November 17, 1996

Mankato State Downs Irish 4-3 In Overtime

Mavericks score two shorthanded goals in 27-second stretch,Smith wins game in OT

Irish again outshoot opponent as frustrations continue infirst period and on powerplays

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Junior defenseman David Smith scoredon a slapshot from the blue line early in overtime, liftingMankato State to a 4-3 victory over Notre Dame in non-conferencehockey action Sunday afternoon at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.

Mankato State (3-5-10), which is in its first year as a DivisionI program, held a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes remaining inregulation before Notre Dame’s Joe Dusbabek and Terry Lorenzboth found the net to eventually force overtime.

Notre Dame (3-5-1) – which lost 5-1 to Ferris State on Fridaydespite outshooting the Bulldogs 39-21 – again suffered throughanother frustrating day on offense, as the Irish outshot theMavericks 40-24 but came away on the short end of thescoreboard.

The loss extended two other frustrating trends for Notre Dame,which went 0-for-8 on powerplay chances Sunday and is just1-for-21 over the past three games. The Irish also have scoredjust twice this season in the first period, despite taking acombined 67 shots in the opening 20 minutes of the first ninegames this season.

Sunday’s slow start required Notre Dame to come back and tie thegame for the sixth time this season (in 10 deficits faced).Sunday’s game was the first time this season Notre Dame had comeback but ended up with a loss, after comeback wins over WesternOntario and Bowling Green and a tie vs. Western Michigan.

Smith – a converted forward who was starting for the first timein his career at defense due to injuries to a pair ofteammates – nearly scored the game-winner three seconds beforethe final shot, on an identical play after junior Mark Zachariasbeat Notre Dame freshman Troy Bagne on a faceoff at the rightcircle. On that first draw, Zacharias kicked the puck back tothe right point for Smith, who sent a hard and low shot on net,with sophomore Forrest Karr squeezing the puck between his padsto preserve the tie. Zacharias then beat Bagne again and Smithdrilled the game-winner inside the right post (0:55).

Smith had an even earlier chance to score in overtime, when heskated onto a lead pass at the blue line and had a clear path toKarr. But the Irish netminder – who was making just his secondcareer start – stuffed the low shot, setting up the first of thefinal two faceoffs.

Possibly the most pivotal part of the game came late in thesecond period when Mavericks sophomore right wing Tyler Deisscored a pair of shorthanded goals in a span of 27 seconds,following costly turnovers in the Irish zone. Deis’s goal at15:44 represented the first shorthanded goal allowed by NotreDame all season (in over 520 minutes) and the Irish gave oneaway just seconds later, providing the visitors a two-goalcushion.

Mankato jumped ahead at the 12:51 mark of the first period,scoring on a 4-on-4 situation when Deis skated in from the leftside and dropped the puck for junior defenseman Jason Krug, whothen beat Karr with a quick shot.

Bagne tied the game early in the second period, netting hisfirst career goal after taking a pass from sophomore NealJohnson and skating between the circles before beating sophomoreDes Christopher on a low shot to the right side (Christopherfinished with 37 saves while boosting his season record to5-1-0).

The Mavericks surged back ahead later in the secondperiod – after a hooking penalty on Andy Fermoyle had theMavericks skating a man-down – when junior center Jason Rintalaintercepted a cross-ice pass from Notre Dame defenseman BenoitCotnoir and quickly fired a shot from the leftside faceoffcircle. Karr made the chest save, but Deis was waiting to stickin the rebound.

Seconds later, junior center Ryan Rintoul came away with thepuck at a crowded blue line in the Irish zone and slid a passbetween his legs towards the Irish net. Deis skated onto thepuck and beat Karr with a shot that ricocheted into the net(16:11).

Dusbabek, a freshman right wing, netted his team-leading fourthgoal of the season at the 5:56 mark of the third period, puttingback a rebounded shot from Lyle Andrusiak. In the closingmoments, another Irish freshman – defenseman Nate Borega – took apass from sophomore Brian Urick and fired a shot from the leftpoint. Senior co-captain Terry Lorenz was filling the creasearea and got his stick on the puck, redirecting it into the netfor the equalizer (17:52).

Six minutes before Lorenz’ goal, freshman defenseman TysonFraser appeared to have tied the game on a shot from the leftside of the blue line. The puck hit off Christopher’s pad andappeared to bounce up into the net before bouncing down and backinto play.

Notre Dame had the game’s first eight shots on goal and held thevisitors without a shot for the first 10 minutes of the game.Two periods later, the Irish had the first 16 shots of the thirdperiod while holding Mankato State without a shot on net in thefinal period until six minutes remained in regulation.

MANKATO STATE 4, NOTRE DAME 3 (OT)
Non-Conference Hockey
Joyce Center Fieldhouse

                   1   2   3   OT    Final       MANKATO STATE      1   2   0   1   -   4NOTRE DAME         0   1   2   0   -   3SCORING
1st period:  1. MS - Krug (Deis) 4-4, 12:51.
2nd period:  1. ND - Bagne (Johnson) 3:18;  2. MS - Deis(Rintala) SH, 15:44;  3. MS - Deis (Rintoul) SH, 16:11.
3rd period:  2. ND - Dusbabek (Andrusiak, Lorenz) 5:56;  3.ND - Lorenz (Borega, Urick) 17:52.
OT:  4. MS - Smith (Zacharias) 0:55.SHOTS ON GOAL: MS 4-12-4-4/24;  ND 13-10-17-0/40.SAVES:          Christopher (MS) 13-9-15/37;  Karr (ND) 3-10-4/20.PENALTIES:      MS 9-for-18;  ND 7-for-14.POWERPLAY:     MS 0-for-6;   ND 0-for-8.RECORDS:  Mankato State 5-4-1, Notre Dame 3-5-1

POSTGAME QUOTES

Mankato State Coach Don Brose
“Our kids played well. We were out-sized by Notre Dame, buthandled their physicality well. We made the most of ouroffensive opportunities and Des Christopher played extremelywell in the net. This is a good win for us.”

Notre Dame Coach Dave Poulin
On the game: “It was disappointing, there’s no questionabout it. We just cannot turn it on. We were fortunate to getto tie them at three, but we shouldn’t have been in thatsituation. We’ve talked as a group and addressed a lot ofissues, but at some point you just have to play.”

On Notre Dame errors in the game: “What concerns me isthat the same mistakes are being repeated. Mistakes occur allthe time in hockey, but it’s when they are repeated all the timethat you have to address them in a different manner.”

“We had two big mistakes that were mental errors. They werephysical actions, but they were mental errors. And they were bypeople who shouldn’t be making those mistakes.”

On flashes of brilliance: “It is not okay to just do thatsometimes. When you witness it happening, you want it to happenmore. It is one thing if you are not capable of playing thatwell, but to see it on occasion … it’s frustrating.”

On positives in the game: “We did come back, but weshouldn’t have to be in that situation. I am encouraged by howsome of the guys are playing, like Joe Dusbabek, Nathan Borega,and Sean Molina.”

On the goalies: “This was Forrest Karr’s first start in along time. He did a nice job. I hope they decide by their play[whether Notre Dame uses a rotation system].

What next?: “We just have to keep hammering away. Theonly thing that I know to do is to keep working. We see theflashes of dominance. Now we just need to put it together inlonger stretches.”