CMU DIII hockey swept by Notre Dame
Looking to get back in the win column, Central Michigan Division III men’s club hockey headed to Indiana to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the weekend.
Despite opening the scoring in game one, the Fighting Irish swept the Chippewas in two games.
“I am so proud of our guys,” Cataline said. “Yeah, we went 0-2, but the way our guys handled everything proved today that we can stick with anything. I mean we got three guys injured.”
After dealing with injuries early in the season, the problem has reared its head again.
“(Conner) Morgan, he can barely walk,” Cataline said. "And to see our guys fight through the pain just shows you that they’re going to do anything to be on that ice.”
The Chippewas fall to 5-4 on the season.
Game One
Seven minutes into the first period, freshman forward Andrew Sziraki flung a shot a net as a Fighting Irish defender came his way.
Knocked down onto his stomach, the puck found its way to senior forward Andrew Porzondek’s stick. Still down on the ice, Porzondek quickly fired a shot on net, sneaking it past the Fighting Irish goaltender and taking an early 1-0 lead.
Shortly after Notre Dame killed off a Chippewa penalty, it managed to sneak one past junior netminder Loren Jones and tie the game 1-1.
Junior forward Julian Johnson beat the Fighting Irish net-minder making it 2-1.
Norte Dame would answer back quickly scoring two goals by the end of the first period to make it 3-2.
After letting in seven goals, freshman goalie Elijah Jones came in for CMU. Elijah would let in four more goals as the Norte Dame took game one with a final score of 11-4.
“Things didn’t work out last night for Loren,” Cataline said. “It wasn’t anything he did. I just didn’t want him to get peppered.”
Sophomore forwards Nathan Bottles and Isaac Gibbs each scored one for the Chippewas.
Game Two
After scoring three goals in the third period, the Chippewas forced overtime in game two of their matchup with the Fighting Irish on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Notre Dame scored two within the first five minutes of the game, putting the Chippewas down going into the second period.
Halfway through the second, a breakaway from the Fighting Irish would extend Notre Dame’s lead to 3-0.
Opening the scoring again, Porzondek fired one past the Fighting Irish netminder, cutting the lead to 3-1. Fired up from the goal, Porzondek would net another with four seconds left in the second period and cut the lead to 3-2.
After fifteen minutes of scoreless hockey in the final period, Notre Dame extended their lead to 4-2.
Just under a minute later, Porzondek completed the hat trick putting the Chippewas within one.
“That is what we expect from (Andrew) Porzondek every weekend,” Cataline said. “Today was huge. Took some relief off Isaac Gibbs and Nathan Bottles. Porzondek getting five points today is huge. I have been here for a year and a half and that’s the best game I’ve seen Porzondek play.”
Down by one with two minutes left in the game, the Chippewas pulled Elijah Jones for an extra attacker. Swatting the puck on the net after a pass from Porzondek, senior forward Keelan Baker forced overtime tying the game at five.
The Chippewas rally would fall short as Notre Dame came out on top and completed the sweep with a 6-5 final score.
CMU continues on the road against Michigan-Flint on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
