Nov. 28, 1999
DURHAM, N.H. – The Notre Dame hockey team shook off its first-period struggles by scoring four early goals while sophomore Jeremiah Kimento had a strong outing in his first start in more than a month, as Notre Dame defeated Vermont, 5-1, in Sunday afternoon action at the Conference Classic, held at the University of New Hampshire’s Towse Rink.
Notre Dame (5-7-2)-which had managed just four first-period goals in the first 13 games this season-equaled that total in the first 12 minutes versus the Catamounts, with the Irish jumping ahead 3-0 after just seven minutes of play.
Five different Irish players scored goals while 10 had a goal or an assist in the comfortable win. Kimento made 24 saves in his first action since giving up three first-period goals in the 4-2 loss to Ferris State on Oct. 24.
Notre Dame senior center Ben Simon led the way with one goal and two assists while sophomore left wing David Inman and senior defenseman Sean Seyferth each chipped in a goal and an assist. Senior right wing Joe Dusbabek and junior left wing Dan Carlson had the other Irish goals, giving Notre Dame a 2-0 lead just five minutes into the game.
Dusbabek opened the scoring at the 3:37 mark, after Inman passed to Simon, who then sent the puck into the slot from the left circle. Dusbabek was positioned at the far right side of the crease and slapped the puck by sophomore Tim Peters for his third goal of the season and a quick 1-0 lead.
Carlson struck 70 seconds later, after taking a transition pass near the right boards from freshman right wing John Wroblewski. Carlson then eluded a Vermont defenseman with a nifty move before surprising Peters with a rising shot from the top of the right circle for his third goal of the season (4:47).
Seyferth added to the Irish cushion with his fifth career goal and his first since scoring in the 5-2 win at Northern Michigan on Feb. 28, 1998. Senior left wing Andy Jurkowski and sophomore center Brett Henning set up the score, with Seyferth sending a shot from the top of the slot that found its way through a crowded crease area for the 3-0 lead (7:01).
Vermont cut the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal midway through the period. Defenseman Thomas Hajek and Jim Gernander set up the goal, with freshman left wing Bryson Busniuk scoring for the fifth time this season on a low shot from the top of the right circle that squeezed past Kimento’s pads and his glove hand (11:22).
Just moments later, a pass from Seyferth set up a 2-on-2 rush, with Simon sliding a pass into the slot and Inman quickly beating Peters for his team-leading seventh goal of the season (11:50).
Freshman Shawn Conschafter took over in the Vermont net at the start of the second period, after Peters had allowed four goals on six shots in the opening period.
The Irish converted on a 5-on-3 chance midway through the second period, with junior right wing Ryan Dolder moving the puck to senior defenseman Sean Molina at the top of the left circle. Molina fired a shot towards the left side of the goal and Simon tipped the puck by Conschafter for his third goal of the season, restoring the four-goal cushion (9:37)
NOTES: Seven Notre Dame players sit atop the team scoring charts, with either eight or seven points: Simon (3G-5A), Dusbabek (2G-6A), Carlson (3G-5A), freshman center Connor Dunlop (2G-6A), Henning (3G-5A), Inman (7G) and Jurkowski (4G-3A)…Seyferth, who had just one point in each of the previous two seasons, recorded his second career two-point game (he had 1G-1A in a game vs. Lake Superior as a freshman)…Notre Dame’s four first-period goals are its most since scoring four times in the first period vs. Alaska Fairbanks on Feb. 6, 1999 (a 5-2 win)…the Irish have scored power-play goals in 10 of 14 games this season…Jurkowski has points in seven of the last nine games…Simon snapped a three-game point drought and pushed his career totals to 106 points (34G-72A) in 117 games…Inman also ended a three-game point drought and had just one goal in the previous six games…Carlson halted a four-game point drought and six-game goal drought…Dusbabek has points in five of the last seven games (3G-4A)…Henning has points in four of the last five games and five of the last seven (2G-4A)…Molina’s assist was his fifth of the season, equaling his total from all of 2998-99 and one shy of his career-best total (6, in 1997-98)…the Irish have posted wins in 21 different road arenas during the five-year tenure of head coach Dave Poulin (19 in the last two-plus seasons).
| NOTRE DAME (5-7-2) | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 5 | |
| VERMONT (3-7-2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 |
1st: ND 1. Dusbabek 3(Simon, Inman) 3:37, ND 2. Carlson 3 (Wroblewski) 4:47, ND 3. Seyferth 1 (Jurkowski, Henning) 7:01, VM 1. Busniuk 5 (Hajek, Gernander), PP, 11:22, ND 4. Inman 7 (Simon, Seyferth) 11:50
2nd: ND 5. Simon 3 (Molina, Dolder) 5-3, 9:37
Shots: ND 6-10-9/25, UVM 7-3-9/19
Saves: ND (Kimento) 6-3-9/18, UVM 2-9-9/20 (Peters 2-x-x/2, Conschafter x-9-9-/18)
Power Play: ND 1-for-3, UVM 1-for-4
Penalties: ND 5 for 10:00, UVM 4 for 8:00.