ND defeats, ties Bowling Green
By BILL HART
Senior Sports Writer
The Notre Dame hockey team took a major step towards securing the final Central Collegiate Hockey Association home ice playoff spot, capturing three points with a 5-3 win and a 1-1 tie against Bowling Green.
"To come into the home rink of one of the hottest teams in the league, and leave with three out of four points is pretty good." head coach Dave Poulin said.
With just a few games remaining in the season, the playoff picture for the CCHA playoffs is still unclear. Even though 10 of the 12 teams in the conference qualify for the tournament, the top five teams claim home ice for the first round. The Irish, in fifth place, are separated from the fourth- and seventh-place teams by less than five points.
The Irish set the tone for the weekend on Friday — formally clinching a spot in the playoffs with a 5-3 win over Falcons.
The visitors built an early cushion off a short-handed, unassisted goal by freshman center Connor Dunlop, 7 minutes, 34 seconds into the first period.
It was the second shorthanded goal for the Irish this season, with both scored by the St. Louis native. Later in the period, passes by senior captain Ben Simon and junior left wing Dan Carlson set up a goal for senior right wing Joe Dusbabek from the left side of the crease at the 15:01 mark.
Freshman goaltender Tony Zasowski recorded an amazing 17-save first period, en route to his 31 save performance on the night. The Falcons almost put an end to his first-period shutout with 0:29 left, after the puck bounced out of his glove and landed near the goal line. But Zasowski grabbed the puck just before it crossed the goal.
"It was our goaltending all night," Poulin said. "He saved us early and he's been good all year."
Falcon center Tyler Knight prevented the shutout with four minutes remaining in a relatively quiet second period.
The Irish answered Knight's goal with eight seconds left in the second.
Simon scored a power-play goal off passes by Carlson and junior Ryan Dolder to push the lead to 3-1.
The Falcons battled back at the 2:38 mark of the third period. Left wing Curtis Valentine scored from the right point shortly after an Irish penalty had expired.
The Irish struck back on another Simon goal — the eventual game-winner — off a pass from senior defenseman Tyson Fraser.
The Falcons closed the lead to 4-3 at the 4:58 mark but the Falcons would get no closer.
The Irish closed the scoring with 0:18 left in the game on an empty-netter by Carlson. Simon assisted on the goal.
Simon, a native of Northern Ohio, is just one of the players who has come on strong during the final games of the season. After Friday's five-point game, he has totaled three goals and five assists in his last three games.
Saturday's game was a complete reversal from Friday's deluge of scoring, as the Falcons regrouped behind junior goaltender Shawn Timm to battle back to a 1-1 tie.
The Irish drew first blood again, this time off a goal from freshman left wing Jake Wiegand at the 8:17 mark of the second. The goal, with assists from Dunlop and Evan Nielsen, was the first of the Michigan native's career.
The Falcons scored the equalizer with just over eight minutes to play, when freshman Ryan Fultz lifted the puck in to the right side of the net. Both teams had opportunities in the overtime period, but the Irish only recorded one shot on goal during the extra period.
With the weekend, Notre Dame (14-15-7, 11-10-6 CCHA) stays two points behind fourth-place Lake Superior, while they have opened up a two-point lead on sixth-place Ferris State and a three-point lead over Nebraska-Omaha.
The Irish have one bye weekend before the last series of the season — a home-and-away against second-place Michigan State starting March 3.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 21, 2000
