Notre Dame falls to New Hampshire, defeats Vermont
By BILL HART
Associate Sports Editor
The Notre Dame hockey team took advantage of Thanksgiving break to enter the Conference Classic in Durham, N. H.
The two games resulted in a split for the blue and gold with a 2-1 loss to New Hampshire overshadowed by a 5-1 win over Vermont.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats preyed on the two main weaknesses for the Irish: first-period scoring and difficulty on the road. New Hampshire drew first blood four minutes, 23 seconds into the game when UNH freshman right wing Josh Prudden lifted a shot over Irish freshman goaltender Tony Zasowski for his first career goal. Sixty-seven seconds later, junior defenseman Eric Lund took a rising shot to Zasowski's glove side to give the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead.
"We've just had problems there," senior defenseman Sean Seyferth said about the team's troubles in the first period. "We've just had trouble coming out slow. We were able to prevent that against Vermont, but it's something that we've been working on all season."
The Irish played to a different tune in the second period, taking a 16-4 shot edge and using three power-play chances to knock the raucous home crowd out of the game. The team's offense finally struck home 18:39 into the period, when freshman right wing John Wroblewski sent a pass into the left corner for Fraser. Fraser sent a pass to freshman center Connor Dunlop at the top of the crease, who took a low shot that just missed Wildcat goaltender Ty Conklin's left skate.
Both teams traded shots late in the third period until UNH senior left wing Mike Souza was called for an interference penalty with 1:36 left to play. Notre Dame pulled Zasowski for the closing minute, but the 6-4 advantage wasn't enough to get a shot to strike home.
In Sunday's game against the Catamounts, the Irish got over their first-period struggles with four first period goals to put the game out of reach.
Senior Joe Dusbabek got things started 3:37 into the game. After receiving the puck off passes from senior Ben Simon and sophomore David Inman, Dusbabek slapped the puck at the right side of the crease by sophomore Tim Peters for his third goal of the season.
It took a little more than a minute for the team to strike again, when junior left wing Dan Carlson took a pass from Wroblewski around a defender before hitting a rising shot from the top of the right circle.
Seyferth earned his first goal of the season at the 7:01 mark, taking a shot from a crowded crease area that found its way to the back of the net. Senior left wing Andy Jurkowski and sophomore center Brett Henning each earned an assist on the play.
"It was just kind of a scramble," Seyferth said about the goal. "Andy was able to get the puck to me and I was able to get a shot off."
A few minutes later, he added an assist to his total with a pass to Simon which set up an Inman goal.
Freshman Shawn Conshafter took over the Catamount net after the first-period slaughter, but was unable to stop a 5-3 Irish power play midway through the second period. Junior right wing Ryan Dolder slid the puck to senior defenseman Sean Molina at the top of the left circle. Simon picked up Molina's rebound and tipped the puck just out of Conshafter's reach to increase the Irish lead back to four.
Five different players scored for Notre Dame, while 10 had at either a goal or an assist in the win. Up until Sunday, the Irish had managed only four first period goals in 13 games this season.
The victory against the Caramounts also saw a return for sophomore goaltender Jeremiah Kimento. In his first start in over a month, Kimento recorded over 24 saves, only blemished by a Catamount power play goal midway through the first period to cut the lead to 3-1.
"He just played a great game," Seyferth said about Kimento's play. "He stopped a couple of breakaways and came up with a bunch of big saves."
With the weekend complete, the Irish move to 5-7-2 on the season and set their sights on possibly the most important series for the month of December — a two-game series against CCHA leader Michigan State.
"Last weekend was really important for us," Seyferth said. "It got us prepared, and Michigan State's going to be a tough team. We've just got to win a couple league games and move up in the standings."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, December 1, 1999
