NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Irish hockey team dropped a last minute heartbreaker to the Ohio State Buckeyes Friday night, falling 4-2 in the final minutes of regulation behind a powerplay goal and empty netter from the visitors inside Compton Family Ice Arena.
Ohio State opened the scoring just 52 seconds into play Friday night when a centering pass beat the Irish defender and a shot sailed top shelf over the blocker of Nicholas Kempf.
After giving up the first goal of the night, the Irish continued to press the Buckeye zone registering a pair of shots on net before OSU was called for a too-many-men penalty with 12:43 to go in the frame. Danny Nelson had a look on net but his shot went just wide before the powerplay chance was negated by a cross-check just 1:09 later, making it four-on-four action for 51 seconds.
Both teams managed to kill off their shortened infractions as play resumed to full strength with just under 10 minutes to go in the opening period.
A boarding call against the Irish at 11:28 of the first period sent the Irish back to the kill in which OSU capitalized on just 12 seconds in to make it a 2-0 contest.
With 2:22 to play in the first period the Irish special teams unit returned to the ice following a boarding infraction and were tasked with killing off two minutes with the man-down. A pair of forwards in Danny Nelson and Carter Slaggert got the Irish near scoring position with a late rush up the ice shorthanded, creating an odd-man rush but the shot off Nelson’s stick sailed high and around the glass.
After killing off the remainder of the penalty with a couple of key saves from Kempf in the Irish crease, Notre Dame had a chance on net with 4.7 ticks left on the clock but Brennan Ali and Pano Fimis were both denied opportunities at the doorstep to keep it a 2-0 game in favor of the visitors.
Ohio State was called for the first infraction of the middle stanza, interference, and the Notre Dame powerplay unit returned to the ice for the second time of the night. With three seconds left on the man-advantage, Pano Fimis buried a pass from Brennan Ali to get the Irish on the board at 6:55 of the second period.
The Irish were back on the powerplay at 10:41 of the second period after a cross-checking call against the Buckeyes. Fimis and Brown connected on a shot approximately halfway through the man-advantage opportunity but Brown’s one-timer was denied by the pads of Sam Hillebrandt in the OSU net to keep it a one-goal game.
Despite pressure late from the Irish offense looking to tie things up heading into the third, Notre Dame was unable to find twine in the waning minutes and headed to the locker room down by one with 20 minutes to go in regulation.
The Irish came out strong in the third period, pressuring the Buckeye end early before drawing a hooking call against OSU to head back to the powerplay at 1:08 of the frame. Notre Dame could not convert on the early powerplay chance and continued their hunt for the game-tying goal in the opening minutes of the third.
The freshmen continued their scoring streak with a third period goal from Brown to knot things up at 9:40 of the frame to make it a 2-2 contest.
A holding call against the Irish at 11:30 of the third sent the penalty kill unit back out onto the ice in a knotted contest. Graduate forward Sutter Muzzatti, who has the lone Irish shorthanded goal of the season thus far, killed off a portion of time racing up the ice but was turned away by a Buckeye defender before getting a clean shot on net and play continued with the Irish down a man. The Irish managed to kill off the remainder of the penalty unscathed to keep it a 2-2 contest late in the game.
With 3:18 to go in regulation the Irish were whistled for a high-stick and were forced to sit for two minutes. The Buckeyes beat Kempf in the waning moments of their powerplay chance when a cross-ice pass gave OSU a wide open net as a sprawling Kempf leapt to make the save but the shot went just over his blocker.
As the Irish trailed by a goal with under two minutes to play, the Irish opted for the extra attacker and a 200-foot clearance put the puck right into the back of the empty net for the 4-2 final.
GOALS
- Late on the powerplay, Pano Fimis picked up a centering pass through the paint from Brennan Ali to slice the OSU lead in half with his third goal of the season, and first since December against Wisconsin. Cole Brown registered the second assist on the tally for his 12th point of the season, which leads all rookies.
- After setting up the team’s first goal of the night, Brown net one of his own halfway through the third. Following a play from Werner who raced the puck into the offensive end, the freshman tapped the puck past the OSU netminder as bodies crashed in on net. Henry Nelson earned the second assist on the play, having found Werner near center ice before going for a change.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Buckeyes close out their first regular season series of the season Saturday night at 5pm, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Early arriving fans can pick up a team poster for the postgame autograph session following the conclusion of Saturday night’s game.