Nov. 23, 2002
Ann Arbor, Mich. – After outplaying fifth-ranked Michigan for the better part of five periods in the weekend series, Notre Dame went into the final period of play much the way they had over the previous 15 games at Yost Arena since Oct. of 1982 – behind on the scoreboard.
In the final period of this weekend series, Tom Galvin, Cory McLean and Rob Globke had a different ending in mind.
Behind a Globke’s three-point game (two goals and an assist) and third-period goals from Galvin and McLean and some stellar goaltending from Morgan Cey, Notre Dame knocked off the fifth-ranked Wolverines by a 4-3 score at Yost Arena on Saturday night.
. The win was the first regular-season victory for the Irish at Yost since Oct. 22, 1982 and the first by the Irish since rejoining the CCHA in 1992-93. Notre Dame is 1-14-1 in its last 16 games at Yost.
The Irish win put Notre Dame back over .500 with a 5-4-2 overall mark and a 4-4-0 record in the CCHA. Michigan saw it’s nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) snapped as the Wolverines are now 9-2-1 and 6-1-1 in league play.
“This was a big win for us tonight,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
“We played well all weekend, but I told them before the game that you can’t just play well to beat Michigan. You have to find away to win. Tonight we did.”
The Irish peppered freshman sensation Al Montoya with 24 shots through two periods but had just one goal to show for it. In the final stanza, the Irish would collect three goals on just seven shots.
Michigan opened the scoring in the first period while Notre Dame was on the power play.
Dwight Helminen intercepted an errant Irish pass at the Wolverine blue line and raced in alone on Cey. The sophomore forward fired a wrist shot from between the hashmarks that beat the Irish goaltender high to his stick side for the lone goal of the period at 6:45. The goal was Helminen’s fifth of the season.
The short-handed goal was the fourth given up by the Irish this season and equals the total surrendered in 37 games during the 2001-02 season.
Notre Dame dominated the second period outshooting Michigan 13-5. The Wolverines did not get their first shot until less than six minutes remained in the period and that came on a power play.
The Irish were able to tie the game early in the second stanza as Globke got his first of the night and eighth of the season when he jammed a rebound past Montoya at 3:44.
Defenseman Evan Nielsen got the play started when he jumped into the play from his spot at right defense and fired a wrist shot from the bottom of the right wing circle. Montoya made the stop, but Globke controlled the rebound and got a shot off from in close that the freshman netminder got a piece of before it crossed the goal line.
Despite being outshot in the period, Michigan took advantage of an Irish penalty with a power-play goal at 16:17. John Shouneyia slid the puck from the left point to Milan Gajic near the goal line. Gajic walked it in front and found Eric Nystrom alone on the right side. Nystrom ripped a shot past Cey for his fifth goal of the year to give Michigan the 2-1 lead.
Tom Galvin tied the game at 2:48 when he snuck in from the right point and took a feed from Connor Dunlop in the slot. Galvin ripped a wrist shot over Michigan goaltender Montoya’s glove for his first of the season.
It would take until the 14:20 mark for the Irish to get their first lead of the weekend.
Neil Komadoski sent Cory McLean down the left wing boards. McLean got buy the defenseman and got of a shot on Montoya. The freshmen goaltender made the stop, but McLean managed to jam the rebound through his pads to give the Irish the 3-2 lead.
“Cory’s goal was a big one for us,” said Poulin.
“We had outplayed them for most of the weekend and it was good to see his hardwork pay off to give us the lead for the first time.”
The Irish didn’t get much time to celebrate as Gajic whipped a wrist shot past Cey at 16:05 to get the sellout crowd of 6,698 at Yost back into the game.
Notre Dame answered quickly, scoring just 15 seconds later when Globke got his second of the night when as he drilled a Dunlop shot past Montoya for the 4-3 final score.
From there, Cey held off Michigan’s frantic attack, making 13 of his 25 saves over the course of the final period. Montoya finished the night with 27 saves as Notre Dame outshot the Wolverines for the second night in a row, this time 31-28.
The Irish are now 2-2-1 this season versus nationally ranked teams. Notre Dame will next be in action on Friday, Nov. 29 when the Irish travel to Fairbanks, Alaska for a weekend series versus Alaska Fairbanks. Game time both Friday and Saturday is 7:05 p.m. (11:05 p.m. in South Bend).
IRISH ITEMS:
** Freshman left wing Mike Walsh made his first appearance of the season in the win over Michigan. He missed the first 10 games of the season after suffering a broken jaw on Oct. 4 in Notre Dame’s preseason game with Toronto.
** The Notre Dame power play struggled on the weekend going 0-for-13 on the weekend (0-7 on Friday and 0-6 on Saturday). Over the last six games, the Irish are 1-for-35 (2.9%) on the power play.
** With the road win, Notre Dame is now 3-1-1 away from home this season. Since Feb. 9, 2002, the Irish are 8-2-1 on the road.
** With two assists on the night, senior center Connor Dunlop snapped a six-game scoring drought.
GAME SUMARY:
1 2 3 F
Notre Dame (5-4-2/4-4-0) 0 1 3 4
Michigan (9-2-1/6-1-1) 1 1 1 3
Scoring
First Period: UM: Dwight Helminen 5 (unassisted), SHG, 6:45.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UM: 3 for 6 minutes
Second Period: ND: Rob Globke 8 (Evan Nielsen), 3:44; UM: Eric Nystrom 5 (Milan Gajic, John Shouneyia), PPG, 16:28.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UM: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Tom Galvin 1 (Connor Dunlop, Rob Globke), 5:26: ND: Cory McLean 3 (Neil Komadoski), 14:20: UM: Gajic 3 (Helminen, Eric Werner), 16:05; ND: Globke 9 (Dunlop, Joe Zurenko), 16:20.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; UM: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 11 – 13 – 7 – 31
Michigan 9 – 5 – 14 – 28
Goaltender Saves:
ND – Morgan Cey (60:00) 8 – 4 – 13 – 25
UM – Al Montoya (58:43) 11 – 12 – 4 – 27
Power Plays:
ND: 0 for 6
UM: 1 for 7
Attendance: 6,698