Feb. 8, 2004
Video Highlights:
Oxford, Ohio – The Miami RedHawks came into the weekend series with Notre Dame in first place in the CCHA standings. In two losses on the weekend, the Irish found out why.
In Friday’s 5-2 win, the RedHawks showed off their offensive attack. Saturday night it was the defenses turn as freshman goaltender Brandon Crawford-West stopped all 33 shots he faced to record his first career shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Irish.
Crawford-West got the only goals he would need from freshman Andy Nelson and senior Greg Hogeboom for the win.
The victory improves Miami to 18-9-3 overall and 15-5-2 in CCHA play. They lead Michigan by at least one point in the standings pending the outcome of the Wolverines game at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday. The Irish fall to 13-11-4 on the year and fall below .500 in the league at 9-10-3.
The first period featured end-to-end action as both goaltenders made big saves to keep the score 0-0.
The RedHawks finally broke through on Irish goaltender Morgan Cey Miami at 18:13 of the first period when freshman left wing Andy Nelson one-timed a shot from the high slot, beating Cey high to the glove side. The goal was his third of the season. Center Mike Kompon made the centering pass from the left wing boards to Nelson to set up the goal.
The RedHawks made it 2-0 at 7:37 of the third period as they were able to turn a nice Irish defensive play into a goal.
Defenseman Brian Sipotz put Nelson and Hogeboom in on a two-on-one break at the Notre Dame blue line. Hogeboom tried to feed the puck over to Nelson as he came in from the right wing but Irish defenseman Wes O’Neill made a nice play to break up the pass. The puck bounced off O’Neill’s stick right back to Hogeboom who fired the puck past Cey who was sliding across the crease to play the pass. The goal was Hogeboom’s 14th of the season and gave him two points on the night.
Notre Dame outshot the RedHawks 33-28 in the game. Cey made 26 stops in the game in dropping his second decision to the RedHawks on the weekend after shutting them out twice in the first round of last year’s CCHA playoffs.
The shutout loss was the third of the season for the Irish with the last two coming by 1-0 scores. Notre Dame has scored just 15 goals in its last eight games since their three-point weekend at Wisconsin.
The Irish will look to get back on the winning track when they return to action next weekend with a home series at the Joyce Center versus Ferris State. Both games have 7:35 p.m. starting times. Saturday’s game will be televised live on Fox Sports Detroit.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 FNotre Dame (13-11-4/9-10-3) 0 0 0 0Miami (18-9-3/15-5-2) 1 0 1 2
ScoringFirst Period: MU: Andy Nelson 3 (Mike Kompon, Greg Hogeboom), 18:13.Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; MU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; MU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Third Period: MU: Hogeboom 14 (Nelson, Brian Sipotz), 7:37Penalties: ND: 8 for 40 minutes; MU: 5 for 26 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 13 - 5 - 15 - 33Miami 10 - 8 - 10 - 28
Goaltender Saves:ND - Morgan Cey (60:00) 9 - 8 - 9 - 26MU - Brandon Crawford-West (60:00) 13 - 5 - 15 - 33
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 1MU: 0 for 3
Attendance: 2,710 (sellout)