Oct. 29, 2011
Bowling Green, Ohio – Notre Dame rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the third period, getting a power-play goal from Anders Lee and the game winner from Patrick Gaul to hand the Bowling Green Falcons a 3-2 loss Saturday night at the BGSU Ice Arena.
Lee, who leads the nation with 10 goals, tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal at 7:01 before Gaul snapped a wrist shot past Falcons’ goaltender Andrew Hammond with 8:01 left in the game to give the Irish their third straight win and a series sweep at Bowling Green. Freshman Austin Wuthrich scored Notre Dame’s first goal of the night.
The Falcons built their 2-1 lead on goals by Ryan Viselli and Bryce Williamson with Williamson’s goal at 19:40 of the second giving Bowling Green the one-goal lead.
Notre Dame was forced to kill off a pair of Falcon power plays in the final five minutes and got some big saves from junior goaltender Mike Johnson to preserve the win. Johnson finished with 19 saves in the game while Hammond made 23 saves for Bowling Green.
The win improves the fifth-ranked Irish to 5-2-0 overall and 3-1-0-0 in the CCHA while the Falcons are now 4-3-1 on the year and 1-3-0-0 in conference play.
“We lost our sense of urgency in the second period,” said Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson.
“I thought they out competed us, won more foot races, more faceoffs and we talked about it in the second and the third and of proud of the guys with the way they came back and having it in them to play like that. The only thing is that they shouldn’t need me to motivate them to play like that on a period-by-period basis.”
After a scoreless first period, Bowling Green would get on the scoreboard first, taking a 1-0 lead at the 10:00 mark of the second stanza.
Center Mike Fink carried the puck behind the Notre Dame goal and tried to tuck it inside the right post but Johnson was able to get over and make the stop. Fink got the loose puck and centered it through the crease to Viselli, standing at the top of the crease on the left side. The sophomore snapped it into the empty side for his first goal of the season.
Notre Dame answered back at 12:41 when Wuthrich whistled a shot from the left circle past Hammond for his third goal of the season. Riley Sheahan started the play in motion picking up a loose puck at center ice and moving it to Billy Maday on the left boards. Maday made a nice drop pass to Wuthrich who wasted no time in getting rid of the puck to tie the game at 1-1.
With time running out in the second, the Falcons took the lead as Williamson fired a centering pass from Brett Mohler inside the left post at 19:40 for his fourth goal of the season and second of the weekend to send Bowling Green into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
The Irish were forced to rally in the final 20 minutes and got the game-tying goal from their most reliable goal scorer in Lee. With Notre Dame on the power play, T.J. Tynan carried the puck down the left boards and left it for Sheahan who quickly moved it to Lee at the top of the right-wing circle. The sophomore left wing unloaded it quickly one timing a shot past Hammond to tie the game at 2-2.
Gaul would give the Irish a 3-2 lead less than five minutes later off a great individual effort by freshman Peter Schneider. The Austrian native carried the puck down the right side and moved in on Hammond, taking a shot. The Falcon goaltender made the stop but Schneider tracked down the rebound and carried it around behind the net, finding Gaul cruising down the slot. The senior from Pittsburgh whipped a wrist shot over Hammond’s shoulder and under the cross bar for his second goal of the year and the game winner.
“If you’re going to be a great team, you have to get production from everyone,” stated Jackson.
“There are going to be nights like tonight where they are isolating people and that’s what happens when you don’t have last change against a top defensive pair or a top line. Our guys have to learn to overcome that.”
Despite the lead, the Falcons continued to press and got some help with a pair of power-play chances that the Irish were able to kill.
“I thought our guys stood up to the challenge on the penalty kills,” said Jackson.
“Mike (Johnson) came up with a couple of big stops. That’s the way you have to play to be successful on the road with great penalty killing and great goaltending and we got that tonight.
The Irish will continue their four-game road swing next weekend, November 4-5, when they travel to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for a pair of games at Northern Michigan. Game time both nights from Marquette is 7:35 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#5/#5 Notre Dame (5-2-0/3-1-0-0) 0 1 2 - 3Bowling Green (4-3-1/1-3-0-0) 0 2 0 - 2
Scoring
First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BGSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: BGSU: Ryan Viselli 1 (Mike Fink), 10:00; ND: Austin Wuthrich 3 (Billy Maday, Riley Sheahan), 12:41; BGSU: Bryce Williamson 4 (Brett Mohler, Ryan Carpenter), 19:40.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BGSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Anders Lee 10 (Sheahan, T.J. Tynan), PPG, 7:02; ND: Patrick Gaul 2 (Peter Schneider), 11:59
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; BGSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 11 - 10 - 5 - 26Bowling Green 4 - 11 - 6 - 21
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (60:00) 4 - 9 - 6 - 19BGSU: Andrew Hammond (58:44) 11 - 9 - 3 - 23
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 4
BGSU: 0 for 4
Attendance: 1,928