Irish look for revenge against No. 1 Eagles
By MATT ORENCHUK
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame hockey team hosts No. 1 Boston College Saturday. The Catholic school match-up is the second time the team will meet, after a 4-1 Eagles win in Boston earlier this season.
Boston College and Notre Dame have played once before this year, with the Eagles winning 4-1.
"We don't have any intimidation against Boston College. We are ready to play this game," sophomore defenseman Paul Harris said. "This is a big sports weekend, and the game is going to be a sellout, so we are excited."
The game could be an important momentum boost for the Irish. After getting swept by Michigan State two weeks ago, Notre Dame fought back to a win and a tie on the road at Miami (Ohio).
The team has struggled defensively in the first month of the season. But a large part of that has been due to injuries. There have only been a couple of games where the Irish has played with six defensive skaters. Tonight, Notre Dame will only have five defensemen.
One of those will be senior left winger Jay Kopischke, who was moved to defense due to injuries. An added benefit of this is that it will give Notre Dame an offensive minded presence on defense, and every goal will count against the No. 1 team in the country.
"With Kopischke on defense, we will hopefully be able to get more offensive opportunities from the point, and more break aways," senior Dan Carlson said.
The Irish have also worked hard on their special teams. This showed last weekend, with the power play giving Notre Dame two goals in their 5-1 pasting of Miami (Ohio). With the inexperience and injuries on defense, the power play production was a sigh of relief for Notre Dame.
"The power play has been struggling, but we have picked it up, and have had a lot more chances the past couple of games," said Carlson.
Boston College has the talent to back up their No. 1 ranking. They displayed this in a 4-1 beating of Notre Dame on Oct. 13 in Omaha, Neb. The Eagles held Notre Dame in check thanks to the solid goaltending of senior goalie Scott Clemmensen, who stopped 25 of 26 shots.
Krys Kolanos leads the team in goals with 10 while Brian Gionta has nine assists and 13 points for the Boston College offensive attack. Boston College brings a 9-2-0 record into tonight's game. However, the Eagles second loss came this past Tuesday when they lost 4-3 to Yale.
Despite their opponent's recognition, Notre Dame believes that they can play with the No. 1 team in the country. Offense, defense, and special teams have all been playing better for the Irish. With a little luck and some hard work, Notre Dame can pull this thing out. But they will need a solid effort from everyone on the team.
"We feel pretty good about this game," Carlson said. "We played well against them last time, and had some chances. We need everyone to step up and get the job done."
All Sports Stories for Friday, November 10, 2000
