By John Fineran
SOUTH BEND – One of these hockey nights, Notre Dame may stop being its own worst enemy playing against one of the Big Ten and nation’s top teams.
Friday night, first-year coach Brock Sheahan’s team gave No. 2 Wisconsin all it could handle in front of a capacity crowd of 5,283 fans at the Lefty Smith Rink in the Compton Family Ice Arena.
But costly turnovers led to two Wisconsin breakaway goals early in the second period that wiped out a two-goal Irish lead and other later turnovers eventually led to the eventual game-winner early in the third by sophomore left wing Ryan Botterill that the Badgers padded with a pair of empty-net scores for a 7-4 victory.
“It’s another example of us showing we are capable of not only competing but playing the way we want to play against the second-ranked team in the country,” Sheahan said after his Irish fell to 4-10-1 overall and remained in last place in the Big Ten at 0-7-0 with one point. Last month, Notre Dame dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to then No. 2 Michigan and two weeks later fell 3-1 to then No. 1 Michigan State.
Coach Mike Hastings’ Badgers, rested after the Thanksgiving week off following their stunning sweep of the top-ranked Spartans in East Lansing, scored four goals in the second period and added three more in the third to improve to 11-2-2 overall and 7-2-0 in the Big Ten for 19 points, one behind No. 1 Michigan, a 3-0 winner Friday night at Michigan State.
Junior left wing Quinn Finley and junior defenseman Joe Palodichuk each had two goals and three-point nights for Wisconsin, which won its fourth straight game.
“You just literally cannot give a team of that quality Grade A’s when you have the puck on your stick,” Sheahan added. “It will cost you.”
The Irish led 2-0 after the first period on the first of two goals by junior right-wing Evan Werner at 3:11 and junior defenseman Paul Fischer’s goal at 19:19 against Wisconsin sophomore netminder Eli Pulver, who had backstopped the Badgers to those twin wins at Michigan State.
“It’s a matter of us sticking to our process,” said Werner, who transferred over the summer from Michigan. “Hopefully we can do it at a more consistent rate tomorrow” when the teams meet at 5 p.m.
The Badgers were a different team when they came out for the second period, and not just because Hastings switched goaltenders, inserting freshman Daniel Hauser for Pulver.
The Irish lead didn’t last long. Finley got behind the Irish defense and beat goaltender Nicholas Kempf with a backhander 31 seconds into the second period and then Christian Fitzgerald tied it off another breakaway at 3:43.
A power-play goal at 4:54 by freshman center Pano Fimis stopped the bleeding and gave the Irish a 3-2 lead before Palodichuk scored twice to send the Badgers to the locker room ahead 4-3 after two periods. His second goal at 19:37 came after the Irish successfully killed off a 5-on-3 Wisconsin power play of 1:07 thanks to five saves by Kempf, who finished the night with 30.
Werner’s own steal and unassisted score at 1:23 of the third period tied the game one final time before a Palodichuk shot from the point rebounded off Kempf into the slot to Botterill, whose return shot beat the Irish goalie at 2:26.
After Notre Dame pulled Kempf at 16:48, Finley fired home an empty-net goal at 17:33 to make it 6-4. Sheahan pulled Kempf again at 17:51 but the Irish wouldn’t convert again before Simon Tassy’s empty-netter at 19:31 ended the scoring.
“We’ll see how our response is tomorrow,” Sheahan continued. “I believe we are close, but at the same time we’re very, very far away. I give credit to our team for responding and coming back. But then we stub our toe. Until that changes, it’s going to be frustrating.”
“We keep saying we’re right there, but it’s time for us to prove it to ourselves,” added Fischer, who took over the team scoring lead with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points.
WISCONSIN 7, NOTRE DAME 4
At Lefty Smith Rink in Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend, Ind.
Wisconsin 0 4 3—7
Notre Dame 2 1 1—4
First Period—Scoring: 1. Notre Dame, Evan Werner 6 (Sutter Muzzatti, Michael Mastrodomenico) EV 3:11; 2. Notre Dame, Paul Fischer 5 (Maddox Fleming, Carter Slaggert) EV 19:19. Penalties: Wisconsin 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0.
Second Period—Scoring: 3. Wisconsin, Quinn Finley 6 (Gavin Morrissey, Zach Schulz) EV 0:31; 4. Wisconsin, Christian Fitzgerald 10 (Blake Montgomery) EV 3:43; 5. Notre Dame, Pano Fimis 2 (Cole Knuble, Paul Fischer) PP 4:54; 6. Wisconsin, Joe Palodichuk 2 (Tyson Dyck, Blake Montgomery) EV 11:26; 7. Wisconsin, Joe Palodichuk 3 (Jack Horbach, Tyson Dyck) EV 19:37. Penalties: Wisconsin 2-4 (2-4), Notre Dame 3-6 (3-6).
Third Period—Scoring: 8. Notre Dame, Evan Werner 7 (unassisted) EV 1:23; 9. Wisconsin, Ryan Botterill 6 (Joe Palodichuk) EV 2:26; 10. Wisconsin, Quinn Finley 7 (Grady Deering) EN 17:33; 11. Wisconsin, Simon Tassy 6 (Quinn Finley, Gavin Morrissey) EN 19:31. Penalties: Wisconsin 0-0 (2-4), Notre Dame 0-0 (3-6).
Shots on goal: Wisconsin 37 (7-18-12), Notre Dame 31 (8-16-7).
Goalie saves: Wisconsin (27), Eli Pulver 6 (6-0-0) and Daniel Hauser 21 (0-15-6); Notre Dame (21), Nicholas Kempf 30 (7-14-9).
Power-play opportunities: Wisconsin 0 of 2, Notre Dame 1 of 1.
Faceoffs won: Wisconsin 29 (14-11-4), Notre Dame 43 (9-13-21).
Blocked shots: Wisconsin 12 (1-5-6), Notre Dame 13 (6-5-2).
Referees: Jake Rekucki and Rocco Stachowiak. Linesmen: Jonathan Sladek and Logan Bellgraph. Attendance: 5,283 (4,852). Records: Wisconsin 11-2-2, 7-2-0 Big Ten for 19 points; Notre Dame 4-10-1, 0-7-0 Big Ten for 1 point.
BIG TEN STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE
(Numbers in parentheses are school’s rankings in this week’s USCHO.com media/USA Hockey-The Rink Live coaches polls):
Conference Overall
GP Pts W-L-T-SW-OW-OL GF-GA W-L-T GF-GA
(1/1) Michigan 9 20 7-2-0-0-1-0 40-22 16-3-0 95-38
(2/2) Wisconsin 9 19 7-2-0-0-2-0 40-29 11-2-2 62-38
(9/9) Penn State 8 13 4-4-0-0-0-1 17-25 11-5-0 51-46
(nr/nr) Minnesota 8 13 4-4-0-0-0-1 24-23 8-10-1 58-63
(3/3) Michigan St. 7 12 4-3-0-0-1-1 19-13 11-4-0 51-27
(nr/rv) Ohio State 8 6 2-6-0-0-1-1 27-38 6-10-0 50-55
(nr/nr) Notre Dame 7 1 0-7-0-0-0-1 11-28 4-10-1 43-56
THIS WEEK
Thursday, Dec. 4
Minnesota 6, Ohio State 3
Friday, Dec. 5
Wisconsin 7, Notre Dame 4
Michigan 3, Michigan State 0
Ohio State 6, Minnesota 5 (OT)
Saturday, Dec. 6
Wisconsin at Notre Dame, 5 p.m.
Michigan State at Michigan, 7 p.m.