We
decided the best format to come up with is having both of us have our
thoughts on the same post. So, without further ado, here is our preview
for #3 Notre Dame @ Bowling Green.
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| Overall: 3-9-4 | CCHA: 2-6-3-1 |
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| Overall: 13-4-0 | CCHA: 9-1-0 |
@
Saturday, December 15, 2012
7:05 PM
BGSU Ice Arena
Listen: Chris Cournan & Geoff Roberts (6:35 Pregame--88.1 FM WBGU, WBGUFM.com)
Geoff:
Notre Dame is one of those teams. You never really know what you’re going to get out of them. This year however, they have been far from shaky. They were ranked all the way down at 14 in the USCHO.com poll to start the year after finishing last year 19-18-3. This year however, they have played some solid hockey with a 13-4-0 record, boosting themselves up to #3 in the latest poll behind only Boston College and New Hampshire who traded positions this week as #1 and #2. Notre Dame has lost only 1 game in the CCHA.
Bowling Green can’t think about that though. The focus has to be to expose Notre Dame’s weak areas, and let me tell you, there aren’t a lot of them. As a team they average 32.2 shots per game, scoring on 11.8% of shots for the season. They’ve got a stellar goalie in Summerhays whose stat line looks like that of a Vezina Trophy winner, he’s allowed only 12 goals in 9 games. 1.43 GAA, .941 SV%. They’ve got some guys who make good decisions on the ice and that shows in the +/- of Kevin Lind (+14), Bryan Rust (+13), and Jeff Costello (+10). They’ve got an amazing Freshman Winger named Mario Lucia
who on top of being named the CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week for the
second straight week was selected to the Preliminary USA Roster for the
IIHF World Juniors the very next day. Notre Dame is no stranger to having USA World Junior players as Junior Center T.J. Tynan and Junior D-Man Stephen Johns have also played on the team. Oh yeah, since I just mentioned him above...they've got T.J. Tynan (I know Kevin appreciates his talent a lot).
If
that weren’t enough, Notre Dame’s 4 losses this year come all at the
hands of a ranked opponent and none were at a difference of more than 2
goals. All rankings were at the time of matchup:
October 18, #13 Minnesota Duluth, 3 to 1
November 2, #11 Western Michigan, 3 to 2
November 9, #1 Boston College, 3 to 1
November 23, #7 North Dakota, 2 to 1
Needless to say, it is a really great year for Notre Dame so far. They’ve got 5 players in double digits in points. Anders Lee (11-5-16), Robbie Russo (4-11-15), Bryan Rust (4-9-13), T.J. Tynan (4-9-13), and Jeff Costello (5-7-12). Obviously, the number that most stands out there has to be Anders Lee’s 11 tallies in the goal column. Lee is the Reigning CCHA Player of the Month because he netted 7 goals and 2 assists in November.
So, does Bowling Green stand a chance?
I think so. Here’s why:
1. The Small Stuff
2. Andrew Hammond
3. Dajon Mingo and Dan DeSalvo
The Small Stuff, Go Ahead and Sweat It
This seems like a few very small things, and probably is honestly, but Notre Dame’s four losses all have similarities. They
all come in either the first look at a team in a two game series i.e.
the first game, or they come on the road in a one game matchup (Boston
College). Now, obviously these are small things to look at, nit-picky almost. When
you’re dealing with this kind of matchup and looking for bright spots
for the underdog, these are what you have to look at, especially with
the favorite being #3 in the nation.
Second,
this is Notre Dame’s first road game since November 16, when they swept
Michigan in Ann Arbor for the first time since disco was still alive. Will the road play be rusty? It’s hard to say. Of their four losses, 3 of them unexpectedly come in South Bend at the Compton Family Ice Arena. Their one loss on the road came at Boston College.
Andrew Hammond
Notre Dame shoots the puck. A LOT. They average over 32 shots a game. Andrew Hammond is a goaltender who prefers to take a lot of shots as opposed to having long periods of time without them. We’ve
definitely seen this is the discrepancies in performance when he has to
make 50+ saves (Ferris State last year) versus somewhere in the teens
(Ferris State this year). The
Senior goaltender could very feasibly find himself very busy on Saturday
night, and as a result, Bowling Green could find themselves very much
still in a position to win for the entire game.
