By: Connor Toomey
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie against the No. 5/5 Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday night in front of a sold out crowd for Fan Appreciation Night in the confines of Compton Family Ice Arena.
The Irish had an opportunity to get on the board less than 30 seconds into the first period as junior alternate captain Cole Knuble wrapped around the back of the Penn State net and dished the puck to fellow junior, and team captain, Danny Nelson, but narrowly missed to the left of the post. Sophomore defenseman Jaedon Kerr let a one timer rip from just beyond the dot as the opening minute closed, but the shot was denied and the score stayed 0-0. Notre Dame put the pressure on the Nittany Lions early as they controlled the puck in the offensive zone trying to draw the game’s first score.
With just over five minutes gone in the first period, the Irish notched the first goal of the night off the stick of freshman Dashel Oliver on a redirect from Henry Nelson’s initial shot to make it 1-0. Notre Dame kept the pressure on in the PSU zone following the goal looking to extend their lead as they continued to outshoot the visitors early.
The special teams unit got their first taste of action at 9:56 of the first period as the Nittany Lions went to the penalty box on a tripping call. The powerplay unit had three early chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net to extend the lead while on the man-advantage. With 1:09 remaining on the first penalty, the Irish had a five-on-three edge following a tripping infraction on the visitors, but PSU killed both to prevent Notre Dame furthering their lead.
Freshman forward Will Belle gave the Irish a 2-0 lead on a breakaway off of a Penn State turnover in the Notre Dame zone. Notching his first collegiate goal, the freshman beat out the defense to set up a breakaway chance with the Nittany Lions netminder where he buried a wrist shot into the back right of the goal.
Less than 30 seconds later Cole Knuble extended the Notre Dame lead to 3-0. The winger was set up by Danny Nelson once again as Knuble buried the puck from the right slot.
Penn State notched their first goal of the contest with just under 90 seconds left in the first frame as the puck sailed over the outstretched blocker of sophomore goaltender Nicholas Kempf to make it a 3-1 game.
The second stanza began similarly to the first with another scoring opportunity from Cole Knuble, but his shot missed just to the right of the net to keep the scoreboard still at 3-1.
Notre Dame carried their strong offensive pressure into the second frame with multiple chances within the first five minutes of play. The closest chance came off of the tape of freshman forward Pano Fimis, but his backhand attempt was gloved by the Penn State goaltender at 5:21 in the period to keep it a two-goal contest in favor of the Irish.
The Irish penalty kill went to work at the 8:44 mark of the second period after junior forward Carter Slaggert got sent to the box for a hooking call. The Nittany Lions had a chance to edge closer, but their shot rang off the cross bar as play continued and the score remained locked at 3-1. Nicholas Kempf made a nice glove save off of a wrist shot to stop play with four seconds left on the penalty kill, and the special teams would escape the penalty with no damage done.
After a series of back and forth possessions where neither team could capitalize on offense, both earned a trip to the box with less than two minutes left in the frame as the teams would get two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fifty-five seconds into the powerplay Penn State found the back of the net, beating Kempf as the puck skipped over the extended left blocker pad of the sophomore goalie to make it a 3-2 game to end the middle period.
Notre Dame killed the remainder of the four-on-four to open the final period of play and had a chance from Jaedon Kerr as both teams returned to full strength, but the rebound was too wide for the Irish in the area in front of the crease to extend the lead further. Henry Nelson had another chance not too long after the opportunity by Kerr, but the shot was just a bit high and skied off the cross bar back into play behind the Nittany Lion net.
Penn State drew the equalizing goal on a two-on-one opportunity as the Nittany Lions beat Kempf on the stick side of his pads to make it a 3-3 game partway through the third.
After knotting the score up, the puck would go up and down the ice changing possession between both teams but neither one could find the goal to go ahead in the contest. Freshman forward Cole Brown gave junior blueliner Paul Fischer a chance in front of the net at 8:53 in the period, but the shot from Fischer was denied and deflected out of the PSU zone.
As time wound down into the final five minutes of play Nicholas Kempf made a poke save to get a rush going for the Irish as Dashel Oliver and graduate forward Sutter Muzzatti attempted to break the stalemate. The chance was stopped by the Penn State goalie as the final four minutes would go without another change in score as Notre Dame and the Nittany Lions headed to overtime.
In the three-on-three overtime period, the Irish had two chances to end things but both shots missed high. Nicholas Kempf was a rock for Notre Dame in the extra session as he made seven saves in the five minute period.
After neither team could convert in the five minutes of overtime play the game would officially end in a tie per NCAA rules, 3-3. Penn State would take the extra conference point in the shootout, converting on their first shot and holding the Irish off the board through three rounds.
GOALS
- Dashel Oliver recorded his second goal of the season to open the scoring for Notre Dame partway through the first period. The freshman redirected a shot from junior defenseman Henry Nelson from the point. The shot clipped the back of Oliver’s stick and ricocheted over the PSU goalkeeper’s left pad to put the Irish up 1-0 in the contest.
- Scoring his first collegiate goal, an unassisted tally, to extend the Notre Dame lead in the first period, freshman Will Belle intercepted a passing attempt by a Penn State forward and turned the after burners on to get ahead of the encroaching defensemen on both sides, setting up a breakaway opportunity that Belle capitalized on to give the Irish a 2-0 lead just over halfway through the first frame.
- Junior alternate captain Cole Knuble had multiple chances to score throughout the night and was able to put the puck in the back of the net just 28 seconds after Will Belle pushed the Irish lead to two goals over the Nittany Lions. Knuble’s goal was his eighth of the year as he received a pass up the right side of the boards to slot a wrister into the top right of the PSU goal, giving Notre Dame a 3-0 lead in the first period.
KEY STATS
- Will Belle recorded his first collegiate goal in the first period of Friday’s contest. Belle has three assists to add to his young career in an Irish sweater.
- Notre Dame recorded 41 face off wins of the 72 in the contest with Sutter Muzzatti leading in win percentage with a 63.2-percent success rate as he posted a 12-7mark at the dot.
- Nicholas Kempf finished the night with 25 saves, including seven in the overtime session to lift the Irish to the 3-3 tie.
- The Irish outshot the Nittany Lions 36-28 in the tie, including 25-9 halfway through the contest.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame returns to Compton Family Ice Arena to close out their final regular season home game on Saturday, February 28. The Irish will honor this year’s senior class with pregame festivities and a ceremony before hosting Irish Wear Green Night in South Bend. Game time is scheduled for 6pm.