Notre Dame Hockey: Purple Eagles Upset Fighting Irish

The no. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended their semester break on Saturday evening, welcoming the Niagara Purple Eagles to Compton Family Ice Arena. The Irish entered the contest as huge favorites against the 4-10-2 Purple Eagles, who were outscored 20-4 in their four matchups against Big Ten teams prior to Saturday’s series opener.

First Period

It may have been some rust after not playing in three weeks, but the Irish struggled in the opening period. The first penalty of the evening was called on Niagara’s Luke Edgerton, however a hooking call on Solag Bakich turned it into a 4-on-4 before the Irish could capitalize. With just over five minutes to go in the opening period, Jason Pineo’s first of the season opened the scoring for the Purple Eagles.

Second Period

Despite a pair of penalties in the second, the Irish got on the board thanks to a short-handed goal by Spencer Stastney. It was the third goal of the season for the 2018 draft pick of the Nashville Predators. However, the Purple Eagles took the lead back when Albin Nilsson found the back of the net with just over six minutes in the period.

Third Period

Near the midway point of the final frame, the Irish went on the power-play with a chance to tie the contest, but could only get two shots on net that were saved by Chad Veltri. Matthew Galajda was pulled with 30 second left, before an empty-netter by Nilsson put the game away for Niagara by a final score of 3-1 in front of a stunned Notre Dame crowd.

Game Summary

Scoring

Niagara: Jason Pineo at 14:44 in the 1st, assisted by Chris Harpur and Oliver Gauthier

Notre Dame: Spencer Stastney (SHG) at 03:52 in the 2nd

Niagara: Albin Nilsson at 13:38 in the 2nd, assisted by Jon Hill and Jordan Wishman

Niagara: Albin Nilsson (ENG) at 18:35 in the 3rd

Penalties

Niagara: Luke Edgerton for slashing at 04:14 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Solag Bakich for hooking at 05:46 in the 1st

Niagara: Shane Ott for tripping at 17:07 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Justin Janicke for tripping at 2:19 in the 2nd

Notre Dame: Jake Boltmann for interference at 6:56 in the 2nd

Notre Dame: Justin Janicke for slashing at 2:56 in the 3rd

Niagara: Albin Nilsson for hooking at 9:00 in the 3rd

Goalies

Notre Dame: Matthew Galajda, 25 saves

Niagara: Chad Veltri, 27 saves

Moving Forward

The Irish will conclude their non-conference series with Niagara on Sunday, January 2, at 5:00 PM ET. The game can be streamed on Peacock.