Freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays came up big in the shootout as the Irish took a 1-0 verdict in three rounds after tying Miami, 2-2, in overtime.

Ninth-Ranked Irish Battle 13th-Ranked Miami To A 2-2 Tie

Jan. 29, 2011

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Notre Dame, Ind. – For the second night in a row, Notre Dame’s Joyce Center was the scene of an outstanding hockey game as the Irish battled Miami to a 2-2 tie in front of a sellout crowd of 2.957 on Saturday. Notre Dame picked up the extra point in the CCHA standings with a 1-0 win in the shootout.

Irish freshman center Anders Lee continued his stellar play on the weekend, scoring both goals to give him five points on the weekend after picking up three assists on Friday night. His linemate, freshman center T.J. Tynan sent the crowd home happy as he beat Miami’s Cody Reichard in the third round of the shootout to give the Irish the extra point.

Alden Hirschfeld and Reilly Smith scored for the RedHawks in the game but they failed to get one shot past Irish netminder Steven Summerhays in the shootout stanza.

The back-to-back ties give the ninth-ranked Irish a 16-9-5 overall record and they are now 13-6-3-2 in the CCHA, good for 44 points. Miami is now 14-9-5 on the year and 11-7-4-2 in the league as they remain in third place, five points behind Notre Dame.

While Friday night’s game was a free-wheeling offensive game, the two teams played closer to the vest on Saturday as the Irish limited Miami to just 15 shots in the game with a stifling defense in front of Summerhays who was making his first start since Dec. 29th. The native of Anchorage, Alaska made 13 saves in regulation and overtime but was perfect in the shootout as he stopped three of college hockey’s top players including Smith, Carter Camper and Andy Miele.

Miami’s Cody Reichard stopped 24-of-26 shots in the game and turned aside Ben Ryan and Lee in the first two rounds of the shootout before he was beaten by Tynan who moved slowly down the ice before tucking a shot past the junior goaltender to set off an on-ice celebration with his teammates.

The Irish tightened things up defensively in the opening period, limiting Miami to just three shots on goal. They would get the early lead at 11:08 when Lee banged home the rebound of a shot by defenseman Kevin Lind for his 17th of the season.

Freshman right wing Bryan Rust took the puck away from the Miami defense in the right corner with Lee picking it up on the goal line. He sent a centering pass to Lind at the center points and the big defenseman hammered a slap shot on goal that beat Reichard but hit off the post before ending on Lee’s stick to the left of Reichard. Lee backhanded the rebound into the open goal and the Irish had the 1-0 lead.

Miami tied the game at 11:11 of the second period on Alden Hirschfeld’s 11th goal of the year as he whipped a wrist shot from the left circle past Summerhays to make it 1-1.

Justin Vaive worked the puck free in the right corner and found Miele, the nation’s leading scorer, in the high slot. Miele fed the puck to Hirschfeld who wasted little time getting his shot off for the equalizer.

Lee would put the Irish back on top with a power-play goal at 18:43 of the second period with his second goal of the game and third multiple-goal game of his rookie year.

Tynan moved the puck to Sheahan at the left point and the sophomore center fired a shot on goal. Reichard made the stop but Lee was there to tuck the rebound home for his 18th goal of the season to give the Irish a 2-1 lead.

The score would remain that way until the 13:50 mark of the third when the RedHawks used a power-play goal to tie the game at 2-2 with Smith getting his 19th goal of the season.

Camper moved the puck from the right boards to defenseman Chris Wideman at the left point. The junior defenseman fed the puck in front of the net where Smith was moving down the slot. He got his stick on the shot to redirect it through Summerhays’ pads to make it a 2-2 game.

The score stayed that way the remainder of the game and through overtime, setting up the shootout heroics of Tynan.

The overtime game was the fifth of the season for Notre Dame and the Irish are now 0-0-5 in those contests. Notre Dame is now 3-0-16 in overtime games since its last overtime loss on March 21, 2008 to Miami in the CCHA semifinals. The Irish are now 2-1 in the CCHA shootout and 3-1 in the shootout overall as they decided third place in the Shillelagh Tournament with a shootout win over Boston University after tying 3-3 on Jan. 2.

Notre Dame is now off next weekend and will return to play with a home series on Feb. 11-12 against Bowling Green at the Joyce Center.

IRISH NOTES:

** The Irish have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their last four games, going 6-for-20 in those games for a 30.0% success rate. For the season, the Irish are 25-for-147 for a 17.0% success rate.

** T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee are the top scoring freshmen in the country with 39 and 33 points respectively. They rank third and sixth overall in the CCHA in scoring. Their 18 goals tie them for second in the conference in that category.

GAME SUMMARY                            1     2     3   OT  -  F#13/#11 Miami (14-9-5/11-7-4-2)         0     1     1    0  -  2#9/#9 Notre Dame (16-9-5/13-6-3-2)      1     1     0    0  -  2

Scoring First Period: ND: Anders Lee 17 (Kevin Lind, Bryan Rust), 11:08.

Penalties: MU: 1 for 2 minutes; ND: 0 for 0 minutes.

Second Period: MU: Alden Hirschfeld 11 (Andy Miele, Justin Vaive), 11:11; ND: Lee 18 (Riley Sheahan, T.J. Tynan), PPG, 18:43.

Penalties: MU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 1 for 2 minutes.

Third Period: MU: Reilly Smith 19 (Chris Wideman, Carter Camper), PPG, 13:50.

Penalties: MU: 2 for 4 minutes; ND: 2 for 4 minutes.

Overtime: No Scoring.

Penalties: MU: 0 for 0 minutes; ND: 2 for 4 minutes.

Shootout:  (ND wins shootout, 1-0, in three rounds)MU: Reilly Smith - Save by Steven SummerhaysND: Ben Ryan - Save by Cody ReichardMU: Carter Camper - Save by Steven SummerhaysND: Anders Lee - Save by Cody ReichardMU: Andy Miele - Save by Steven SummerhaysND: T.J. Tynan - Score
Shots On Goal:Miami 3 - 6 - 5 - 1 - 15Notre Dame 7 - 12 - 6 - 1 - 26
Goaltender Saves:MU: Cody Reichard (65:00) 6 - 11 - 6 - 1 - 24ND: Steven Summerhays (64:54) 3 - 5 - 4 - 1 - 13
Power Plays:MU: 1 for 2ND: 1 for 3
Attendance: 2,957 (sellout)