Hockey: Winning streak extended to 4 as Irish sweep Lakers
By JUSTIN SCHUVER
Sports Writer
As has happened so often during the regular season, the Irish ran into stellar goaltending by their opponent.
Only this time, it didn't matter.
Notre Dame extended its winning streak to four and moved into a tie for fifth place in the CCHA with 3-2 and 6-3 wins over Lake Superior State Friday and Saturday, respectively.
"It feels good to have turned things around over the last two weeks," said head coach Dave Poulin. "This was a big four-game stretch for us."
The only thing that prevented both games from being blowouts was stellar goaltending by the two Laker netminders. The Irish outshot their opponent 106-52 on the weekend.
Coming into Friday's game, the Irish were on a tear, having beaten Bowling Green on the road the weekend before, with both games ending in 3-2 scores.
At home on Friday, the Irish once again managed a 3-2 result.
Defenseman Brett Lebda put the Irish ahead about midway through the first period after a nice give-and-go play with senior forward Michael Chin.
The Irish outshot the Lakers 19-4 in the first period, but were unable to get any more goals past sophomore goalie Matt Violin.
The second period was a different story, as forward Cory McLean beat Violin just less than four minutes into the period with a nifty move.
McLean faked left to draw a Laker defenseman and goad Violin out of the net. He then quickly shifted to the right and just managed to slide the puck behind Violin.
The game remained 2-0 until the third period, when freshman forward Mike Walsh gave the Irish some extra insurance two minutes into the period.
Kyle Dolder and Tim Wallace each attempted shots that Violin was able to stop, but the puck squirted away from the Laker goalie to Walsh, who buried the puck for his first goal of the season.
Just 54 seconds later, the Lakers got on the board with a goal from forward Adrian Kremblewski.
"After the goal that put us up 3-0, I thought there might have been a bit of a lapse," Poulin said. "They got a little momentum as well."
The Lakers were able to ride that momentum for one more goal, with Kyle Anderson scoring about the six-minute mark, but the Irish were able to hold on for the win.
The Irish outshot the Lakers 50-21 for the game, but Violin kept the visitors in the game until the very end.
Saturday, the Irish didn't have to deal with Violin. Laker head coach Frank Anzalone decided instead to start sophomore Terry Denike in net.
Denike was stellar in the first period, stopping all 19 Irish shots he faced.
The Lakers got on the board first, with a goal from defenseman Ren Fauci from the blue line past Irish goaltender Morgan Cey for a 1-0 lead about six minutes into the game.
The Irish finally got their answer and solved Denike early in the second period, when Connor Dunlop put home a rebound of a Rob Globke shot.
Seven minutes later, freshman Matt Amado gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game. Again it was off a rebound as Denike stopped Neil Komadoski's bid but gave the puck to Amado, who flipped it home.
A minute later, the Lakers tied the game at two on the power play as Fauci got his second goal from the blue line that managed to elude a screened Cey.
The Irish answered with a power-play tally with about five minutes remaining in the period with a freshman-to-senior combination.
Amado took the puck to the right circle and made a gorgeous pass across the crease to senior forward John Wroblewski, who beat Denike as the goalie tried to move over to the left.
Once more the lead was short-lived as the Lakers came back to tie it two minutes later after a costly Irish turnover led to a goal by defenseman Kory Scoran.
Connor Dunlop managed to regain the lead for the Irish before the end of the high-scoring second, as he once more scored a rebound goal on Denike with about two minutes left in the period.
The Irish blew the game open in the third with a goal by defenseman Brett Lebda with six minutes left in the game.
After the Lakers pulled Denike with two minutes or so remaining, Chin iced the win for the Irish with an empty net goal.
Dunlop, who assisted on Chin's tally, was the game's first star with a four-point night.
"It was personally nice, but more than that it was good to get that fourth win in a row," Dunlop said. "I don't think I did anything different tonight, it's just that sometimes you get the bounces."
Dunlop was the leading scorer for the Irish last season, but came into the game as only the third-leading scorer on this year's team.
"[Scoring] is something I expect out of myself," he said. "As long as I chip in and do what I can that's the best way for me to help the team."
The win puts the Irish in a tie for fifth place in the conference with Northern Michigan, one point ahead of seventh-place Miami. The Irish face Northern Michigan in a home-and-home series to end the season.
"It feels good [to be in fifth place]," said Poulin. "The team realizes that the goal is still ahead of us."
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 24, 2003
