March 12, 2005
Ann Arbor, Mich. – Defenseman Eric Werner flipped the rebound of a David Moss shot over Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey’s glove at 2:05 of overtime to give the Michigan Wolverines a 1-0 win over the Irish to take the best-of-three opening round, two games to none at Yost Arena. After losing game one on Friday by a 10-1 score, the Irish, led by Cey the senior goaltender came out with something to prove.
“I didn’t want my career to end with that game on Friday,” said Cey.
“I tried to focus on what I had to do to help the team win. We gave them all that they could handle for 62 minutes. I think we showed people that we can play with the best.”
Cey kept the Irish in the game with several spectacular saves in regulation, stopping all 38 shots he faced. Michigan’s Al Montoya stopped all 19 he saw in regulation to send the game to the extra stanza.
Notre Dame’s Brock Sheahan and Michigan’s Eric Nystrom were whistled off for roughing just 19 seconds into overtime forcing the teams to play four-on-four.
After Cey made two stops, the Irish broke back only to have a rush broken up by an apparent hooking penalty at center ice that wasn’t called.
Michigan countered with Moss getting a shot from the bottom of the right circle that Cey kicked out. The rebound bounced toward the right wing circle where Werner whipped it home for his eighth goal of the season and the game winner.
“They got off a shot from my right that I got a pad on,” recalled Cey.
“The rebound went to my left and it looked like one of my teammates was going to be able to play it. I hesitated a little in sliding over and Werner buried it.”
After Friday’s bad loss, head coach Dave Poulin was happy with the way his team turned things around.
“I was pleased with the effort tonight,” said Poulin.
“We played hard and played with pride. We made some corrections and executed our game plan and it worked pretty well. We didn’t let them get any momentum tonight. They are a team that feeds on momentum.
The Irish head coach also singled out his senior goaltender.
“Tonight sums up the way Morgan has played for us his entire career. He was outstanding tonight. He really took our expectations for him to a new level,” said Poulin.
The Irish season comes to an end with a 5-27-6 record overall. Michigan improves to 28-7-3 and now moves on to the CCHA Super Six next week at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
This marks the first time in four years that the Irish will not be participating in the Super Six.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 OT - FNotre Dame (5-27-6) 0 0 0 0 0Michigan (28-7-3) 0 0 0 1 1
ScoringFirst Period: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UM: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UM: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 1for 2 minutes; UM: 1 for 2 minutes.
Overtime: UM: Eric Werner 8 (David Moss, Nick Martens), 2:05.Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UM: 1for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 8 - 5 - 6 - 0 - 19Michigan 14 - 13 - 11 - 6 - 44
Goaltender Saves:ND - Morgan Cey (62:05) 14 - 13 - 11 - 5 - 43UM - Al Montoya (62:05) 8 - 5 - 6 - 0 - 19
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 3UM: 0 for 3
Attendance: 6,721