Michigan
23-7-3/20-3-2
Notre Dame
5-22-6/3-17-5
Hensick, Hunwick Help Michigan Squash Fighting Irish
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team dominated Notre Dame by a final score of 9-2 on Friday (Feb. 18) at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Michigan set season bests for both goals and goal scorers (seven). Matt Hunwick (Sterling Heights, Mich.) tied his single-game career best with three assists, while T.J. Hensick (Howell, Mich.) tied his single-game season best with three points (2-1-3).
The Wolverines wasted little time in taking control of the game with a Kevin Porter (Northville, Mich.) goal at 1:00. After a blocked pass, the puck deflected perfectly to Porter in the high slot. Porter dangled the puck around an Irish defender and shot it past goalie Morgan Cey's block for a quick 1-0 lead.
On the power play at 4:02, the Wolverines increased the advantage to 2-0. A diagonal pass from Hunwick at the point into the left circle created a wide open opportunity for Milan Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.), who had enough time to settle the puck and rifle it high into the ND goal.
Notre Dame responded with a shorthanded goal at 7:07. The Fighting Irish won a faceoff in the U-M zone and flipped the puck toward the goal. A deflection caught Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill.) off guard and Jason Paige wound up with the puck in front of the net. Montoya made the initial stop, but Paige tapped the rebound over the goal line.
The Wolverines responded with their second power-play goal of the evening at 13:16. Jeff Tambellini (Port Moody, B.C.) recovered a loose puck in ND territory and set up Chad Kolarik (Abington, Pa.) for a one-timer marker in the left circle to make it 3-1.
Following the first 20 minutes of action the Maize and Blue had outshot the Irish 16-8 and gone 2-for-4 on the man-advantage while ND had yet to receive a power play.
Just nine seconds into the second period the Wolverines pushed their lead to 4-1. Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C.) won the faceoff back to Hunwick, who skated the puck through the neutral zone and banked it off the boards to Ebbett in the ND zone. Ebbett then stopped at the right boards and found a seam across the zone for a tip-in by Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.) at the left post.
Ebbett ended a 24-game goal drought at 15:57 due to a fortunate bounce off Cey. Mike Brown's (Northbrook, Ill.) crossing pass while flying down the left wing was intercepted in front but the deflection went right to Ebbett, who had an empty net to shoot and made the score 5-1.
The Irish cut their deficit to 5-2 following a Michigan turnover in its own zone. Cory McLean hit Matt Amado for a one-timer that sailed over Montoya's left shoulder at 17:35. Notre Dame had two great chances in the final minute of the middle stanza, but Montoya made big saves on both plays to maintain U-M's lead heading into the second intermission.
The Michigan scoring continued at 2:18 of the third period to make it 6-2. David Moss (Livonia, Mich.) dug the puck out of the corner and passed to Brandon Rogers (Rochester, N.H.) high above the circles. Rogers' shot missed the net and rebounded off the end boards to Michael Woodford Jr. (Westford, Mass.) for the easy score.
Midway through the final frame the Wolverines tallied three goals in a span of 3:02. Hensick scored at 10:29 by bringing the puck out from behind the net and faking a spin one way before bringing it back to his forehand for a clean shot over the goalie's trapper. Kolarik scored 29 seconds later, and Hensick tallied another goal at 13:31 to cap the scoring.
The Wolverines and Fighting Irish will end their regular-season series on Saturday (Feb. 19) at Yost Ice Arena. Faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
