SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame dropped a 6-3 decision to No. 20/18 Merrimack on Saturday inside Compton Ice Arena.
The three Notre Dame goals came from Carter Slaggert, Brennan Ali and Danny Nelson.
The story of the game was the second period, as the Warriors outscored the Irish 3-0 over the 20 minutes of play, all coming on power-play goals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish couldn’t have asked for a better start to Saturday’s matchup, scoring within the first three minutes to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. Leo Gruba intercepted the puck just inside the offensive zone and found Slaggert who carried to the top of the left circle before firing in his first of the season.
Notre Dame wasn’t done scoring in the opening period, as it doubled its lead at the 10:12 mark off a beautifully worked team goal. Danny Nelson centered a pass to Fischer, who drew a defender and the goaltender before sliding a pass across the crease to Ali, who found the back of the net for his first of the season to make it 2-0.
The Irish couldn’t capitalize on a golden opportunity to start the second period, as they were unable to convert on a 5-minute major penalty.
The Warriors managed to pull one back off a power play of their own, scoring on a redirect in front of the crease to cut the Irish lead in half at 2-1 at the 13:05 mark of the period.
With five minutes left in the period the Irish were whistled for both a five-minute major and a two-minute minor, giving the visitors a 5-on-3. Merrimack capitalized with two goals over the final five minutes of the period to take a 3-2 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Less than nine minutes into the third, the Irish found the equalizer courtesy of a Danny Nelson goal. Fischer fired a shot from the point that went wide and Nelson shot the rebound off the board off the goalie and into the net to tie the game at 3-3.
Unfortunately for the Irish the Warriors reclaimed the lead less than two minutes later, as the Irish goalie was screened on a shot from the point to put the visitors back on top at 4-3 with 10 minutes left in the third.
Merrimack added a fifth on a breakaway goal with less than three minutes left in the game before scoring an empty netter in the final minute of play to make the final score 6-3.
UP NEXT
The Irish open up Big Ten play on the road in Madison, Wisconsin, next weekend, taking on Wisconsin at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 30 and then at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 31. The games will be streamed on B1G+.