Wolverines Out Score Irish

Friday, November 4, 2005
Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana

In a wild game that included a number of strange goals by both teams the Wolverines picked up their sixth win of the season, out scoring the Irish by a score of eight to five.

The Irish got the puck deep into the Michigan zone following the opening face off, with Ruden trying to get control of the puck behind the net. That didn't work out so well and Ruden returned to the net, while the Irish pushed the puck to the net. Ruden appeared to believe he had the puck covered, but an Irish player was able to get a stick on it and somehow he got the puck across the goal line for the early lead, just eighteen seconds into the game.

With the clock just under twelve minutes the Irish were headed to the box, serving time for their first penalty. The Wolverines got a lot of pressure on the Irish goal during this power play and that pressure would pay off just before the power play expired. Kaleniecki had the puck along the boards, made a move that looked like he was making a pass out to the point, but instead he quickly twisted, passing the puck out front to a waiting Turnbull. As soon as he got the puck Turnbull banged it past the Irish net minder for the goal. Turnbull got credit for the power play goal, with Kaleniecki and Ebbett picking up assists.

A series of penalties, starting with two against the Wolverines, and one against the Irish with just over two minutes to play finally found the Wolverines once again on the power play late in the period. With less than a minute on the clock the Wolverines once again found the back of the net. Hunwick had the puck at the point passing over to Johnson on the opposite side. Johnson wound up like he was going to shoot, but instead he carried the puck farther into the zone. As soon as he found a lane he sent a pass over to Kolarik who fired a blast that beat the Irish goalie for the Wolverines second power play goal of the period. Both Johnson and Hunwick picked up assists.

The first period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a score of two to one. The Irish would end the period with a twelve to nine advantage in shots on goal.

With just over fourteen minutes left to play in the second stanza the Wolverines got their first five on five goal of the game to take a three to one lead. Porter got off a shot that hit the cross bar, bouncing right back out to Bailey in front of the net. Acting quickly Bailey put the puck in the net for the score, while both Porter and Johnson picked up assists on the goal.

With the clock just short of the half way point the Irish were once again in the box and the Wolverines were once again on the prowl. Michigan moved over the blue line, closing quickly with the Irish goal. The puck got down in front of the goal where Naurato was able to direct it past the goalie for the score. Ebbett picked up the lone assist.

The Irish would cut the Michigan lead to two with just over three minutes left on the clock while skating with a two man advantage. Notre Dame caught Michigan in a line change, leaving the Wolverines with just three defenders, all of whom had been on the ice for an extended period of time. The Irish get in close and get it past Ruden to score a power play goal.

The second period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a four to two score. The Wolverines outshot the Irish to end two periods of play with a twenty-two to nineteen advantage in shots on goal.

A hectic third period got under way with the Irish heading to the sin bin barely two and a half minutes into the period. The Wolverines didn't waste any time taking advantage of the man advantage using a series of beautiful tic-tac-toe passes to score their fourth power play goal of the game. Hensick had the puck in the corner, passed out to Kolarik, who passed back to Hensick, who sent it over to Porter, who punched it into the net. Porter got credit for the goal, while Hensick and Kolarik each picked up an assist.

Just over seven minutes into the period the Irish would cut into the Michigan lead when they scored their third goal of the game. This was either an off target shot or a pass attempt through the crease, however, it was redirected right in front of the net and ended up behind Ruden for the score.

With just over seven minutes to play in the game Cogliano broke out of the Michigan zone and used his speed to pull away. Hensick pulled up along side him and the two Wolverines skated into the Irish zone. Cogliano held the puck until the last minute, then passed over to Hensick, who fired it past the Irish goal tender to come up with the score. Cogliano got the lone assist.

It looked like Michigan was in control of the game with a six to three lead and the clock showing just six minutes left to play. That would all change as the clock moved under the six minute mark and the Irish broke into the Michigan zone on a three on one break. The Irish trio closed on the Wolverine net and blasted the puck past Ruden for their fourth goal of the game.

Just twenty-three seconds later the Irish once again broke into the Michigan zone and it looked like the referee was going to call a penalty shot, but somehow the Irish directed the puck toward the Michigan net and it ended up behind Ruden for Notre Dames fifth goal of the game, cutting the Michigan lead to one with over four minutes left to play.

With just three and a half minutes to play Cogliano once again broke out of the Michigan zone, this time with Miller trailing along with him. This time Cogliano carried the puck into the zone, closed with the goal, and fired the puck through the five hole for the score. The goal was listed as unassisted.

With 1:59 left in the game and down by two goals Notre Dame pulled their goalie giving Michigan an empty net to shoot at. With just under one minute to play Cogliano sent the puck toward the Irish net from center ice. The puck slid into the net for Michigan's eighth goal of the game and Coglianos second straight unassisted goal.

The game came to an end with Michigan winning by an eight to five score. The Wolverines ended the game with a thirty-three to thirty-one advantage in shots on goal. There was an altercation during the hand shake that may have led to some additional penalties, we'll have to wait until tomrrow night to find out if they will have any impact on the second game of this weeekends series.

It many ways it wasn't a very pretty game for the Wolverines tonight, but in the end they came out on top. Special teams continue to excel as they scored four more power play goals and allowed the Irish just a single power play goal for the evening. Michigan is still taking to many penalties, something they will have to correct as the season goes on. These two teams face each again tomorrow night, this time at Yost Arena.