COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Irish hockey team scored four unanswered goals Thursday night en route to a 5-4 overtime victory on the road at Ohio State University.
The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead when a shot beat Nicholas Kempf at 3:23 of the opening period and then extended their lead with a powerplay goal after the Irish were called for a cross-check halfway through the frame.
The Irish continued to press the Buckeye zone despite trailing 2-0 in the final minutes. Sutter Muzzatti broke finally broke through for the Irish at the 16:03 mark to get the Irish on the board.
Notre Dame went on to convert twice more before the end of the period as Dashel Oliver and Evan Werner each found twine within 30 seconds to give the Irish the 3-2 lead.
The Buckeyes nearly had the equalizer in the waning seconds when a shot from the neutral zone trickled off the sleeve of Kempf before being removed from danger by a defenseman as the horn sounded on the frame.
With a skater from either side called for roughing early in the second stanza, the Irish and Buckeyes would skate four-on-four for two minutes where the visitors extended their lead off the stick of Muzzatti for his second of the night.
The remainder of the second period was riddled with penalties but neither team could convert during the special teams play as the Irish clung to their 4-2 lead heading into the final period Thursday on the road.
The whistles continued to be at play early in the third period as the Irish were called for a hold just 30 seconds into the frame and were tasked with their fourth attempted kill of the night. Notre Dame managed to kill off the infraction unscathed as they returned to full strength with 2:30 elapsed in the third.
Ohio State got one back at 4:47 of the third period when they connected on a backdoor tap-in to make it a 4-3 contest.
The Buckeyes tied the game up when an oded-man entry into the zone saw an Irish defenseman sprawled out trying to break up the play. The attackers read the play and passed the puck beyond the Irish skater to beat Kempf in the Notre Dame crease for the 4-4 score at 10:13 of the third.
With just over six minutes to play, Ohio State fans thought their team had scored when a shot beat Kempf above the blocker but the shot rang off the corner of the post and sailed back into play to keep the game knotted.
At 15:16 of the third period the Irish were awarded their first true powerplay opportunity of the night after Brennan Ali drew a slash just outside the crease to stop a potential scoring opportunity.
The first powerplay unit had numerous chances midway through the man-advantage opportunity but were unable to convert as the Buckeyes killed the infraction and returned to full strength.
A late backhander from Dashel Oliver nearly gave the Irish the win in regulation but his shot was stopped with 2.6 seconds to go in the third to force the overtime session.
It was junior Evan Werner who clinched the victory for the Irish Thursday evening with a goal at 3:23 of the overtime session to skate away with a 5-4 victory.
KEY STATS
- With both juniors earning a start Thursday night, Danny Nelson and Paul Fischer both eclipse 100 career games in an Irish sweater. Both skaters registered a point in their milestone game.
- The Irish closed out the first period with a trio of goals in just 1:46 to carry a 3-2 lead into the intermission.
- Evan Werner finished the night with four points, registering his third four-point night of the season with two goals and two assists.
- Sutter Muzzatti boasted multiple goals along with an assist for a three-point game.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Buckeyes close out the regular season with a 6:30pm tilt on B1G+.