DENVER – No. 6 seed Notre Dame fought off a second-half rally from Drexel to come away with a 10-8 win in the opening round of the NCAA Championships. The win gives the Irish a quarterfinal matchup against the winner of Maryland and Vermont at Arlotta Stadium on Sunday, May 23.
The Irish attack was led by Wheaton Jackoboice, who notched a hat trick with three goals, none bigger than his third of the day to put the Irish on top 9-8 with 1:19 to play in the game. Tewaaraton finalist Pat Kavanagh and Morrison Mirer each added two goals to propel Notre Dame to the win.
Sophomore goalie Liam Entenmann was brilliant in the cage, stopping 17 shots in the winning effort for a save percentage of .680.
The Irish also got a boost at the dot, as Charlie Leonard (8-of-10) and Kyle Gallagher (7-of-12) combined to win 15-of-22 faceoffs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish built a 4-2 lead after the opening 15 minutes of play. Jackoboice got the Irish on the board in the first minute and then Drexel responded with two goals of its own to go up 2-1. The Irish managed to score the final three goals of the quarter off goals from Jackoboice, Mirer and Yorke.
Kavanagh scored the first two goals of the second quarter, including a highlight-reel behind-the-back effort, to push the advantage to four at 6-2. Both the Dragons and Irish each added a goal in the final three minutes of the half to make the score 7-3 at the break.
The Dragons came out of the intermission and scored four of the five goals in the third period to cut the Irish lead to just one at 8-7.
Drexel managed to level the score early in the fourth quarter at 8-8, setting up a dramatic finish. After the Drexel goalie made a number of stunning saves in the fourth the Irish finally found the back of the net. Jackoboice made a run down the alley and finished high and inside the far pipe to give Notre Dame the 9-8 lead.
The Irish won the ensuing faceoff and added a goal late when Mirer fired into an empty net for his second of the day, sending Notre Dame to the semifinals.