Dajon Mingo and Dan DeSalvo
I know this seems like a random tandem (rhyme time), but it’s not. Mingo and DeSalvo barring any unforeseen changes, play on the 1st and 2nd line, respectively. Both of these players love having the puck, both are fast and both can outskate a ton of D-men on any team. Junior D Kevin Lind is one of the most physical players that Notre Dame has, but he’s not fast and is a blow-by candidate. On the other coin, Junior D Stephen James is 6’4” and 233 lbs. He
may not be speedy but he is good at playing the body in 3 of the most
important zones for forwards, in front of the net, in the corners, and
on open ice and is a definite threat that the Forwards have to pay
attention to. Either way, I
think both Dajon and Dan are due for a goal. There's no real way to
know if these two will be key in the matchup, but I think they are the
best two candidates for a huge performance right now with this matchup.
BG however has to beat Steven Summerhays and the guy is ridiculous. He won ND’s Most Improved Player award last year while splitting time almost evenly with then-Junior Mike Johnson and this year he has run with it. Senior Mike Johnson is now in the official two spot and has only played in 2 games on the season, while Summerhays has played the rest, and performed exceptionally.
In closing:
If BGSU can pull out a win, it won’t be pretty. It won’t be a blowout. This is the 3rd best team in the nation, 1st in the CCHA (Thanks to Miami’s loss to Lake), and a team that has won 4 straight CCHA games and 5 straight games overall. This is an uphill climb. And much like Mount Everest, it’s going to be tough, but it is possible. It will be good hockey to watch, and it should be fairly physical. Just remember, this is a sport. Any team can beat any team on any given day. Let’s hope that day is Saturday. Roll Along.
Kevin:
As much as I'd love to see the boys pick up 3 points on Saturday and pull off the major upset, like Geoff chronicled above, it's going to be a very difficult test. Everywhere you look, the Irish have someone who can beat you, whether it be up front, (Lee, Tynan, Costello, Lucia, Fogerty, Russo), on defense (Johns), and in net with Summerhays. Goaltending has been perceived as an issue for the Irish over the last couple years, but Summerhays has certainly quieted the critics.
Here are my 3 keys for Bowling Green victory:
1. Discipline
Seems simple enough, right? Stay out of the penalty box as much as possible. Notre Dame is a team that already puts up enough shots on goal per game as it is, so BG cannot afford to give them excess opportunities on the man advantage.
2. Power Play
I'm sure I'm as sick of talking about it as you are of hearing it, but it remains true: if the boys want to pull off the upset, they'll have to convert at least once on the power play. Over the last few games, the power play has looked much better than it did earlier in the year, and the Falcons even got a goal on the man advantage last Saturday (Cooper on the 5-3).
3. Start Fast
Getting the first goal of the game (preferably within the first 10 minutes) is imperative on Saturday. If the Falcons let Notre Dame score first, it's going to be very tough for them to come back and win the game.
In Closing:
I'm going to sound a lot like Coach Bergeron here, but if the Falcons want to get the 3 points on Saturday, they are going to focus on the process and the details of their game. If they let up for even a split second, Notre Dame will take advantage, and it could get ugly pretty quickly. But a win is definitely possible.
Beat the Irish. Roll Along.
Kevin:
As much as I'd love to see the boys pick up 3 points on Saturday and pull off the major upset, like Geoff chronicled above, it's going to be a very difficult test. Everywhere you look, the Irish have someone who can beat you, whether it be up front, (Lee, Tynan, Costello, Lucia, Fogerty, Russo), on defense (Johns), and in net with Summerhays. Goaltending has been perceived as an issue for the Irish over the last couple years, but Summerhays has certainly quieted the critics.
Here are my 3 keys for Bowling Green victory:
1. Discipline
Seems simple enough, right? Stay out of the penalty box as much as possible. Notre Dame is a team that already puts up enough shots on goal per game as it is, so BG cannot afford to give them excess opportunities on the man advantage.
2. Power Play
I'm sure I'm as sick of talking about it as you are of hearing it, but it remains true: if the boys want to pull off the upset, they'll have to convert at least once on the power play. Over the last few games, the power play has looked much better than it did earlier in the year, and the Falcons even got a goal on the man advantage last Saturday (Cooper on the 5-3).
3. Start Fast
Getting the first goal of the game (preferably within the first 10 minutes) is imperative on Saturday. If the Falcons let Notre Dame score first, it's going to be very tough for them to come back and win the game.
In Closing:
I'm going to sound a lot like Coach Bergeron here, but if the Falcons want to get the 3 points on Saturday, they are going to focus on the process and the details of their game. If they let up for even a split second, Notre Dame will take advantage, and it could get ugly pretty quickly. But a win is definitely possible.
Beat the Irish. Roll Along.
