Oct. 1, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame hockey team struggled to find the net in the early going before pulling away for a 4-1 victory over visiting Wilfrid Laurier University, in exhibition action Friday night at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
Notre Dame-which opens Central Collegiate Hockey Association play at the Joyce Center on Thursday versus Michigan-spent much of the night on the power play, converting twice on seven chances. Junior left wing Dan Carlson assisted on both of the power-play goals and iced the victory with a shorthanded, empty-netter.
The Irish owned a dominating 52-13 edge in shots on goal, including a 37-5 margin during the final two periods. Notre Dame’s total shots attempted nearly hit triple digits, as the Irish launched 98 total shots in the game (to WLU’s 31).
The Irish opened the scoring midway through the second period, cashing in their third power-play chance of the night. Sophomore forward David Inman got things going with pass from the right to left circle. Junior left wing Dan Carlson then fired the puck on net and senior center Ben Simon, who was filling the slot, deflected the puck out of the air and past goaltender Chad Marshall (10:03).
The visitors tied the game later in the opening period, after a turnover in the Irish zone. Left wing Jeff Ambrosio came up with the puck near the right boards and fired a pass into the slot area for center Mark Dineley, who faked a low shot before lifting the puck over the left shoulder of sophomore goaltender Jeremiah Kimento (16:06).
Notre Dame retook the lead halfway through the second period, on a power-play goal by Inman-who played center as a freshman but opened Friday’s game as the first-line left wing, alongside Simon and freshman right wing Michael Chin. Carlson record his second of three points by passing to senior defenseman Tyson Fraser, whose shot was deflected by a WLU player but trickled between the circles. Inman was in the right place at the right time and quickly fired the puck into the net, ending the night for Marshall (10:40).
The Irish stretched to a 3-1 cushion four minutes later, when a shot from junior left wing Chad Chipchase kicked off the back boards, deflected off the skates of backup goalie Trevor Francis and ended up in the goal (14:39). Sophomore center Brett Henning and senior right wing Joe Dusbabek picked up assists on the freak play.
Carlson capped the scoring with 17 seconds left to play, firing from outside the blue line into the open net.
Kimento-making the first start of his Irish career-collected seven saves in the opening period while facing just two shots on goal in the second 20 minutes. Freshman Tony Zasowski closed out the game, stopping all three shots he faced.
The Irish defense thwarted all four WLU power-play chances, with the Golden Hawks managing just two power-play shots on goal (Notre Dame racked up 18 power-play shots on goal in its seven man-up chances).
Notre Dame’s opening-day forward lines were as follows: Inman-Simon-Chin, Carlson-freshman Connor Dunlop-junior Matt Van Arkel, Chipchase-Henning-Dusbabek, and junior Jay Kopischke-junior Ryan Dolder-freshman John Wroblewski.
Notre Dame’s defensive pairings included: junior Ryan Clark-who made his first appearance for the Irish since December of 1998, due to a shoulder injury-and senior Nathan Borega, Fraser and freshman Evan Nielsen, and seniors Sean Molina and Andy Jurkowski.
WILFRID LAURIER 1 0 0 - 1NOTRE DAME 1 2 1 - 4
1st: ND 1. Simon (Carlson, Inman), PP, 10:03. 2nd: WLU 1. Dineley (Ambrosio) 16:06, ND 2. Inman (Fraser, Carlson), PP, 10:40, ND 3. Chipchase (Henning, Dusbabek) 14:39. 3rd: ND 4. Carlson (unassisted), SHG/ENG, 19:43.
Shots: WLU 8-2-3/13, ND 15-22-15/52.
Saves: WLU 14-20-14/48 (Chad Marshall 14-10-x/24, Trevor Francis 0-10-14/24), ND 7-2-3/12 (Jeremiah .Kimento 7-2-x/9, Tony Zasowski x-x-3/3).
Power Play: WLU 0-for-4, ND 2-for-7.
Penalties: WLU 10 for 20:00, ND 7 for 14:00.