Inman's goal only bright spot in 5-1 loss to Wolverines
By MATT OLIVA
Sports Writer
Last season, the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry was as close as it gets.
The season series ended up tied 1-1-1, and the two victories were decided by one goal. This past weekend was another story.
The Irish were outscored 11-4 during the two-game series at the Joyce Center, including a 6-1 defeat Friday night for their second straight loss.
On Friday, Michigan scored in the same manner as it had before, early and often. They got on the board first on a breakaway by Scott Matzka. The right-winger picked up the Irish turnover in the neutral zone and took it all the way to the net to beat goalie Jeremiah Kimento 6:40 into the period.
"They were very opportunistic," said Irish head coach Dave Poulin. "Our forward turned it over in the zone, and we stress that we cannot make turnovers within that zone. We want our defense to push the puck up, and therefore cannot have our forwards turn a puck over like that."
The Irish had a chance to answer back less than 2 minutes later. Two consecutive penalties by Wolverine left wing Mark Mink and defenseman Bob Gassoff gave the Irish a two-man advantage for 1:37. However the Irish managed only one shot, and then took a penalty of their own to negate the remaining time on their one-man advantage. Irish left wing Chad Chipchase did have a short-handed breakaway, but shot the puck wide.
Michigan scored again at the 16:07 mark of the first period, when last year's CCHA rookie of the year, center Mike Comrie, knocked in a loose puck from in front of the net.
The Irish came out more aggressive in the second period and made an effort to put the puck in the net at the start. The two teams traded penalties throughout the period, and while each had several near-misses from right in front of the net, neither team was able to score.
Michigan scored 21 seconds into the third period, when center Mark Kosick skated straight to the net for the power-play goal. The Irish started the period a man down after Kimento was called for holding behind his own net at the end of the second period. Kimento was then pulled for back-up goalie Tony Zasowski.
The Irish answered back 18 seconds later. Left wing David Inman took a pass from Irish captain Ben Simon and found the back of the net to put the Irish on the board. The assist by Simon was his 100th career point. The goal ended a 53-minute stretch from Thursday night to Friday, where the Wolverines held the Irish scoreless.
Michigan was not done with its scoring. Comrie skated right through the Irish defense to score his second goal of the game. Then 23 seconds later, he added another goal for the hat trick and a 5-1 Michigan lead. Both goals were unassisted.
"Comrie is a very good player, but we made every player good tonight," said Poulin. "We had no hits and no challenges. We compete harder in practice than we do on the weekend. We play harder against our own teammates than we do against other teams and I don't understand that."
Mink closed out the scoring for Michigan with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game for the eventual 6-1 victory. The Wolverines out-shot the Irish 37-15 for the game, allowing only eight shots over the final two periods. The win improved Michigan's record to 2-0-0 on the season and CCHA while Notre Dame's dropped to 0-2-0 in both categories.
"The game was very disappointing," said Poulin. "Everyone involved did not compete, this includes all players and the coaching staff. I have seen our players compete individually and together and that was not happening tonight.
"We did not pick it up and that is my responsibility. This was the most we've been out-shot, in any game I can even remember being involved in. We were not here offensively and if we have to take it back to being simple we will."
The Irish will resume play this weekend when they travel to Denver for the Ice Breaker Tournament. Notre Dame will take on Providence on Friday and then Denver-Union on Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Monday, October 11, 1999
