ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 20/RV University of Notre Dame hockey team dropped a heartbreaker in Ann Arbor Friday night, falling 2-1 in overtime to No. 7/7 Michigan at Yost Ice Arena.
The Irish did earn a point towards the conference standings with the overtime session while Owen Say made 45 saves between the pipes for a .957 save percentage Friday evening.
At the first media break of the night the Irish were outshooting the Wolverines, 6-5, but neither team had been able to break the opposing netminder as the game remained scoreless halfway through the opening period.
Following the media timeout, the Wolverines held possession in the Irish defensive end for a large portion of the period, peppering Owen Say with shots but the junior goaltender stood tall between the pipes to keep it a 0-0 game.
The Irish were whistled for the first infraction of the night, a two-minute minor for boarding, with 4:20 to play in the first frame. Michigan registered two shots on goal during the Notre Dame kill and the two teams returned to full strength still knotted 0-0 late in the period. The stalemate would hold through the end of the period as the two teams headed to the locker rooms through 20 minutes of play looking for the game’s opening goal.
Brennan Ali snapped the stalemate at 6:30 of the second period, picking up a pass from Michael Mastrodomenico and racing up ice before burying a shot top shelf behind Michigan’s Logan Stein in net.
Shortly after the Ali tally to make it 1-0, the Wolverines were called for their first penalty of the night, interference, and the Irish powerplay unit went to work in the offensive zone. Despite a few good looks on net, the Irish were unable to convert on the man-advantage.
Minutes later the Wolverines were called for cross-checking near center ice and the top Irish powerplay unit returned to the ice.
The Irish and Wolverines continued to battle in the second period with the Irish holding the 1-0 lead until a late goal by the home team evened the tally, 1-1, with 4:12 to go in the frame.
The Irish were called for hooking with just over two minutes to play in the second and the penalty kill unit was tested for the second time. Notre Dame successfully killed off the infraction and had one more rush into the offensive end but did not get a shot off before the buzzer and the two sides were tied after two periods of play, 1-1.
Notre Dame was called for a hook at 1:52 of the final period before getting whistled again less than a minute later and were forced to kill off 1:06 of a five-on-three. The Irish were successful in the series of kills, with Say only being tested once in net on the two-man disadvantage. As the Irish returned to full strength, Hunter Strand, Brennan Ali and Justin Janicke created an odd-man rush into the offensive end but Strand’s feed cross ice taps the stick of a Michigan defender and sails into the netting to stop play.
Michigan was called for their first penalty of the third at 6:05 of the frame, elbowing, and the Irish spent the next two minutes down in their offensive zone. Despite the powerplay opportunity, the Irish could not convert and the two teams remained tied, 1-1, at the conclusion of the Michigan penalty.
Neither team could capitalize through the remainder of regulation and overtime sounded. Through 60 minutes, Say stopped 42 of 43 shots faced, including a series of saves in the waning minutes of the third to keep the Irish hopes alive.
The junior netminder made three saves in the overtime session before a Michigan forward capitalized on a rebound opportunity to take the 2-1 victory over the Irish.
In total, Say stopped a career-best 45 saves for the Irish, earning first star of the game honors at the conclusion of the contest.
GOALS
- Brennan Ali opened the scoring Friday night in Ann Arbor with his second of the season to give the Irish the 1-0 lead. An exchange in the neutral zone had the Irish defenders on their heels momentarily in what looked to be an odd-man rush chance for the Wolverine offense. Michael Mastrodomenico laid out anticipating the shot, picking off the Michigan forward and feeding a pass to Ali at the blueline who carried the puck the rest of the way up ice, burying his shot above the stick of the Michigan netminder.
KEY STATS
- With 45 saves between the pipes, Owen Say registered a career-best with the Irish.
- Brennan Ali’s goal at 6:29 of the second period was his second tally of the year and the sophomore now boasts three points on the season.
- The Irish successfully killed off all five powerplay opportunities the Wolverines had Friday night.
- Defensively, the Irish blocked 19 shots in the game led by a pair of grad students in Ian Murphy and Zach Plucinski.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Wolverines close out the weekend series Saturday night with a 7pm puck drop inside Yost Ice Arena.