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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Notre Dame
#21 Falcon Hockey Falls, 6-1, At #9 Notre Dame
January 25, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 25, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Irish Forwards Ryan Thang and Erik Condra each tallied a game-high three points to lead the #9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a, 6-1, win over the #21 Bowling Green State University hockey team. The Friday night Central Collegiate Hockey Association contest was held at the Joyce Center located on the ND campus.
With the win, the Irish improved to 19-9-1 overall and 12-6-1 in the CCHA, dropping the Falcons to 12-11-0 and 9-8-0, respectively.
BG was led in defeat by senior forward John Mazzei, who tallied a late-second period marker for the Falcons' lone goal of the contest. Freshman goaltender Nick Eno then got his third-consecutive start in the game making 19 saves on 24 Irish shots, while junior Jimmy Spratt finished with seven saves on eight ND shots in the final 20 minutes.
"We just dug ourselves too big of a hole at the beginning of the game tonight," said BG coach Scott Paluch. "They were definitely the better team tonight and our poor start to the game really got them rolling."
ND took control of the game right from the start as they tallied three first period goals to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. They'd build on that lead adding two more goals to BG's one in the second stanza, before finishing with another marker at the beginning of the third period.
ND was led on the night by a two-goal first period effort from Thang, who also added a second period assist. Condra also tallied three points on the night for the Irish picking up a goal and two assists.
The Irish got the scoring started at the 8:23 mark of the first period when Thang knotted his first of two on night on an ND power play. Thang found the net from the middle of the slot, thru a big pile up in front of the Falcon cage as Condra and Dan Kissel added the helpers on the Irish's first of two power-play markers on the evening.
Thang would then be part of an Irish attack once again that found the net twice in a 1:16 span late in the period. The first of the two goals came from Condra, who's shot from the right circle banged in off the top crossbar. The second at 18:58, came from Thang who converted his second power-play lamp lighter of the night on a pass out front from behind the Falcon net to make it 3-0 Irish heading into the first period locker room.
The Irish put up 16 first period shots to the Falcons' two as Eno kept the Falcons close making some big saves throughout the onslaught.
However, despite Eno's efforts, ND would add two more second period goals to take a 5-0 lead at the game's halfway point. Mark Van Guilder picked up his ninth-goal of the season at the 6:00 mark to start, while Callie Ridderwall picked up his second at just 2:36 later.
BG started to generate more chances in the second stanza however, and started to show some life after the rough start. The Falcons finished the period with a 14-8 advantage in shots with one of their final attempts of the period finally finding the net.
Just moments after freshman forward Jacob Cepis had a breakaway scoring chance poked away by Irish goaltender Jordan Pearce, BG would finally get a break. Tommy Dee skated down the right side of the ice and fired a shot on net from the right-wing circle. Standing right in the slot to collect the rebound was Mazzei. Mazzei proceeded to bang home the loose puck for his second goal of the season, getting the Falcons on the board at, 5-1. Dee picked up his first assist of the season on the play at 17:49 of the second period.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, that would be their only strike on the night as Pearce finished with 20 saves for the Irish on 21 Falcon shots. Overall, ND held a 32-21 edge on the night, which tied for the third-most shots BG has surrendered this season.
BG finished 0-for-6 on the man-advantage for the night, while the Irish finished 2-for-3.
The same two squads will return to the ice tomorrow night when they conclude their two-game home-and-home set with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff at the BGSU Ice Arena. All the action can be heard on WBGU 88.1 FM with Danny Nieves bringing you all the play-by-play.
