Nov. 30, 2007
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Notre Dame, Ind. – For the second time in as many games the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had to rally from a three-goal deficit, this time spotting Nebraska-Omaha a 3-0 lead at 12:28 of the second period before coming-from-behind to hand the Mavericks a 5-4 loss at the Joyce Center.
Five different players scored for the Irish with Garrett Regan getting the game-winning goal at the 17:54 mark of the third period when he deflected a Mark Van Guilder shot from the right point past goaltender Jeremie Dupont for the 5-4 score.
Kevin Deeth (ppg), Christian Hanson, Erik Condra (ppg) and Dan Kissel paced the Notre Dame come back after Joey Martin scored a pair of goals for Nebraska-Omaha and JJ Koehler gave the Mavs a 3-0 lead. Mick Lawrence tied the game at 4-4 at 7:57 of the third for UNO’s fourth goal of the night.
For Regan, the goal was his fourth of the year and first since missing four games with an ankle injury.
“We were cycling the puck down low and (Kyle) Lawson made a great feed to (Mark) at the right point. He got a shot off and I was able to get a stick on it and deflect it in,” said the junior left wing. “It’s great to get back and play. It was tough being out, but the team has been playing well.”
The win was the sixth straight for Notre Dame and gives the Irish a 9-1-0 record for the month of November. They are now 13-4-0 on the year and 9-2-0 in the CCHA. Nebraska-Omaha falls to 5-6-1 overall and 4-6-1 in conference play.
Despite the win, Irish head coach Jeff Jackson was not pleased with the Irish giving up the first three goals for the second time in as many games.
“I’m concerned about the way we are starting games,” said Jackson. “I have to take the blame because I’m not doing a good job of getting them ready. At RPI (on Nov. 24), I sensed that we were coming on. Tonight we weren’t playing well.
Nebraska-Omaha scored the lone goal of the first period as Martin scored on the power play at 4:46 as he tucked a Tomas Klempa pass behind Pearce for the 1-0 lead.
Martin made it 2-0 at 10:47 of the second period when he converted a feed from J.P. Platisha for his second of the night and the season.
The lead would go to 3-0 at 12:28 when Pearce stopped Dan Swanson’s shot with the rebound popping up in the air. By the time the Notre Dame goaltender could find the puck, Koehler had poked it in for his second of the year.
Just as at R.P.I. last weekend, the Irish would start their comeback with a power-play goal by Deeth, his third straight game with a power-play marker, this one coming at 17:18. Condra, who had a goal and an assist on the night, threaded the needle with a pass as Deeth went to the goal. The speedy center made a move on Dupont and tucked the puck behind him to cut the lead to 3-1.
“I don’t think that I am playing any differently than before when I wasn’t scoring,” said Deeth. “I’m just getting the bounces. Condra just made a ridiculous pass, but he can do that.”
The turning point of the game came just 1:14 later when Hanson scored his third goal of the season at 18:32. The junior center had just carried the puck over the center red line along the left boards and fired the puck around the glass. Dupont was heading to cut the puck off behind the net when it hit a stanchion, changed directions and bounced crazily into the goal.
“I really had no idea how it got to the net,” said Hanson. “We won a face off in our zone and (Dan) VeNard moved it to me at the blue line. I heard someone say that I had room so I skated it to center. They had three guys back so I just wanted to wrap it around the boards. It hit a stanchion and went in.”
“Hanson’s goal was a big break, probably the turning point of the game,” said Jackson. “We got some lucky breaks tonight. You aren’t always going to get those. That goal seemed to get us going.”
Condra would get the game-tying goal on the power play just 48 seconds into the third period, his seventh of the season. Defenseman Brett Blatchford faked a shot from the left point but passed it to the bottom of the right circle to Deeth who slid a pass to Condra in front and the junior redirected it past Dupont to make it 3-3.
Less than two minutes later at 2:21, Kissel would put Notre Dame ahead for the first time all night as he and linemates Hanson and Evan Rankin outworked the Mavericks on the forecheck. Rankin took the puck away behind the net and got it to Hanson in the left corner. He drove to the goal and got the puck on net but Dupont got a pad on it. Kissel was there and flipped a backhander as the dove across the crease for his third of the season, to make it 4-3.
After seeing the Irish score four times in a span of 5:03, the Mavericks answered back. Mick Lawrence scored from in front and he converted a feed from defenseman Nick Von Bockern for his eighth of the season at 7:57.
That set up Regan’s late-game heroics and the Irish had the 5-4 victory.
Notre Dame out shot Nebraska-Omaha, 25-18, in the game. Pearce finished the night with 14 saves in recording his 11th win of the season. Dupont made 20 saves for the Mavericks.
The two teams will close out the series at the Joyce Center on Saturday night with face off set for 7:05 p.m.
**IRISH NOTES**
• With two points in the game (a goal and an assist), Erik Condra extended his season-high point streak to six games. He has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in the streak. The multiple-point game was his fifth of the season. Defenseman Kyle Lawson now has a four-game point streak (one goal and five assists for six points).
• Notre Dame scored twice on the power play in the game, giving the Irish two or more power-play goals in a game seven times this season and man-advantage goals in 12 of the team’s 17 games. an assist versus Bowling Green, Erik Condra now has a three-game point streak (2g, 3a) and is just three points away
<>GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 – F Nebraska-Omaha (5-6-1/4-6-1) 1 2 1 – 4 #7/#7 Notre Dame (13-4-0/9-2-0) 0 2 3 – 5 Scoring First Period: UNO: Joey Martin 1 (Tomas Klempa, Dan Charleston), PPG, 4:46. Penalties: UNO: 1 for 2 minutes; ND: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: UNO: J. Martin 2 (J.P. Platisha, Klempa), 10:47; UNO: JJ Koehler 2 (Dan Swanson, Bryan Marshall), 12:28; ND: Kevin Deeth 3 (Erik Condra, Kyle Lawson), PPG, 17:18; ND: Christian Hanson 3 (Dan VeNard), 18:32. Penalties: UNO: 4 for 8 minutes; ND: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Condra 7 (Deeth, Brett Blatchford), PPG, 00:48; ND: Dan Kissel 3 (Hanson, Evan Rankin), 2:21; UNO: Mick Lawrence 8 (Nick Von Bokern, Marshall), 7:57; ND: Garrett Regan 4 (Mark Van Guilder, Lawson), 17:54. Penalties: UNO: 0 for 0 minutes; ND: 1 for 2 minutes. Shots On Goal: Nebraska-Omaha 6 – 4 – 8 – 18 Notre Dame 9 – 10 – 6 – 25 Goaltender Saves: UNO – Jeremie Dupoint (59:50) 9 – 8 – 3 – 20 ND – Jordan Pearce (60:00) 5 – 2 – 7 – 14 Power Plays: UNO: 1 for 4 ND: 2 for 4
Attendance: 2,626