Icers remain in CCHA hunt with victory in Alaska
By MATT OLIVA
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame hockey team came away from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks with a win and a tie, giving them three points for the weekend, with every point from here on out crucial in the positioning for the CCHA playoffs.
The Irish (11-13-6, 8-5-5 CCHA) are currently in fifth place, but trail the two third place teams by only four points. Michigan State and Lake Superior State hold on to the third position, but the Spartans are slumping, while Lake Superior is surging ahead.
The Nanooks rallied for two goals in the second game of the series to earn one point in the weekend by forcing a tie. The two goals came within the final five minutes of the game, denying the Irish a two-win weekend.
Jay Kopischke opened the scoring for the Irish in the first period, knocking the puck in for his fourth goal of the season. UAF answered right back when junior right wing Ryan Reinheller tied the game with a power-play goal later in the first period.
Irish sophomore David Inman then converted two power play goals to give Notre Dame a commanding 3-1 lead over UAF. The goals came midway through the second period and early in the third period.
With less than five minutes remaining in regulation, UAF LW Kevin McNeill ignited the comeback with an unassisted goal at the 15:34 mark. McNeill broke down the middle and split the Irish defense with several tough moves before beating Zasowski for the four-on-four score.
Freshman Blaine Bablitz set up the game-tying goal, with sophomore Bobby Andrews sending home a low power-play shot from the center of the blue line with 1:55 left to play.
The two teams had great scoring opportunities with less than a minute left in the overtime period. Dan Carlson set Joe Dusbabek for a great shot, but Nanook goaltender Lance Mayes turned him back.
Then with less than seven seconds remaining, Reinheller broke free for one last shot. Irish goalie Tony Zasowski was there to make the save with his pad and preserve the tie.
In Friday night's game, the two teams played another close game, but the Irish found a way to survive for the win. Juniors Dan Carlson and Ryan Dolder scored goals for Notre Dame within a six-minute stretch of the second period and Zasowski was able to hold off UAF to earn a 2-1 victory.
Notre Dame was down first in this game. UAF sophomore defenseman Daniel Carriere converted on the power play early in the second period for a 1-0 lead. The Nanooks had most of the opportunities in the scoreless first period but failed to capitalize on three power plays, including a 37-second stretch of five-on-three play. But the Nanooks managed just nine shots on goals the rest of the way, with the Irish owning a 19-6 shot edge during the decisive second period.
Dolder's goal came first for the Irish, off a play setup by Inman and Andy Jurkowski. The two linemates found Dolder at the top of the slot, where he quickly beat the UAF goaltender.
Carlson scored his third game-winning goal of the season midway through the period. His goal was setup up off of a deflection from right wing Michael Chin's shot from the top of the circle. The puck came loose between the circles and Carlson found the net for his team-leading seventh power play goal.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 1, 2000
