SAULT STE. MARIE - For the second time this season, the Lake
Superior State hockey team took a point from No. 1-ranked Notre
Dame.
The Lakers (6-10-8 overall, 3-7-6-1 Central Collegiate Hockey
Association) tied the Irish 3-3 in regulation before losing the
overtime shootout, 2-1, Saturday at Taffy Abel Arena. They
concluded their 2008-09 regular-season series against UND,
finishing 0-2-2-0. LSSU, Western Michigan and Miami are the only
CCHA teams this season to escape a series against Notre Dame with a
point.
Notre Dame (19-3-3 overall, 13-2-3-3 CCHA) extended its unbeaten
streak to 20 games, while LSSU set a school record for
single-season ties and matched its record for CCHA ties. The Lakers
dropped to 1-7 for the year in overtime shootouts.
Notre Dame out-shot Lake Superior State, 35-14, but the Lakers
mustered scoring opportunities throughout the first two periods.
Despite getting out-shot 12-4 in the opening period, LSSU jumped to
a 2-0 lead on an unassisted short-handed goal by Steven Kaunisto at
12:03 and an even-strength goal by Chad Nehring at 16:29.
Dan Barczuk and Dillin Stonehouse were credited with assists as
Nehring tallied his third goal in as many games.
Notre Dame came back to tie it, 2-2, on an even-strength goal by
Ben Ryan at 17:29 of the first period and a short-handed goal by
Erik Condra at 1:28 of the second period. At that point in the
game, LSSU starting goaltender Pat Inglis was pulled and replaced
by Brian Mahoney-Wilson.
Freshman Fred Cassiani scored a power-play goal to give LSSU a
3-2 lead at 8:50 of the second period. Simon Gysbers and Troy
Schwab had assists. Schwab notched his 14th assist of the season
and improved his career totals to 28 goals and 72 assists. He
became the first Laker to reach the 100-point milestone since Joe
Blaznek in 1998.
Notre Dame's Kevin Deeth tied it, 3-3, with a power-play goal at
13:15 of the second period.
LSSU went into a bit of a defensive mode in the third period and
overtime. The Irish finished 1-for-6 on the power play, but failed
to score with man-advantage opportunities in the third period
or extra session.
Inglis totaled 11 saves through 21:28, and Mahoney-Wilson had 21
saves during the final 43:32. UND's Jordan Pearce totaled 11 saves.
LSSU's Rick Schofield went first in the shootout and scored
against Pearce, improving his shootout record to 2-5. Notre Dame's
Billy Maday answered. Kaunisto's blast hit the post, and UND's
Calle Ridderwall scored, securing the extra point in the
standings for the CCHA-leading Irish. Notre Dame improved to 3-0 in
shootouts -- 2-0 against LSSU this season.
The Lakers travel to Bowling Green State on Jan. 23-24. They
were 1-0-1 with a shootout victory against the Falcons in November.
Note: The Taffy Abel Arena crowds of 2,598 on
Friday and 2,468 on Saturday were LSSU's second and third-largest
home crowds of the season.
Box Score
