STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Irish hockey team clinched their first conference points of the season in the Big Ten opener Saturday night, battling back for the 3-3 tie and shootout win. Despite trailing in the third, the University of Notre Dame took advantage on the powerplays Saturday to force overtime and clinch the extra Big Ten point.
The Irish jumped out to the early lead, scoring at 1:35 of the opening period. Brennan Ali capitalized for the Irish on just their fifth shot on goal to take the 1-0 lead which they held for the majority of the opening frame.
The Nittany Lions nearly knotted things up with just under five minutes to play in the first but a sprawled out Bischel made the initial pad save before Ali jumped in front of a shot moments later to keep the home team off the board.
Penn State did break the Irish defensive core with 2:10 to play in the first period as the teams headed to the locker rooms tied 1-1 through 20 minutes of play.
A series of penalties against both teams littered the early minutes of the second stanza, with the Irish ultimately finding themselves on a five-on-three advantage for a few seconds. Despite not scoring on the two-man advantage, Trevor Janicke found the back of the net on the ensuing five-on-four edge to give Notre Dame the 2-1 lead at 6:37 of the second period.
Penn State evened the score once more with a powerplay goal of their own at 13:00 of the second stanza before taking their first lead of the game just under four minutes later.
Although holding the Nittany Lions to one of their lowest shot totals of the season heading into the third period, the Irish found themselves down by one heading to the final period of regulation, trailing 3-2.
The Irish fired the first six shots on net in the third period, holding the Nittany Lions without a shot on goal in the frame until nearly 10 minutes in.
At the 10:19 minute mark of the third period, a Penn State defender was sent off for a cross check before their centreman violated the defensive zone faceoff to start their penalty kill and was assessed a penalty as well.
With a full two minutes of five-on-three powerplay, the Irish took advantage and tied the game at 3-3 off the stick of Maddox Fleming.
The goal would prove to be the equalizer that would force overtime with the two teams still knotted 3-3 at the end of 60 minutes.
The Irish won the opening draw in the overtime frame and Danny Nelson jumped out on a quick breakaway but his shot less than 10 seconds into the extra session was stifled and play continued.
Both sides traded possession but the Irish defense was able to steer any Penn State chance off net as the Irish outshot the home team, 3-0, in overtime.
The game was ultimately decided in the third round of the shootout after each netminder made a pair of key saves through the first two rounds. Cole Knuble took the ice for his first collegiate shootout in round three, lifting the puck over the blocker side shoulder of Noah Grannan in net.
On the opposite end of the ice, Ryan Bischel made the final save of the night, albeit unofficial, gloving down the last-ditch effort from Penn State’s Dylan Lugris for the shootout victory.
GOALS
- Brennan Ali opened the scoring Saturday night, just 95 seconds into the first period. The freshman forward hit twine for his second consecutive game, beating the Nittany Lions’ netminder stick side for the 1-0 tally. In his return to the lineup, Michael Mastrodomenico picked up the primary assist on the goal for his first point of the season while Grant Silianoff had the other.
- Trevor Janicke scored his second goal of the season with a powerplay tally at 6:37 of the second period to take the 2-1 lead. Shortly after the expiration of the Nittany Lions’ first penalty Ryan Siedem took advantage of a tired penalty kill unit and found Hunter Strand on the far circle who centered a puck to Trevor at the top of the crease.
- Maddox Fleming scored his first collegiate goal at 10:58 of the third period to knot things up, 3-3. His powerplay goal came on a five-on-three opportunity, ripping a shot off from the slot with assists to Drew Bavaro and Danny Nelson.
KEY STATS
- The Irish picked up two of three points on night one of their Big Ten regular season slate with the shootout victory.
- Maddox Fleming net his first goal with the Irish to tie things up halfway through the third period. Including his team-leading six assists, the freshman winger is now tied for the team lead in points with seven.
- Ryan Bischel stopped 28 of 31 shots faced in the contest, not including all three stops in the shootout to cap off the night.
- Nine individuals highlighted the box score for the Irish Saturday night with three individual goal scorers.
- In his shootout debut, Cole Knuble scored the lone goal through three rounds to clinch the extra point in the conference standings for Notre Dame.
- The Irish scored two powerplay goals Saturday night while killing three-of-four penalties.
- The Irish finished with 29 shots on goal in the contest, including the only three shots on net in the five-minute overtime session.
- In the defensive end, the Irish blocked 13 shots on the night, led by Zach Plucinski with four.
- Michael Mastrodomenico scored his first point of the season with the primary assist on Brennan Ali’s opening goal just 95 seconds into the game.
- With six shots on goal, and a post shot in overtime, Drew Bavaro led the team in the category Saturday.
UP NEXT
The two teams return to the ice Sunday for a matinee game inside Pegula Ice Arena on Big Ten Network. Puck drop for the second tilt of the season series is set for 4:37 p.m.