ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Notre Dame hockey team fell in a close battle Saturday night at Michigan, 4-2.
After allowing two goals early in the contest, the visiting Irish clawed back in game two of the weekend series at Yost but an empty net goal in the final minute would seal it for the home team as Notre Dame falls to 5-5-0 on the season.
The Irish found themselves down early Saturday evening after the Wolverines scored on their first chance, 41 seconds into the contest.
They scored again just over a minute later to take a 2-0 lead at 2:08 of the first after a bad bounce off an Irish defender ricocheted into the back of the net.
Owen Say made a splits save to stop a Michigan breakaway but a tap from behind the play caused the Michigan skater to lose an edge and crash into the boards while the Irish were called for a slashing penalty at 6:15 of the first.
After successfully killing off the first penalty, the Irish held possession in their offensive end momentarily before a collision along the boards sent them back to the kill at 9:10 of the game. The penalty lasted 36 seconds before more whistles sounded and two more skaters went to the box after a play behind the Irish net. The Irish allowed just one shot on goal during the penalty kill to keep it a two-goal game at the first media timeout of the night.
The Irish got on the board at 16:44 of the opening frame after Brennan Ali fired a shot top shelf for his second of the weekend.
Hunter Strand nearly evened it up shortly after but his breakaway chance went just wide and the team headed to the locker room down by one through 20 minutes of play.
The Irish headed to the box just 31 seconds into the second stanza, forcing the penalty kill unit to work for the third time on the night. The visitors managed to kill off the infraction, once again allowing Say only one shot faced on the disadvantage to keep it a one score game.
Michigan extended their lead six minutes into the second after a shot floated over Say with traffic in front.
The Irish saw their first powerplay opportunity of the evening with 12:00 on the clock in the second period after Strand got tripped up in front of the net. Despite three shots on goal during the man-advantage, the Irish could not convert and continued to face a two-goal deficit.
Both sides continued to battle throughout the second period, with the Irish chipping away at the Michigan shots on goal edge, outshooting their opponent 13-8 in the middle 20.
Blake Biondi scored for the Irish with 46 seconds left in the second to draw the Irish within one heading into the third period.
The Irish eventually gained the edge in shots partway through the third period but could not break the Wolverine netminding in the opening minutes of the frame and continued to trail by one.
Michael Mastrodomenico drew a penalty nearly halfway through the third period and the Irish powerplay unit saw their second opportunity of the night with 10:43 left in regulation.
The Irish powerplay unit was unable to convert on the chance and, instead, were called for a penalty of their own with five ticks left on the Michigan tripping call.
Both teams managed to kill off their penalties and with 6:42 to play in the third the Irish offense looked for opportunities to equalize in the Michigan end.
Michigan regained the edge in shots with under five minutes to play in the third but the Irish offense continued to press late in the contest.
With just under 2:00 to play in regulation, the Irish pulled Say in favor of the extra attacker.
The Irish controlled possession in their offensive end while skating six guys and forced Michigan to ice the puck and call timeout with 40.3 seconds left.
A collision at the blueline put a Notre Dame skater flat on the ice and gave Michigan the two-on-zero chance at the empty net for the 4-2 final.
GOALS
- Brennan Ali scored his second of the weekend with a shot from the near circle over the glove of Cameron Korpi in goal for the Wolverines. The sophomore winger picked off a Wolverine skater at the red line and Jaedon Kerr eventually chipped the puck into the offensive end where Cole Knuble out-manned his opponent, kicking the puck back to Ali for the tally. With the second assist on the play, Jaedon Kerr registered his first collegiate point.
- Hunter Strand blocked a shot in the defensive zone and fed a pass up to Justin Janicke racing to the neutral zone. The senior then carried the puck over the blueline and dished the puck back to Strand in the slot who quickly passed it across to Blake Biondi for the team’s second goal of the night. The tic-tac-toe play came with just 44.3 seconds on the clock in the second period.
KEY STATS
- Brennan Ali scored his second goal of the weekend Saturday to mark three on the season. His goal was assisted in part by Jaedon Kerr who picked up his first collegiate point on the play.
- Killing off all four penalties successfully Saturday, the Irish PK unit went perfect on the weekend, holding the Wolverines scoreless on all eight opportunities.
- The Irish posted 29 shots on goal Saturday evening, led by Blake Biondi’s five. The graduate forward scored with less than a minute left in the second period, with linemates Justin Janicke and Hunter Strand posting the assists on the goal.
UP NEXT
The Irish head back to the mitten state next weekend as they face off against the Spartans of Michigan State, Nov. 15-16. Friday’s game at Munn Ice Arena is slated for a 7pm puck drop before closing out the road stretch Saturday at 8pm.