Jan. 19, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. – Youth will be served for the Ohio State Buckeye hockey team. Freshmen forwards Paul Camponigri (two goals), Dave Steckel (two goals) and Scott May (one goal) scored all five Ohio State goals while freshman goaltender Mike Betz made 27 saves in the Buckeyes’ 5-3 win over Notre Dame Friday night at the Joyce Center.
The win improved Ohio State to 12-10-1 overall and 9-7-1 in CCHA play. The loss dropped Notre Dame to 5-17-4 overall and 3-11-3 in league play.
Notre Dame’s top line of Dan Carlson (Sr., Edina, Minn.), Aaron Gill (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Ryan Dolder (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) each scored a goal in the losing cause.
“The intensity and passion from last week’s series versus Western Michigan was just not there tonight,” commented Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
“It’s frustrating, they (Ohio State) are a good hockey team. We have to play a full 60 minutes. I thought in the second period, we let them play the whole period in our end,” added Poulin.
The Irish jumped on the scoreboard first for just the eighth time this season as Gill scored on a rebound for his eighth of the season at 14:21.
The goal was set up by freshman defenseman Tom Galvin (Miller Place, N.Y.) who fired a wrist shot from inside the blueline at Betz. Along the way, Carlson deflected the shot, Betz made the first stop and Gill slammed the rebound home for a 1-0 lead.
Camponigri tied the game at 16:48 taking a two-on-one feed from Steckel and fired a one-timer past Tony Zasowski (So., Darien, Ill.) for his seventh of the season.
Ohio State played a strong second period and opened a 3-1 lead. Steckel scored his first of the night on the power play. The 6-4 center took a centering feed from Camponigri and fired it past Zasowski for his 11th of the season at 13:46.
Scott May gave the Buckeyes a two-goal lead at 14:43 as he put the rebound of defenseman Erik Skaug’s slapshot past Zasowski for his fifth at 14:43.
The Irish ended the second period and opened the third with a five-on-three advantage that they failed to capitalize on getting just two shots on goal.
“I thought we worked the puck well with good movement. The problem is when you have that much time you tend to work for the perfect shot. We really passed up some terrific scoring chances,” said Poulin.
Notre Dame’s power play finally clicked at 14:36 with Carlson taking the rebound of Ryan Dolder’s shot, carrying the puck in front and fired it over Betz to cut the lead to 3-2 and the Irish were back in the game. Carlson (7-8-15) and Dolder (5-7-12) with a goal and an assist on the night.
“We really need to get some offense from other players. The top line is doing it all. Some of our other guys have to get involved in the offense,” said Poulin.
OSU opened a two-goal lead just 1:08 later when Jean-Francois Dufour intercepted a Notre Dame pass at center and put Caponigri in on Zasowski. The Buckeye sniper snapped a wrister past Zasowski at 15:44 for his second of the game and eighth of the season.
The Irish weren’t done though. Poulin pulled Zasowski with just under two minutes left and Notre Dame cut the lead one more time. Dolder scored on a long slapshot from the right point for his 11th of the year at 18:55.
Steckel closed out the scoring with his second of the night and 12th of the year when he poked the puck away from the Irish defense and walked in on Zasowski, drilling a wrist shot under the crossbar for the 5-3 final.
“We let down each time we cut the lead to one,” said Poulin. “We handed it right back to them each time. You just can’t relax against good teams.”
The Irish outshot Ohio State, 30-25, on the night. Zasowski finished the night with 20 saves. The Buckeyes were 1-for-3 on the power play while Notre Dame scored once on seven chances.
The two teams meet again on Saturday night at the Joyce Center on Parent’s Night. Face-off is set for 7:05 p.m. as Notre Dame honors the Fighting Irish players’ parents prior to the game.
SUMMARY:
Ohio State (12-10-1/9-7-1) 1 2 2 – 5
Notre Dame (5-17-4/3-11-3) 1 0 2 – 3
First Period: ND: Aaron Gill – 8 (Dan Carlson, Tom Galvin), 14:21, OSU: Paul Camponigri – 7 (Jean-Francois Dufour, Dave Steckel), 16:48.
Penalties: OSU: 3 for 6 minutes, ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Second Period: OSU: Steckel – 11 (Camponigri, Andress), PPG, 13:46, OSU: Scott May – 5 (R.J. Umberger, Erik Skaug), 14:43.
Penalties: OSU: 3 for 6 minutes, ND: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Carlson – 10 (Ryan Dolder), PPG, 14:36, OSU: Camponigri – 8 (Dufour), 15:44, ND: R. Dolder – 11 (Connor Dunlop, Neil Komadoski), 18:55, OSU: Steckel – 12 (unassisted), 19:14.
Penalties: OSU: 1 for 2 minutes, ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Power Plays:
Ohio State: 1 for 3
Notre Dame: 1 for 7
Shots On Goal
Ohio State: 4 – 9 – 12 – 25
Notre Dame: 11 – 8 – 11 – 30
Goaltender Saves:
Ohio State: Mike Betz (60:00) 10 – 8 – 9 – 27
Notre Dame: Tony Zasowski (58:50) 3 – 7 -10- 20
Attendance: 2,468