Dec. 6, 2008
Big Rapids, Mich. – Defense and goaltending was the name of the game on Saturday night at Ewigleben Arena as Notre Dame’s Jordan Pearce made one goal stand up as the Irish shutout Ferris State 1-0 for their seventh straight road win.
Dan Kissel’s second period goal was the lone goal of the night as Bulldogs goaltender Pat Nagle battled Pearce shot for shot, stopping 33-of-34 on the night.
The win runs Notre Dame’s current unbeaten streak to 12 games (10-0-2) and the seven consecutive road wins equals a program best set back during the 1976-77 season. The Irish are now 12-3-2 overall and 8-2-2-2 in the conference, good for 20 points. Ferris State falls to 7-8-3 overall and 6-6-2-0 in CCHA play.
For Pearce, the shutout was his second of the season and sixth of his career as he has now been in goal for all 12 games of the unbeaten streak.
The two teams battled through a scoreless first period with each goaltender making eight saves.
The game remained scoreless until late in the second period when Notre Dame broke the scoring drought with a pretty passing play from Ian Cole to Kissel on the doorstep.
Freshman center Patrick Gaul left the puck for Cole in the neutral zone and he carried it down the right boards before pulling up near the goal line. The sophomore defenseman threaded a pass through players in front of Bulldog goaltender Pat Nagle to Kissel parked on at the top of the left crease. He got his stick on it to redirect it behind Nagle at 17:55 for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 Notre Dame lead.
Pearce and Nagle had another strong period as Pearce stopped all eight shots he faced while the Irish were peppering the Ferris State netminder with 15 shots.
The two teams battled in the final period with neither goaltender giving an inch as Notre Dame outshot the Bulldogs, 11-9, in the stanza.
The Irish saw their power play shut down for the first time in seven games. In the previous six contests, Notre Dame was 18-for-42 with the man advantage but was held scoreless in five tries on the night.
Notre Dame also saw its three big scoring streaks snapped as Calle Ridderwall (six games, 6-9-15), Christian Hanson (six games, 6-8-14) and Billy Maday (six games, 5-3-8) saw their streaks come to an end.
Notre Dame closes out the first half of the season next weekend with a home-and-home series with Bowling Green. The series opens on Friday night, Dec. 12 at Bowling Green with face off set for 7:05 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY: 1 2 3 - F#1/#1 Notre Dame (12-3-2/8-2-2-2) 0 1 0 - 1Ferris State (7-8-3/6-6-2-0) 0 0 0 - 0
First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; FSU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Dan Kissel 2 (Ian Cole, Patrick Gaul), 17:55.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; FSU: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 7 for 38 minutes; FSU: 9 for 45 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 8 - 15 - 11 - 34Ferris State 8 - 8 - 9 - 25
Goaltender Saves:ND - Jordan Pearce (60:00) 8 - 8 - 9 - 25FSU - Pat Nagle (58:55) 8 - 14 - 11 - 23
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 5FSU: 0 for 5
Attendance: 1,543