Oct. 14, 2000
Omaha, Neb. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish battled the Niagara University Purple Eagles to a 3-3 overtime tie in the third place game of the Maverick Stampede Saturday night in Omaha, Nebraska. The Irish took third place in the tournament by virtue of winning a penalty shot shootout, two goals to one.
Matt Van Arkel and David Inman scored the two Irish penalty shots while goaltender Jeremiah Kimento stopped four of five Niagara penalty shots. Kimento turned in a stellar performance in the overtime tie making 30 saves in the game as the Irish outshot Niagara, 35-33 on the night.
After going scoreless in the first period through the first two games of the season, the Irish found the back of the Niagara net early in the opening stanza.
Freshman center Aaron Gill collected the first goal of his Notre Dame career just 1:11 into the game off a great feed from Dan Carlson. The senior left wing found Gill parked on the left side of the Niagara goal where he fired a hard wrister between Niagara goaltender Scott Lindsay’s blocker and body for the game’s first tally. The goal came on the first shot of the game in Lindsay’s first collegiate start.
“We really got off to a fast start,” commented head coach Dave Poulin following the game. He added, “We really have to learn to build off that early momentum. After we scored, we didn’t get another shot for ten minutes and let Niagara back in the game.”
Niagara came back to score a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead. Sophomore Bernie Sigrist caught up to a long pass by defenseman Scott Crawford at the ND blueline, held off an Irish defender and shoveled a backhander past Jeremiah Kimento at 7:28.
The Purple Eagle’s scored their second goal via the power play. With freshman defenseman Brett Lebda off for crosschecking, NU’s Hannu Karra fired a rebound past Kimento for his second goal of the season giving Niagara its only lead of the night at 11:57.
Hard work by Notre Dame’s Michael Chin netted the Irish their second goal. The sophomore right wing carried the puck into the Niagara zone and fired a shot wide of the goal. He chased the loose puck down in the left wing corner and fed senior Chad Chipchase high in the slot where he rifled a shot past Lindsay for his first score of the season.
For Chipchase, the goal was his first since the 1998-99 season as he missed most of last season with a due to a knee injury.
The Notre Dame power play finally got on track in the second period getting its first goal of the season, snapping an 0-for-16 run during the 2000-2001 campaign, scoring with a two-man advantage at 7:24.
With junior center David Inman parked in front of the Niagara net, Ryan Dolder fired a shot from just inside the blueline through a maze of skates and sticks in front. Inman got his stick on the puck for the puck deflecting it past Lindsay to give ND a 3-2 lead after two periods.
“I really thought David Inman was the best player on the ice tonight,” said Poulin. “He has the ability to be a dominant player. He started out slow tonight, but really took over later in the game.
The Irish dominated play during the second and third periods, but it was one defensive breakdown that cost the Irish a victory.
Niagara got the game tying goal at the 10:27 mark of the third period as the Irish couldn’t clear the puck from in front of the net. Kimento made a pair of point blank saves on sophomore Randy Harris, but couldn’t stop Chris Sebastian who lifted the third try over the fallen goaltender to tie the game.
“You can’t fault Jeremiah (Kimento) on the third goal. Our defense couldn’t clear the puck and we gave them three or four whacks at it in front,” Poulin said about his junior goaltender. “Overall, he played well and gave us a strong effort.”
The tie leaves both Notre Dame and Niagara with an 0-2-1 record. The Fighting Irish will look for their first win of the season when they open a five-game homestand on Tuesday, October 17th when they play host Wayne State at the Joyce Center beginning at 7:05 p.m.
1 2 3 OT F
Niagara University (0-2-1) 2 0 1 0 3
Notre Dame (0-2-1) 2 1 0 0 3
Scoring
First Period: PC: Aaron Gill – 1 (Dan Carlson) 1:11, NU: Bernie Sigrist – 1 (Scott Crawford) 7:28, NU: Hannu Karra – 2 (John Heffernan, Mike Bozoian) 11:57 PPG, ND: Chad Chipchase – 1 (Michael Chin) 14:28.
Second Period: ND: David Inman – 1 (Ryan Dolder, Carlson) 7:24 5X3 PPG.
Third Period: NU: Chris Sebastian – 1 (Randy Harris) 10:27.
Overtime: No scoring.
Penalties:
Niagara University: 7 for 22 minutes
Notre Dame: 8 for 16 minutes
Power Plays:
Niagara University: 1 for 8
Notre Dame: 1 for 6
Shots On Goal:
Niagara University 11 – 10 – 9 – 3 – 33
Notre Dame: 6 – 13 – 13 – 3 – 35
Goaltender Saves:
Niagara University – Scott Lindsay (65:00) 4 – 12 – 13 – 3 – 32
Notre Dame – Jeremiah Kimento (65:00) 9 – 10 – 8 – 3 – 30
Attendance: 8,314
Shootout Summary: Notre Dame wins shootout, 2-1
Niagara Notre Dame Randy Harris – miss Dan Carlson – miss John Heffernan – score Ryan Dolder – miss Hannu Karra – miss Matt Van Arkel – score Joe Tallari – miss Rob Globke – miss Timo Makela – miss David Inman – score