15 later, Jay Panzer converted a rebound goal for the 6-1 lead (1:44) and his 10th goal of the season.
The hosts capped the scoring at 14:23 of the final period, when a shot by sophomore defenseman Mike Commodore trickeld past Kimento for the first goal of his career.
CCHA NOTES: In Central Collegiate Hockey Association action Saturday, Northern Michigan (8-8-0) moved past Notre Dame (7-5-1) into fifth place thanks to a 4-3 home win over last-place Lake Superior (2-8-2) while Ohio State (9-4-2) moved into sole possession of second place with a 1-0 home win over first-place Michigan (10-2-1) … Michigan State (8-2-2) had moved into a tie for third place with idle Ferris State (8-3-2), following a 3-1 win for MSU on Friday at eighth-place Alaska Fairbanks (4-9-0) … UASF and MSU were to play Saturday night as well.
#9 NOTRE DAME (9-6-2) 0 1 0 - 1#1 NORTH DAKOTA (13-1-1) 4 3 1 - 8
1st: NDAK 1. Blake 9 (Hammer, Defauw) 0:51; NDAK 2. Goren 13 (Blake, Hammer) 1:06; NDAK 3. Dorey 3 (Williamson) 1:41; NDAK 4. Jay Panzer 9 (Jeff Panzer, Williamson), PP, 7:13.
2nd: NDAK 5. Jeff Ulmer 4 (Schneekloth) 0:29; NDAK 6. Jay Panzer 10 (Commodore, Williamson) 1:44; NDAME 1. Van Arkel 6 (Fraser) 8:25; NDAK 7. Blake 10 (Williamson, Goren) 13:25.
3rd: NDAK 8. Commodore 1 (Lundbohm, Jeff Ulmer) 14:27.
SHOTS: NDAME: 4-6-6/16; NDAK: 17-20-7/44.
SAVES: NDAME (Karr) 9-x-x/9, (Kimento) 4-17-6/27; NDAK (Goehring) 4-5-6/15.
POWER PLAYS: NDAME 0-for-6, NDAK 1-for-2.
PENALTIES: NDAME: 8 for 27:00, NDAK 10 for 31:00.