Irish just too good, but they'll do it again tomorrow night, same time, same place just in case I'm wrong. I'll be there, but I won't be with you. Thanks to everyone who stuck it out with Sideline Dispatches.
Good Night.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Notre Dame 4, Princeton 2
That's the Game
Irish's Ben Ryan fights through four Princeton plays to knock the puck between Kalemba's legs, sparking a mass exodus from History Hobey Baker Rink with 1:40 remaining in the game.
4-2 Notre Dame.
Kevin Lohry
Just received a minor for tripping. That's not gonna help the Tigers, who probably won't be looking to match the Domers' shortie from earlier in the game.
Pridham takes the puck from Pearce behind the net, but has no one it pass to as the Tigers refocus their efforts on killing the penalty with two minutes remaining in regulation.
Christian Hanson. Causing More Problems
He might be eight inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than Kevin Kaiser, but he's going to go after him anyway. This is college hockey so they plew the whistle and nothing happened.
Tigers Back in the Game
Jubinville passes up to Fedun from behind the net who shoots the puck past Pearce, cutting the Irish lead in half. 6:36 left, Princeton needs to keep the pressure on.
Flying V
That's what I'd go with right now if I were coaching the Tigers... Clearly they disagree. Maybe that's why thier power play was killed with 9:15 remaining in the third.
Odd Man Rush, The Sequel
This one Kalemba stops with 12:46 remaining as Deeth shoots it right into his chest.
Irish Still in Control
"They're bigger, they're faster... they have more facial hair."
Les Averman on Iceland or any Princeton player on the Irish?
3-1 Irish
Odd-man rush 2-on-1 leads to a Notre Dame goal at 4:32 in the period. Thats the third short-handed goal the Tigers have allowed this year and odd-man rushes are becoming an issue for them once again.
Arhontas is Back
And he's on the ice, drawing a Golden Domer penalty for tirpping... Power play coming up for the Tigers with the Death Line.
Penalty killed but...
Looks like Arhontas is hurt... he just went downstairs with the Princeton trainer. Notre Dame still dominated three minutes into the third.
The Death Line Returneth
They've looked more like the "Barely-in-a-Coma" line tonight.
Penalty against the Tigers...
Confirmation on Notre Dame's Dominance of the Second
Outshot the Tigers 14-3. That's not good for Princeton fans.
Tigers/Ducks
Here are a few more Mighty Ducks comparisons...
- Kevin Kaiser = Luis Mendoza. He fast. But Kaiser can stop.
- Cam MacIntyre = Fulton Reed. Big hits, big shot.
- Brett Wilson = Charlie Conway (D3 only). Center, scorer, occasionally angry with opposing players and/or referees.
- Dan Bartlett = Dwayne Robertson. He might not be Texan, but he's got crazy dangles.
- Mike Moore = Dean Portman. Both hit big, both wear #21.
Some Dude
Took five shots from the blue line, missed three. It's awkward when a full-grown man fails like that. He could have had $100 dollars. Now all he has is ridicule.
End of the Second
2-1 Irish. The Tigers it was lucky it was only one for ND this period. Moore goes back over to the referee for his ritualistic post-period chat.
The Ice is Slippery
Kaiser just fell down twice in fifteen seconds and Brandan Kushniruk ate it as well. Someone get a towel out there.
Mike Moore, Friend of Gynmasts
He just helped one of the Irish work on his somersaults. What a sweetheart. The crowd disproved my suspicions that they were all cardboard cut-outs on that one. Maybe they'll start making a little more noise. Haha, that's silly. I think we all know that's not happening.
Princeton clinging to a 1-1 tie with 4:46 left in the second.
Timeout Worked
But only for a couple minutes. Now it's back to all Irish. If Kalemba can hold them off until the end of the period, it'll be a huge boost for the Tigers' morale. I'm not optimistic.
And We Have a Scrum!
Wilson is getting into it with Deeth for a minute before the refs break it up. If they don't let Wilson hit somebody before the season ends, he's going to explode and end up knocking out a ref.
MacIntyre just went for a nice wrap-around with 8:30 remaining, but Pearce made the save.
Kalemba, Standing on His Head
The Irish have taken about 10 shots on him in the last ten minutes, and he just stopped on right in front of the goaline. If the Tigers don't start generating a little more offense though, he's gonna get cracked eventually.
Now he's on his back after making a save. Someone has to pick him up (figuratively, not literally). Julie "The Cat" Gaffney would be proud.
9:29 remaining in the second and Gadowsky calls a timeout to get the troops together. He looks somewhat less than pleased.
Goalie Masks
Princeton v. Notre Dame
Kalemba v. Pearce.
I've got to go with Kalemba's here. It's got Nassau Hall, Einstein, Hobey Baker. There was even an article written on it, but I'm not going to plug my own stuff.
Pearce's is real nice too. Double Leprechauns and the American flag on the back. Gotta love the patriotism from someone who doesn't even hail from the Continental U.S. I'm putting Alaska back on my "Most Patriotic States." All you Alaskans out there watching this, you can thank Jordan Pearce.
10:54 left in the second.
Penalty Killed
The Fighting Irish kept it in the Princeton end almost the entire time, but couldn't generate too many shots.
