Nov. 16, 2012
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The University of Notre Dame got third-period goals from Bryan Rust and Peter Schneider to snap a 1-1 tie and lead the Irish to a 3-1 win over Michigan at Yost Arena on Thursday night.
Junior goaltender Steven Summerhays stopped 24-of-25 shots and Mike Voran added a short-handed goal in the first win for the Irish at Yost Arena since Nov. 12, 2010. Justin Selman had the lone Wolverine goal on the night.
The victory improved #7/#8 Notre Dame to 7-3-0 overall and 4-1-0-0 in the CCHA. Michigan, ranked 13th in both polls falls to 4-5-1 for the year and 2-4-1-1 in conference play.
“On the road you have to be patient and not over extend yourself,” said head coach Jeff Jackson.
“I thought that we did a much better job in the third period where we weren’t giving up a lot. I was concerned that we weren’t pushing the pace enough and were sitting back. It was 1-1 at the time and I told them in one of the TV timeouts, `Let’s not play this game not to lose, let’s play to win this game.'”
The Irish got off to a slow start in the first period with Michigan pressing the play. The Wolverines scored the lone goal of the first period, converting a gift-wrapped Notre Dame turnover at 4:41. Selman was the recipient as the Irish defense lost the puck in the high slot. The freshman center picked it up in the left circle and whipped a wrist shot over Summerhays’ blocker for his first collegiate goal.
The Irish, who had nine shots in the opening period, had their best chance with just under five minutes left in the stanza when left wing Nick Larson put David Gerths in all alone on Michigan’s Steve Racine who stopped the junior center’s backhand attempt to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Notre Dame evened the score with the lone goal of the second period and it came short-handed at 4:04. With Austin Wuthrich off for tripping the goaltender, defenseman Shayne Taker’s long clearing pass from his own zone was tracked down at the Michigan blue line by T.J. Tynan. The junior center broke into the Wolverine zone on a 2-on-1 with Voran. Tynan held the puck until the defenseman played him and then slid it to Voran in the left circle and he tucked a wrist shot under the cross bar for his first goal of the season.
Tynan’s assist on Voran’s goal snapped a personal five-game scoring drought, the longest of his Notre Dame career and gave the junior center his 100th career point with the Irish. He becomes the 47th player in Irish hockey history to reach the “Century” mark in scoring.
In the third period, the Irish went on the attack and scored twice in the final six minutes to pull out the win. Rust, who grew up watching his older brother, Matt, play at Michigan, scored the game winner at 14:22 with his third goal of the season.
Defenseman Robbie Russo fired a shot at Racine from the right point. With Jeff Costello battling in front, the puck went off Rust’s stick and behind the goal. The junior right wing took the puck and came out from behind the goal and tucked it inside the left post to give the Irish the 2-1 lead.
“Costello and I had a pretty good forecheck going off the dump in,” said Rust.
“The puck went back to (Robbie) Russo who took the shot that went off my stick and behind the net. I saw an opening and was able to get the wrap-around.”
The lead would go to 3-1 at 18:28 when Schneider collected his third of the season as his shot from the right circle went off defenseman Mike Chaisson’s skate and past Racine for the insurance tally. Defenseman Stephen Johns and forward Thomas DiPauli picked up assists on the play.
Notre Dame finished the night, out shooting Michigan, 33-25. Racine had 29 saves in the game that featured just three penalties for each team. Both squads were 0-for-2 on the power play.
Game two of the Notre Dame-Michigan series will be played at 7:35 p.m. on Friday night at Yost Arena. The game will be televised by Comcast in Michigan and can be seen on the South Bend Comcast Cable Channel 3.
** IRISH NOTES **
** Notre Dame’s win over Michigan on Thursday was the first of the season for the Irish when they give up the first goal of the game. They are 6-0-0 when they score first and just 1-3-0 when the opposition gets the first goal of the night.
** Freshman left wing Mario Lucia saw his first action of the season for the Irish. He missed the first nine games of the season after suffering a broken leg on August 29 in preseason drills. He was +1 in the game and credited with three blocked shots on the night.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#7/#8 Notre Dame (7-3-0/4-1-1-0) 0 1 2 - 3#13/#13 Michigan (4-5-1/2-4-1-1) 1 0 0 - 1
Scoring First Period: UM: Justin Selman 1 (unassisted), 4:38.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; UM: 0 for 0 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Mike Voran 1 (T.J. Tynan, Shayne Taker), SHG, 4:04.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UM: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Bryan Rust 3 (Robbie Russo), 14:22; ND: Peter Schneider 3 (Stephen Johns, Thomas DiPauli), 18:28.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; UM: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 9 - 13 - 11 - 33Michigan 9 - 13 - 3 - 25
Goaltender Saves:ND: Steven Summerhays (60:00) 8 - 13 - 3 - 24UM: Steve Racine (59:00) 9 - 12 - 8 - 19
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 2UM: 0 for 2
Attendance: 5,351