Notre Dame Hockey Beats LIU in Series Opener

The Irish offense turned it on late for the win

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team continued their strong start to the season in the opening game of the weekend. Despite starting the game slow the offense found it’s footing later on and was able to find the net four times while allowing just one goal for the fourth time in five games.

Game Summary

First Period

Notre Dame started the game slowly and some uncharacteristic turnovers in the neutral and defensive zones allowed Long Island to put a lot of shots on goal early. Goaltender Owen Say was up to the task though stopping all 12 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes. Notre Dame couldn’t create much offense, but still broke the deadlock with just 30 second remaining. Notre Dame cycled the puck around the outside of the offensive zone before Axel Kumlin fired a one timer from the left side into the top of the net.

Second Period

In the second period Notre Dame was able to find some more offense, scoring twice without allowing LIU to score. The first was an excellent individual effort by Cole Knuble. After Ian Murphy skated the blue line waiting for Knuble to get onside, he dumped the puck to Knuble just into the offensive zone. Knuble skated along the left side boards around two defenders before backhanding the puck on goal from a tough angle. The puck found the 5 hole for the goal.

Twelve minutes into the period LIU goaltender Daniel Duris, who had been strong so far in stopping the Irish offense, was injured making a save and appeared to be in a lot of pain. He was replaced by Noah Rupprecht. He was put in a tough position early as LIU took a penalty just a few minutes after he entered the game. On the power play Notre Dame’s puck movement was on display again, cycling the outside of the offensive zone before a one time attempt by Cole Knuble. The on timer was saved as was a rebound attempt by Blake Biondi. On the third attempt though Danny Nelson was able to stuff the puck in for the third Irish goal.

Third Period

LIU ended the second period on the power play and still had time remaining to start the third after a 5 minute major penalty on the Irish. The Sharks made the extended man advantage pay off, cutting the Irish lead to two just 30 seconds into the final 20 minutes. After that though, despite a lot of pressure, Owen Say was able to shut the door on the Sharks comeback attempt and Notre Dame put the game away with 8 minutes to go. Ian Murphy scored his first goal for Notre Dame with a wrist shot from the right faceoff that beat Rupprecht top shelf. Say continued a stellar night, stopping 14 shots in the 3rd period and 38 total to make sure LIU was never able to make it close.

Scoring

ND: Axel Kumlin (1) at 19:30 in the 1st assisted by Michael Mastrodomenico and Cole Knuble

ND: Cole Knuble (5) at 6:57 in the 2nd assisted by Ian Murphy

ND: Danny Nelson (3) on the power play at 15:57 in the 2nd assisted by Blake Biondi and Cole Knuble

LIU: Carter Rapalje (3) on the power play at 0:31 in the 3rd assisted by Isaiah Fox

ND: Ian Murphy (1) at 11:50 in the 3rd assisted by Justin Janicke and Cole Knuble

Penalties

ND: Michael Mastrodomenico 2 for interference at 3:24 in the 1st

ND: Maddox Fleming 2 for interference at 8:25 in the 1st

ND: Michael Mastrodomenico 2 for interference at 1:31 in the 2nd

LIU: Riley Wallack 2 for holding the stick at 11:37 in the 2nd

LIU: John Gormley 2 for roughing at 14:26 in the 2nd

ND: Henry Nelson 5 for high sticking at 16:46 in the 2nd

ND: Justin Janicke 2 for roughing at 16:17 in the 3rd

LIU: Isaiah Fox 2 for roughing at 16:41 in the 3rd

Goalies

ND: Owen Say saved 38 of 39 shots faced for the win

LIU: Daniel Duris made 7 saves on 9 shots in the loss

LIU: Noah Rupprecht made 13 saves on 15 shots in injury relief

Up Next

Game two of the series with Notre Dame going for the sweep. Puck drop is 6:05 and streaming on Peacock, tune in after watching the Irish football team against Navy.