HOCKEY: Irish prepare for final weekend
By CHRIS FEDERICO
Assistant Sports Editor
Heading into the final weekend of regular season play, the Notre Dame men's hockey team hopes to keep its three-game winning streak alive and build up some momentum for the upcoming CCHA playoffs.
The Irish will play host to the conference rival Bowling Green. The Falcons currently are in 11th place in the CCHA and are most likely out of postseason tournament play, as only the top 10 teams advance.
The Irish currently hold eighth place in the conference but must be leery of Ferris State, who stands only one point behind the Irish in ninth.
"One thing that appears important right now is that we have to stay ahead of everyone who is behind us," Irish head coach Dave Poulin said.
After last week's play, it is impossible for the Irish to surpass seventh-place Ohio State, but it is important for the Irish to maintain their position in the bracket for seeding in the tournament.
More important than seedings, however, is the team's desire to go into the CCHA playoffs next weekend playing as well as they have been recently.
"It's more important to be playing well than anything," Poulin said. "The move [in standings] doesn't really mean anything because five, six and seven [places] are still uncertain. We're on a nice little roll now, and we just want to keep it rolling."
Indeed the Irish have been playing well of late. Their current three-game winning streak matches the longest of the season and the Irish defense has held its opponents to only five goals in the last three games, including one on an empty net.
"The last four games we've really tightened up defensively," Poulin said. "Giving up only four goals in the last four games is tremendous, and we've continued that focus on the defensive side of things [in practice]."
Part of this defensive surge can be seen in the play of freshman goalie Morgan Cey, who allowed only three goals against national power Michigan State three weekends ago, and then returned strong last weekend against Lake Superior State — allowing only one goal and securing his second shutout of the season.
Bowling Green comes to Notre Dame after a strong weekend against Northern Michigan last week that included a 6-0 shutout for the Falcons. The team is lead in scoring by forward Greg Day with 33 points coming on 17 goals and 16 assists.
The Bowling Green goaltender, Tyler Masters, has surrendered 3.36 goals per game this year, but recorded 45 saves against Notre Dame in a 4-2 Bowling Green victory earlier this year. Notre Dame won the other matchup earlier this season 6-3 to earn a series split on the road last December.
With a strong series this final weekend, the Irish feel they could make a move in the postseason, entering the CCHA tournament playing as well as they have all year.
"We think we're a better hockey team now than we were a month ago, and we're going to continue that," Poulin said. "We're going to be a very difficult team to play."
The two teams will face off in the Joyce at 7:05 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Friday, March 1, 2002
