Irish victory raises playoff hopes
By JEFF BALTRUZAK
Sports Writer
Three weeks ago, Notre Dame's playoff hopes were just that — hopes. Desperate ones.
Two consecutive losses at Ohio State had officially put the Irish against the wall, and the squad could not seem to find its scoring touch.
That was then.
Now, following a 3-1 win over Alaska-Fairbanks on Saturday and a 4-4 tie on Friday night in Fairbanks, the Irish suddenly control their own playoff destiny and playoff hopes have turned into playoff considerations.
Notre Dame is 3-0-2 in its last five, and they have jumped ahead of Bowling Green in the race for the tenth and final playoff spot, with 18 points to the Falcons' 17. The win and tie this weekend improve Notre Dame's record to 9-21-7 overall, and 6-14-6 in league play.
Rotating goalies all season, Coach Dave Poulin went with Tony Zasowski in Friday's game against the Nanooks. The Irish jumped ahead on the Nanooks, only to watch their lead melt away.
Fittingly enough, the Dan Carlson scored first for the Irish when he guided a Connor Dunlap slapshot into the net on the power play for a 1-0 lead. The senior left winger is Notre Dame's top scorer and has been the most consistant offensive threat all season but especially in the playoff drive.
Less than four minutes passed before Cam Keith of the Nanooks beat Zasowski to tie the game, the first of two power-play goals Alaska Fairbanks would score during the period.
Matt Van Arkel pounded a rebound past Preston McKay to give Notre Dame a 2-1 advantage, and just three minutes later, the siren would wail again for the Irish as Rob Globke fired a pass that David Inman one-timed into the net to give the Irish breathing room at 3-1.
But the next 12 minutes of action would belong to the Nanooks. Keith netted his second goal at 18:36 in the first period, and at 10:10 in the second period, his teammate defenseman Chad Hamilton fired a puck that clipped Zasowski's glove on its way into the goal to knot the game at 3-3.
The freshman Globke put the Irish up when Evan Nielsen fed him on the left side of the rink, and he put the puck past McKay as he crossed in front of the crease for a 4-3 Irish advantage.
Going into the third period, Zasowski had to leave the game with blurred vision, the result of a collision while in goal during the second period. Poulin sent in junior Jeremiah Kimento to finish out the game and to preserve the slim Notre Dame lead.
That lead evaporated when Cory Rask for the Nanooks slipped the puck between Kiminto's pads and the left post to tie the game at 4-4.
The next 15 minutes of the third period and the entire five minute overtime went without a score as Kimento was solid for the Irish, making 10 saves in a reliever role.
Kimento got the start on Saturday in place of Zasowski, and played solidly. He allowed just one goal in the second period, saving 29 shots.
"When they scored, it just made me mad," Kimento said. "I couldn't dwell on the goal."
The start of the game looked like the previous night's contest, with Dan Carlson scoring first again in the opening period when Brett Lebda assisted him on the power play.
Lebda got into the scoring column himself when the Irish defenseman took a rebound and slammed it back past McKay.
Carlson put the Irish up 3-1 when he scored his second of the night on an assist from Ryan Dolder after the Nanooks had pulled McKay looking for the equalizer.
The Irish face off against Western Michigan this weekend.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 26, 2001
