HOCKEY: Irish strong in sweep of Lake Superior
By CHRIS FEDERICO
Assistant Sports Writer
The men's hockey team worried a bye week might take away any momentum that it had gained in an impressive performance against then-No. 3 Michigan State.
It didn't.
The Irish returned to the ice this past weekend at Lake Superior State and gained a two-game sweep of the Lakers , 6-0 and 3-1.
"I think we're right where we need to be," head coach Dave Poulin said. "We've played extremely well in our last four games."
The improved play of the Irish began three weekends ago at Michigan State when they played the Spartans to a tough 2-0 loss the first night and then knocked off Michigan State in the second match-up. Following the bye week, the Irish made another impressive trip, this time to Lake Superior State, and came home with two more road victories to extend their wining streak to three games, their longest of the season.
"We beat [Michigan State] that Saturday night when they hadn't lost in 34 straight games at home," Poulin said. "Then to carry it through the break week and be able to play as well as we played at Lake Superior is terrific."
The play of the defense has been a key to success for the Irish in their recent streak. Over the last four games, they have only allowed five goals, one of which was on an empty net at the end of the Michigan State loss.
"Our defense has been the biggest change," Poulin said. "We've given up four goals total in our last four games, excluding the empty net goal, after giving up 13 in a weekend against Alaska. We really tightened up this weekend."
Much of this improved defense has shown through in the stellar play of freshman goalie Morgan Cey, who allowed only one goal in the weekend series that included the second shutout performance of his career.
"[Morgan's] playing extremely well," Poulin said. "Sometimes it's easy to forget that he's a freshman. He's given the team a lot of confidence, and our special teams has gotten better in front of him."
The Irish jumped ahead in the opener Friday night in the first period when freshman Cory McLean scored the first goal of his career on a shot from the blue line that sailed over the head of Laker goalie Matt Violin.
At 8:26 of the second period, Notre Dame added to its lead when defenseman Brett Lebda took a pass at the point from Connor Dunlop and flipped it past Violin.
Lake Superior State pulled within one at 10:21 of the second period on a goal scored after a scramble in front of the net. That was as close as the Lakers would come, however, as the Irish defense held strong.
Junior John Wroblewski added an empty net goal for the Irish to move the score to 3-1 and put the game out of reach.
Saturday night, the Irish took command of the game early as freshman Yan Stastny scored two goals in the first period to put the Irish on top 2-0. Brad Wanchulak, David Inman, Lebda and Wroblewski would each add single goals in the game to push the Irish victory to 6-0.
Cey recorded 16 saves and notched his second shutout of the year.
The pair of victories moved Notre Dame's record to 12-15-5 overall and 10-12-4 in the CCHA.
The Irish hope that their winning streak can carry them through the final two games of the regular season next weekend and into the CCHA playoffs.
"There's a lot to play for right now," Poulin said. "You're playing for positioning, and you're playing for where you are going to play in the playoffs, and you want to go in on a positive note."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 26, 2002
