Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Fall to Nittany Lions 3-2

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took on the Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday in University Park, Pennsylvania in pursuit of a sweep, but a second period surge from the home team led to a 3-2 Penn State win. This followed Friday night’s series opener in which elite goaltending yielded a 2-1 Irish victory.

First Period

The Nittany Lions wasted no time getting after it on offense; they fired off four shots in the first two minutes alone and gave Irish netminder Ryan Bischel an early jolt. With multiple stoppages, the pace was choppy in the beginning of the first, but the Irish found their flow about three minutes in to set the tone.

Following a kneeing call on Penn State’s Tyler Paquette, Irish forward Trevor Janicke found the back of the net for the eighth time this season. The goal was his team’s third power play goal of the season against the Nittany Lions and their second this weekend.

As the clock ran out on a kneeing penalty on Janicke, a tiff between Penn State’s Danny Dzhaniyev and Mike Mastrodomenico resulted in a roughing penalty for each.

By the end of the first, the Nittany Lions had narrowly outshot the Irish 15-12.

Second Period

A little over four minutes into the second, Penn State’s Simon Mack scored to tie the game 1-1. A tripping penalty on Nittany Lion Chase McClane followed less than a minute after he provided an assist to Mack. The Irish power play came and went, but Irish forward Chayse Primeau scored just after the clock ran out on Notre Dame’s advantage to reclaim his team’s lead.

The Irish barely avoided a tripping penalty after input from Notre Dame’s Solag Bakich and Bischel obstructed a shot from Penn State’s Christian Sarlo.

With just about two minutes left in the second, Penn State’s Connor MacEachern brought the Nittany Lions’ burst to the scoreboard and tied the game with his team’s second goal of the night. This time around, Penn State outshot Notre Dame 20-8.

Third Period

Both squads upped the aggression and saw scoring opportunities with shots from Notre Dame’s Solag Bakich, Ryder Rolston and Jesse Lansdell and Penn State’s Ashton Calder early on.

Penn State’s Ture Linden and Danny Dzhaniyev both shot at a wide open Irish net but failed to add to the Nittany Lions’ lead.

Penn State’s Carter Schade headed to the box for tripping, but the Irish failed to capitalize on the power play. With about five and a half minutes left in the third, Sarlo scored to claim a 3-2 lead for the Nittany Lions. With just more than a minute to play in the third, the Irish pulled Bischel from the net, but the Nittany Lions had already locked in the win.

Game Summary

Scoring

Notre Dame: Trevor Janicke at 14:32 in the 1st with assists from Jackson Pierson and Drew Bavaro

Penn State: Simon Mack at 16:48 in the 2nd with assists from Chase McClane and Dylan Lugris

Notre Dame: Chayse Primeau at 13:17 in the 2nd with assists from Justin Janicke and Ryder Rolston

Penn State: Connor MacEachern at 01:50 in the 2nd with an assist from Connor McMenamin

Penn State: Christian Sarlo 05:27 in the 3rd with assists from Xander Lamppa and Tyler Paquette

Penalties

Penn State: Tyler Paquette for kneeing at 15:12 in the 1st

Penn State: Tyler Gratton for interference at 09:40 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Trevor Janicke for kneeing at 05:46 in the 1st

Penn State: Danny Dzhaniyev for roughing at 03:59 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Mike Mastrodomenico for roughing at 03:59 in the 1st

Penn State: Chase McClane for tripping at 15:20 in the 1st

Penn State: Carter Schade for tripping at 09:10 in the 3rd

Goalies

Penn State: Liam Souliere, 29 saves

Notre Dame: Ryan Bischel, 42 saves

Moving Forward

The Irish will take on the University of Wisconsin Badgers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 27 in South Bend. Stream the game with Peacock.

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