Don't Get close to my Goalie
Magnowski pushes Irish shooter as he approaches Kalemba, but now we're going to have a different Princeton penalty, on freshman defender Matt Godlewski with 14:54 remaining for holding the stick. I'm gonna pass on the joke here.
Almost for the Tigers
Wilson controlled the puck behind the ND net, trying to get it to Kaiser, but it was just wide. Now Princeton is going to take the icing call and re-group. It seems like a good time for another Mighty Ducks analogy, but they never play any close games, so it hard to come up with a comparable situation.
Hell's Bells
Teams are coming back out on the ice. For the three of you who are still with me, Notre Dame outshot Princeton 13-10 in the first period... Puck dropping for the second... NOW.
Near-Capacity Crowd
It's not sold out but its definitely the most crowded I've see it this year. I've never seen the balcony a third full, and now it doesn't look like there's a seat left up there. The concession stands must be making a killing. Despite the increase in number of fans, they've made about as little noise as the fans typically do when the rink is half-full.
A little intermission "Baba O'Reilly." Good stuff, but I wish they'd play the aptly named "Zamboni Song."
Yep.
All right, but I guess that wasn't very nice. One kid for the team in white jerseys got a breakway and looked like he tried to go a little Charlie Conway triple-deke, missing by a bit. The fans enjoyed it.
4-on-4 Pee-Wee Hockey
It's happening right now. $20 bucks says no goals are scored and everyone falls down at least twice.
End of the First
All tied up at one. Pretty evenly matched first period. Moore and Condra head over to have some works with referee John Murphy... wonder what that was about.
This live-blogging stuff isn't as easy as it looks.
Go, Johnny, Go
Wise choice by the music manager here at the rink... I only wish there was somebody on one of these teams named John... maybe next year. One minute left in the first.
Kalemba Gloves Puck with 1:21 to Play
He's not having too much success grabbing rebounds though. ND mostly hasn't been able to capitalize on second chance opportunities. Coach Orion would be very pleased with the way the Tigers are cleaning up the trash. Actual coach Guy Gadowsky probably is too.
Big Hit wakes up Golden Domers
Tied up at one after Garret Regan sends the puck off the post, grabs his own rebound and puts it past Kalemba. All right, maybe that whole hitting thing didn't work out too well for the Tigers. The Irish look a little more focused now.
Mike Moore aka Dean Portman
He nearly decapitated Notre Dame's Kevin Deeth... the crowd liked that one.
Fedun...
With the whiff from the point... no harm done though as the Tigers clear the puck down. 5:45 left in the first.
1-0 Tigers
Senior Forward Erik Pridham sends one straight through Pearce's five-hole for his first goal of the season, assisted by Kaiser. Maybe I spoke too soon on the Goldberg analogy. That one wasn't too pretty as Pearce was unable to stop the slow-moving puck.
Almost Got a Souvenir
Up here in the press box as the puck deflects off MacIntyre's stick... Another powerplay for the Tigers coming up as Condra heads to the box with 8:51 remaining.
Power Play killed...
A bunch of shots from the point by defensemen Moore and Taylor Fedun, but Pearce makes a bunch of nice saves. He reminds me of a young Greg Goldberg.
Expect many more Mighty Ducks references before the night is through.
Sophomore forward Kevin Kaiser
Just had a shot at the open net, narrowly missing wide right. We also have our first penalty of the game, to ND's Dan Venard for hooking.
The Golden Domers, Mucho Pressure
Led by Christian Hanson, they've kept the puck in the Princeton end for the last two minutes, but Matt Arhontas just cleared it it.
Princeton's Death Line
Thats Jubinville, MacIntyre, and Wilson... making its second appearance of the night but coming up empty. That's what I'm calling them until someone comes up with a better name... feel free to make suggestions.
Shot from Magnowski
Deflected just wide of the net... another chance as Moore get the puck in front of the crease, but he shoots it right at ND goalie Jordan Pearce. Good pressure early from the Tigers.
Senior Captain Mike Moore
He's giving the pre-game pep-talk. With Kyle Hagel sidelined, he'll probably account for roughly 85% of the Tigers' big hits tonight.
Pre-game Prediction
I actually like the Tigers' chances in this one... Look for a 4-3 upset as Princeton takes to the ice for its final homestand of 2007.
A few players to look for...
Princeton
- Cam MacIntyre: The Tigers' leading goal-scorer, who has notched seven thus far on the season.
- Lee Jubinville: After being knocked out of Friday night's game against RPI in the third period, Jubs came back to score a goal against Union and add two assists in the Tigers' win.
- Brett Wilson: The final member of Princeton's top scoring line, Wilson was the hero of the Tigers' first home win on Saturday, scoring two goals and assisting on Jubinville's goal.
- Mark Magnowski: Returned on Saturday after missing four games due to injury, Mags scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Tigers.
- Ryan Thang: The Fighting Irish's top goal-scorer, with 10 already on the season.
- Erik Condra: The Michigan native leads Notre Dame in total points, with 20.
Countdown to Princeton vs. Notre Dame at Baker Rink
Only six hours 'til the puck drops...
Word is that the game is close to sold out, so if you're still interested in going, get tickets now. Otherwise you're stuck with me.
Stay tuned for my pre-game prediction, but until then, check out the full preview of the game in today's Daily Princetonian, written by esteemed hockey guru Jonathan Leitch.
See you soon.
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