Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Sweep Engineers

After a mediocre start, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are once again playing like the team we came to know last season. After a 4-2 start to conference play beginning in the month of November, they welcomed the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers to Compton Family Ice Arena this past weekend for a non-conference weekend series.

Game 1

On Friday night, junior Cale Morris, was between the pipes for the Irish. As usual, Morris got plenty of help from his offense. Alex Steeves opened the scoring for the Irish just under 6 minutes into the period. He would score again early in the second to make it 3-0. The freshman forward continues to impress this season, with only Cal Burke, who scored late in the opening period, and Joe Wegwerth having more goals for the Irish.

Just over 30 seconds after Steeves’s goal which made it 3-0, Cam Morrison fired a shot past RPI goalie Linden Marshall to extend the Irish lead to four. The goal was the fourth of the season for the 2016 second round pick of the Colorado Avalanche.

In the final minute of the second period, Dylan Malmquist made it 5-0, with an assist from Cale Morris. Morris was coming off a three game stretch where he only allowed a single goal, and the trend would continue on this evening. The lone goal for the Engineers came in the third from Kyle Hallbauer, and the Irish walked away with a dominant 5-1 win.

Scoring

ND – Alex Steeves (4) at 05:53 in the 1st assisted by Nate Clurman and Bobby Nardella

ND – Cal Burke (9) at 19:17 in the 1st assisted by Bobby Nardella and Jack Jenkins

ND – Alex Steeves (5) at 01:29 in the 2nd assisted by Graham Slaggert and Andrew Peeke

ND – Cam Morrison (3) at 02:01 in the 2nd assisted by Colin Theisen and Mike O’Leary

ND – Dylan Malmquist (4) at 19:12 in the 2nd assisted by Cale Morris

RPI – Kyle Hallbauer (1) at 01:40 in the 3rd assisted by Tommy Grant and Todd Burgess

Goalies

ND – Cale Morris saved 36 of 37 shots for the win

RPI – Linden Marshall saved 16 of 20 shots in the loss

RPI – Chase Perry saved 17 of 18 shots

Penalties

ND – Bobby Nardella, 2 for interference at 07:41 in the 2nd.

RPI – Billy Jerry, 2 for tripping at 13:51 in the 2nd.

RPI – Meirs Moore, 2 for slashing at 09:16 in the 3rd.

Game 2

On Saturday, Cale Morris received a much needed night off and the Irish went with sophomore Dylan St. Cyr. The sophomore goaltender from Northville, MI couldn’t have played a better game, stopping all 33 shots that came his way, 4 of which where the Engineers had the man advantage.

Cam Morrison continued his big weekend by breaking the scoreless tie just under 5 minutes into the first period, thanks in part to a beautiful pass from junior Mike O’Leary. Freshman Michael Graham was also credited with an assist.

Colin Theisen and Dylan Malmquist provided a pair of insurance goals in the final period, the latter being an empty netter, and the Irish defeated the Engineers for the second straight evening. It was a dominant win for Notre Dame, as they doubled up RPI in faceoffs and out-shot them by 8.

Scoring

ND – Cam Morrison (4) at 04:40 in the 1st assisted by Mike O’Leary and Michael Graham

ND – Colin Theisen (5) at 13:36 in the 3rd assisted by Jake Pivonka and Cam Morrison

ND – Dylan Malmquist (5) at 17:14 in the 3rd assisted by Matt Hellickson and Cal Burke

Goalies

ND – Dylan St. Cyr saved 33 of 33 shots for the win

RPI – Owen Savory saved 38 of 40 shots in the loss

Penalties

RPI – Ture Linden, 2 for kneeing at 10:25 in the 1st

ND – Cal Burke, 2 for hooking at 13:57 in the 1st

RPI – Patrick Polino, 2 for interference at 15:25 in the 2nd

ND – Andrew Peeke, 2 for cross-checking at 05:27 in the 3rd

ND – Matt Steeves, 2 for boarding at 18:09 in the 3rd

Up Next

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will travel to State College, PA to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday and Saturday night, in Big Ten action.