Notre Dame Hockey Beats Northern Michigan 3-1

Notre Dame began their home schedule on Friday night against the Northern Michigan Wildcats. After a somewhat disappointing opening weekend on the road the Irish returned to the Compton Family Ice Arena and earned their first win of the season 3-1, powered by some early power play success.

Game Summary (Notre Dame 3-Northern Michigan 1)

First Period

Notre Dame started off quick in the first period, powered by two power play chances in the first ten minutes of the game. On the first power play Notre Dame moved the puck around the blue line before getting it down low to Jesse Lansdell. Lansdell made a pass across the slot that found Chayse Primeau open at the top of the crease and from there it was an easy redirection for the opening goal.

A few minutes later Notre Dame was on the power play again, and again puck movement was the key to an Irish goal. Drew Bavaro controlled the puck at the point before passing cross ice to Ryder Rolston at the top of the faceoff circle. From there Rolston found Trevor Janicke charging down the slot and it was another redirection from Janicke that doubled the Irish lead.

Second Period

For as much as the first period was controlled by Notre Dame, the second period was dominated by northern Michigan and again it was special teams that allowed that to happen with three Notre Dame penalties in the period. The Wildcats outshot the Irish 17-5 in the period, but were only able to get one goal, a number matched by Notre Dame late in the second.

Ryan Helliwell scored his first career goal on a rush by Notre Dame. Jack Adams took control of the puck in the defensive zone and skated it up ice and into the offensive zone. He then let go a cross ice pass that found Helliwell in the opposite faceoff circle. Helliwell found the back of the net with a wrist shot for the 3-1 lead.

Third Period

Things got interesting in the third period, but not because any scoring, as there were no goals in the final 20 minutes. Instead, the two teams combined for 10 penalties in the period, including a game misconduct for contact to the head by Notre Dame’s Zach Plucinski. Northern Michigan took exception to that and the two teams followed with several scrums that led to multiple penalties at a time. It certainly sets the stage for an interesting finale to the series, we’ll se if the animosity carries over.

Scoring

Notre Dame: Chayse Primeau (1) on the power play at 6:54 in the 1st with assists by Grant Silianoff and Jesse Lansdell

Notre Dame: Trevor Janicke (2) on the power play at 8:34 in the 1st with assists from Ryder Rolston and Drew Bavaro

Northern Michigan: Simon Kjellberg (1) on the power play at 8:48 in the 2nd unassisted

Notre Dame: Ryan Helliwell (1) at 18:22 in the 2nd with an assist by Jack Adams

Penalties

Northern Michigan: Reilly Funk, 2 for slashing at 5:31 in the 1st

Northern Michigan: Reilly Funk, 2 for elbowing at 8:09 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Mike Mastrodomenico, 2 for interference at 16:33 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Landon Slaggert, 2 for hooking at 1:02 in the 2nd

Northern Michigan: AJ Vanderbeck, 2 for embellishment at 5:50 in the 2nd

Notre Dame: Drew Bavaro, 2 for cross-checking at 5:50 in the 2nd

Notre Dame: Ben Brinkman, 2 for holding at 6:50 in the 2nd

Notre Dame: Zach Plucinski, 5 for contact to the head at 2:36 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Zach Plucinski, 10 for game misconduct at 2:36 in the 3rd

Northern Michigan: AJ Vanderbeck, 2 for roughing at 10:27 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Mike Mastrodomenico, 2 for roughing at 10:27 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Solag Bakich, 2 for boarding at 10:27 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Jackson Pierson, 2 for roughing at 11:49 in the 3rd

Northern Michigan: Joey Larson, 2 for roughing at 11:49 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Jesse Lansdell, 2 for kneeing at 12:22 in the 3rd

Northern Michigan: Simon Kjellberg, 2 for tripping at 17:12 in the 3rd

Northern Michigan: Aidan Gallacher, 2 for interference at 19:31 in the 3rd

Goalies

Notre Dame: Ryan Bischel saved 36 of 37 shots for the win

Northern Michigan: Beni Halasz faced 26 shots and made 23 saves in the loss

Up Next

Notre Dame and Northern Michigan now have a day off before closing out their series on Sunday night.