Feb. 2, 2001
Columbus, Ohio – Ohio State’s Mike McCormick scored two goals and freshman Dave Steckel ran his scoring streak to 15 games with a goal and two assists as the Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame, 5-2, in CCHA action Friday night at the Value City Arena.
The loss drops Notre Dame to 6-20-5 overall and 3-13-4 in league play. OSU improves to 13-10-2 on the year and moves to 10-7-2 in the CCHA. Notre Dame falls into last in the league as Bowling Green moves ahead after downing Lake Superior, 4-1.
Three of the first four goals in the game came with the teams skating four-on-four. The Buckeyes struck first at the 8:47 mark with both teams down a man.
Center R.J. Umberger snuck behind the Irish defense and took a lead pass from defenseman Pete Broccoli at the Irish blueline and beat Notre Dame goaltender Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) with a backhander for his 12th of the season
Steckel upped the lead to 2-0 with the teams skating four aside at 14:28. Defenseman Doug Andress fired a shot from the right point that was stopped by the Irish defense. Steckel, parked on the doorstep fired the rebound past Zasowski for his 13th goal of the season and extended his scoring streak to 15 games.
Notre Dame has now been outscored 36-17 in the first period this season.
Ohio State’s third goal of the night came with the team’s skating at even strength. McCormick got his first of the game at 4:47 when his slapper beat Zasowski from just inside the blueline for his third of the year.
With the teams playing four-on-four for the third time on the night, Notre Dame broke through. With a face-off to the right of OSU goaltender Mike Betz, center Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) won the draw to left wing Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) who whipped a wrister past Betz for his 11th goal of the season at 6:15.
Notre Dame started the third period with 3:32 left in a four-minute minor to OSU’s Eric Skaug, but failed to capitalize.
“The four-minute power play was definitely the turning point,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
“We had some great chances and didn’t score. There were two backdoor plays right at the start of the third and we didn’t score. I told them that individuals have to make plays. Ohio State’s first two goals came on great individual efforts. We needed that and didn’t get it, especially on the power play.”
Ohio State did convert on its power play chances. Jean-Francois Dufour got the Buckeyes’ first power play of the night when his shot from the left wing circle broke through Zasowski’s pads to give the Buckeyes a 4-1 lead. The goal came at 10:10 and was Dufour’s 12th of the season.
Exactly two minutes later, with Ohio State on another power play, Carlson and Gill struck shorthanded.
Gill, the pesky freshman center poked the puck to Carlson along the left wing boards inside the OSU blueline. Carlson did the rest as he got around the defenseman and beat Betz with a short wrist shot for his second goal of the game and 12th of the year. The shorthanded goal was Carlson’s second of the year and moves him into fourth on ND’s all-time shorthanded list, one off the school record held by three players.
McCormick closed out the scoring at 13:36 on the power play as he beat Zasowski from in close off of a centering feed from Nick Ganga at 13:36.
Ohio State scored twice on seven power play attempts while the Irish failed to score in seven chances with the man-advantage.
The Buckeyes outshot the Irish, 32-26 in the game. Zasowski made 27 saves in the Notre Dame goal while Betz made 24 stops for OSU.
Game two of the weekend series will be played at the Value City Arena tonight (Feb. 3). Face-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
Game Summary: 1 2 3 F
Notre Dame (6-20-5/3-13-4) 0 1 1 2
Ohio State (13-10-2/10-7-2) 2 1 2 5
Scoring
First Period: OSU: R.J. Umberger 11 (Pete Broccoli, Jaisen Freeman), 4X4, 8:47, OSU: Dave Steckel 13 (Doug Andress, Paul Camponigri), 4X4, 14:28.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes, OSU: 4 for 8 minutes.
Second Period: OSU: Mike McCormick 3 (Steckel), 4:47, ND: Dan Carlson 11 (Aaron Gill), 4X4, 6:15.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes, OSU: 5 for 10 minutes.
Third Period: OSU: Jean-Francois Dufour 12 (Steckel, Camponigri), PPG, 10:10, ND: Carlson 12 (Gill), SHG, 12:10, OSU: McCormick 4 (Nick Ganga, Scott May), PPG, 13:36.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes, OSU: 1 for 2.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 7 – 10 – 9 – 26
Ohio State 10 – 15 – 7 – 32
Goaltender Saves:
Notre Dame – Tony Zasowski (60:00) 8 – 14 – 5 – 27
Ohio State – Mike Betz (60:00 ) 7 – 9 – 8 – 24
Power Plays:
Notre Dame: 0 for 7
Ohio State: 2 for 7
Attendance: 10,451