Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Fall to Gophers 3-2 in Minneapolis

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended their first series of conference play with a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday in Minneapolis.

First Period

The Gophers set the tone early on, and won 8 faceoffs to outdo Notre Dame’s 6 over the whole period. Trevor Janicke’s trip to the box for hooking a few minutes into the

period marked the only Irish penalty of the game as well as the continuation of a spotless Irish PK this season.

Minnesota’s Grant Cruikshank nabbed the first goal of the game about 11 minutes into play. As the clock ran down, another hooking call sent Minnesota’s Jackson Lacombe to the penalty box, but the power play opportunity wasn’t enough to get the Irish on the board in the first. By the end of the period, the Gophers had outshot the Irish 18-14.

Second Period

The second period brought two power play opportunities for the Irish, but after Sammy Walker’s slashing call and Carl Fish’s boarding penalty, the score remained 1-0, Minnesota.

Shortly after the clock ran out on Fish’s penalty, however, Notre Dame’s Grant Silianoff found the back of the net at the last second to tie it up with his first goal of the season as the game headed into the third.

Third Period

The Gophers snatched the lead back with a goal from Jonny Sorenson not even two and a half minutes into the third. Not even thirty seconds later, however, Notre Dame’s Solag Bakich responded with his second goal of the season to bring it to 2-2. It was Minnesota’s Bryce Brodzinski who snapped the tie to end the game 3-2, Gophers.

Game Summary

Scoring

Minnesota: Grant Cruikshank at 11:25 in the 1st with assists from Jackson Lacombe and Rhett Pitlick.

Notre Dame: Grant Silianoff at 19:59 in the 2nd with assists from Ryder Rolston and Cam Burke

Minnesota: Jonny Sorenson at 02:27 in the 3rd, unassisted

Notre Dame: Solag Bakich at 02:56 in the 3rd with assists from Zach Plucinski and Max Ellis

Minnesota: Bryce Brodzinski at 17:45 in the 3rd with assists from Blake McLaughlin and Brock Faber

Penalties

Notre Dame: Trevor Janicke for hooking at 03:21 in the 1st

Minnesota: Jackson Lacombe for hooking at 17:05 in the 1st

Minnesota: Sammy Walker for slashing at 05:32 in the 2nd

Minnesota: Carl Fish for boarding at 17:09 in the 2nd

Goalies

Notre Dame: Ryan Bischel, 21 saves

Minnesota: Jack LaFontaine, 26 saves

Moving Forward

The Irish will take on the Holy Cross Crusaders in South Bend on Thursday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m. Watch the game on TV on NBCSN or stream online with nbcsports.com or the NBC Sports app.

Follow me on Twitter.