Michigan
12-7-0/8-5-0
Notre Dame
14-3-1/9-2-1
Michigan Loses Third-Period Lead at No. 5 Notre Dame
12/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team surrendered a third-period lead to lose 4-3 at No. 5 Notre Dame. With U-M leading 3-2 heading into the final stanza, the Fighting Irish completed the home-and-home series sweep by scoring goals at 7:13 and 7:43 of the third period. Travis Turnbull (Chesterfield, Mo.) had a hand in each U-M tally with one goal and two assists. His performance set a personal best for most points in a game.
Turnbull delivered a 1-0 lead for the Wolverines 42 seconds into the contest. Chad Kolarik (Abington, Pa.) stole the puck off Christian Hanson's stick as the Fighting Irish were breaking out of the zone. Kolarik carried the puck below the goal line on the right side and flicked a bad angle shot at Irish goalie David Brown's feet. With Brown unaware of the puck lying in the crease, Turnbull fought off his defender, crashed the net and fired it high into the goal.
Notre Dame and Michigan traded unproductive power plays over a four-minute span during the middle of the period.
Seconds after U-M's power play ended, the Irish garnered their second power play and capitalized at 13:25 on a slap shot by Kyle Lawson from above the right circle.
Kevin Porter (Northville, Mich.) put Michigan ahead 2-1 at the 16:08 mark. Porter collected a high flip pass from Turnbull at the Irish blue line, skirted around an ND defender and lifted the puck by Brown's stick side. Chris Summers (Milan, Mich.) also drew an assist on the play. The tally lengthened Porter's point streak to 15 games (13-13-26).
Michigan was unable to increase its lead with a power play obtained at 16:33, 25 seconds after Porter's goal. An ND penalty in the final minute of the first period gave U-M another chance with a man-advantage.
Notre Dame opened the second frame by killing off U-M's remaining power-play time and quickly turned to the offensive end. Billy Sauer (Walworth, N.Y.) made two spectacular toe saves on shots by Ryan Thang and Kyle Lawson at the right post as the Irish attempted to stuff wraparound shots across the goal line.
Skating five-on-three, Notre Dame tied the game at 2-2 when Garret Regan scored on a rebound at 7:45. Sauer appeared to have the puck covered: However, it popped loose and Regan was all alone in front to receive a pass from Mark Van Guilder.
Michigan's got its fourth power play of the game at 9:24. The Maize and Blue peppered Brown and the ND defense as Hensick, Rohlfs and Kolarik had separate shots during a 30-second span. U-M could only threaten and did not score its third goal.
Sauer had to make a big rebound save on Hanson with 7:09 left in the middle period. Another scrum in front forced Sauer to be alert and turn aside an Irish attempt.
The Wolverines did control play in Notre Dame's zone over the next few minutes, but their shots were continuously blocked by the defense or fired wide of the goal.
Sauer denied Ryan Thang's near breakaway chance with 3:24 left. Jon Montville (Novi, Mich.) bothered Thang just enough so that he had to shoot low into Sauer's pad instead of up and over the goalie.
Michigan retook the lead, 3-2, on Mark Mitera's (Livonia, Mich.) first career goal at 19:37. Turnbull wrapped the puck behind the net for Brian Lebler (Penticton, B.C.) to take control. Lebler walked the puck along the boards and into the lower left circle prior to feeding Mitera at the left point. Mitera's point shot along the ice beat the goalie through his five-hole.
The Wolverines and Fighting Irish each had abbreviated power plays in the opening five minutes of the third period.
Notre Dame scored its third power-play goal of the game at 7:13 on a tic-tac-toe play. Erik Condra fed Deeth at the right of the crease, and Deeth hit Thang at the left post for an easy tap-in goal.
Thirty seconds later at 7:43, Regan put Notre Dame ahead (4-3) for the first time in the game. Summers fanned on a clearing attempt along the right boards, which permitted Van Guilder to shovel the puck further into U-M's zone. Regan corralled the puck and roofed a shot past Sauer.
Michigan pressed offensively to tie the game, but the Wolverines could not manage to get shots through. U-M registered one shot on goal in the final 10 minutes -- zero in the last five minutes.
The Wolverines will not see game action for nearly three weeks until they participate in the 42nd annual Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit, Mich. U-M plays Michigan Tech on Friday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. The third-place and championship games are on Saturday, Dec. 30. The other teams in the tournament are Michigan State and Harvard.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
