By: Connor Toomey
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team secured a strong victory Saturday evening against the Buckeyes of Ohio State University to close out a hard fought weekend inside Compton Family Ice Arena, defeating the Buckeyes 6-1 in front of a sold out crowd.
The Irish opened up Saturday’s game trading shots with the Buckeyes early in the first period, but no shots from either side found their way into the back of the net through the opening minutes of play.
A boarding call against OSU at 4:01 of the first period sent Notre Dame to the powerplay. As the Irish special teams unit took to the ice, they started fast, registering two quick shots on the Buckeye net. On their third shot, they found the back of the net off a wrist shot from Evan Werner at 5:33 of the first period as the Irish struck first in the contest. Play would go back and forth between the zones of both teams for the next nine minutes as neither team was able to capitalize and the score held steadfast at 1-0 Irish.
With 5:07 left to play in the first period, the Irish special teams unit was put to work, this time on the penalty kill, after a slashing penalty sent Michael Mastrodomenico to the box. The Irish had a chance to score short handed, but the two-on-one break away shot went wide.
After killing the remainder of the penalty, Notre Dame kept the pressure on OSU for the rest of the period. With high pressure in the Buckeye zone, the Irish tried to add to their lead to close out the first frame of play with chances from Danny Nelson, whose shot was glove saved by the OSU tender, and Cole Knuble, whose shot hit the top crossbar before sailing out of play. The first 20 minutes would end with the Irish carrying a lead of 1-0 back to the locker room.
At 2:10 into the second period a fast shot from Carter Slaggert was buried on the rebound into the top right shelf of the net by Pano Fimis as he added another tally to the scoreboard to extend the Irish lead to 2-0 to begin the second period.
The Irish would continue to press in the second frame, playing hard and fast as less than a minute later at 2:59, Sutter Muzzatti buried a pass from Evan Werner across the OSU zone into the Buckeye net. Muzzatti would notch his second point of the night and second goal of the weekend to put the Irish up 3-0 on the Buckeyes.
At 3:08 into the second period the Notre Dame special teams unit was put back to work after an infraction for head contact put the Irish at the man-disadvantage. OSU put the pressure on and 18 seconds into the penalty kill, the Irish went down another man on a boarding penalty creating a five-on-three advantage for the Buckeyes. Despite killing off the first 50 seconds of the two-man kill, OSU capitalized on the two-man advantage with a goal that snuck past the left blocker of Nicholas Kempf to make the score 3-1 in favor of Notre Dame.
As the halfway point of the game came and went, the Irish powerplay went back to work at 8:44 after an OSU cross-checking infraction. Notre Dame attacked the Buckeye zone as they worked to provide an answer to extend the Irish lead further.
After setting back up in the Buckeye zone from a clear by their penalty kill unit, a pass from Axel Kumin set up a one-timer rip from junior captain, Danny Nelson, less than a minute into the powerplay to push Notre Dame further ahead, 4-1.
To cap the second period scoring barrage from the Irish, at 10:11 Maddox Fleming took a pass from Henry Nelson across the Buckeye crease and buried the puck into the back of the net. The Irish took a 5-1 advantage over OSU at the end of two periods of play in South Bend.
A roughing penalty just 46 seconds into the third sent the special teams unit of Notre Dame out onto the ice early into the final frame of play. The Irish had a few chances at an odd man rush to the OSU goal, but turned the puck over in the neutral zone or cleared the puck on said chances. No harm would come to the scoreboard as the special teams unit killed the penalty.
Niko Jovanovic had a scoring chance at 6:20 in the frame, as he stormed the Buckeye zone and had his shot waved off by the referees in the middle of play to keep the score knotted at 5-1 as the contest headed towards the final ten minutes of play.
A final powerplay chance came to the Irish at 13:21 from a tripping call against OSU. The Irish powerplay unit capitalized on the opportunity 39 seconds into the powerplay with a second goal from Sutter Muzzatti. Muzzatti had an open net after a scrum left the OSU defense lost and without hesitation, the graduate forward let the puck rip off his stick across the goal line to give the Irish the 6-1 final, sealing the Buckeyes’ Saturday night fate.
While in control, Notre Dame went on the penalty kill once more for tripping at 14:54. In this kill, sophomore netminder Nicholas Kempf put his talents on full display as he made a series of highlight reel saves to his chest protector and then followed it up with a butterfly save that sent the puck out of play.
As the game wound down, neither team would gain more chances at the net, but played hard and physical until the final buzzer. At the final horn sounding, the Irish had claimed a 6-1 final.
GOALS
- Late on the powerplay, Evan Werner secured a centering pass from Danny Nelson in front of the crease and buried the shot to put the Irish up 1-0 early in the first period. Sutter Muzzatti registered the second assist on the tally, his 10th of the season and first point of the night.
- Pano Fimis recorded his fourth goal of the season off of a strong rebound pass from Carter Slaggert that was set up along the wing from sophomore defenseman, Jaedon Kerr.
- Following quickly behind Fimis, Sutter Muzzatti buried a one-timer on a pass from across the offensive zone from Evan Werner.
- Danny Nelson ripped his 8th goal of the season on a powerplay with a one-timer of his own from Axel Kumlin. As the Buckeye defense went after Kumlin with the puck he dished it quickly to Nelson who buried it into the top right shelf of the net.
- Gaining the Ohio State zone, Will Belle and Henry Nelson navigated the puck around the zone until Nelson saw Fleming break for the net and he sent the puck on a dime to Maddox who sent the puck flying into the net as his stick tipped it in.
- For his second of the night, Sutter Muzzatti scored on the final powerplay of the night for the Irish. As time was winding down on the power play, Sutter gained the puck after a charge at the OSU goal left an open lane to the back of the net available for him to take. Muzzatti notched goal number ten on the season with this effort.
KEY STATS
- Maddox Fleming scored his first goal of the season against OSU with a tip-in goal at 10:11 in the second frame of the night. Fleming was assisted by Henry Nelson and Will Belle on the play.
- Freshman defenseman Will Belle tallied his first collegiate point for Notre Dame with an assist on Flemming’s goal in the second period.
- Sutter Muzzatti had two goals and two assists to get himself a four point night. Muzzatti recorded his second and third goals of the series and his ninth and 10th goals of the year.
- The four-point night by Muzzatti (2-2-4) ties his career best and was his second four-point night of the season for the Irish.
- His four points also eclipsed 20 points on the season alongside Evan Werner who had three on the evening. The duo leads the team with 21 and 20, respectively, as their multi-point nights pushed them to the milestone in their first seasons with the Irish.
UP NEXT
The Irish return to Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday, January 30th to host Bowling Green at 7:00 PM. The tilt will be the first game of a home-and-home series against the Falcons with the series concluding the following evening in Bowling Green, Ohio.