Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Fall to Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-1 for Series Split

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish finished their series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday in Minneapolis with a loss as the home team established momentum from the puck drop and ran with it. This followed a series opener Friday in which the Irish outdid the Gophers 4-2.

Game Summary (Golden Gophers 4, Irish 1)

First Period

Barely two minutes into the first period of play, Minnesota’s Rhett Pitlick notched the first goal of the night riding high on an Irish slip-up. A high sticking call on Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud about 12 minutes in provided the sole power play opportunity in the first period, but the Irish failed to capitalize. Once the clock ran out on the Irish power play, however, the Irish offense turned on the jets and eventually Notre Dame’s Carter Slaggert found the back of the net to get his team on the board. By the end of the first, the Irish narrowly outshot the Gophers 14-12.

Second Period

As the period neared its halfway point, Minnesota’s Ryan Chesley snagged his team’s second goal of the game. Golden Gopher Jaxon Nelson followed up to bring the score to 3-1, Minnesota with about five minutes left in the second. This time around, the Gophers doubled Notre Dame’s 6 shots with 12 of their own. The two teams played quite the gentlemanly second period with no penalties for either squad.

Third Period

After nearly 16 minutes of back and forth, Pitlick notched a fourth goal for the Gophers. The Irish pulled netminder Ryan Bischel, but it wasn’t enough to shake the 4-1 score and Minnesota locked in the win.

Scoring

Minnesota: Rhett Pitlick at 17:50 in the 1st with assists from Connor Kurth and Mike Koster

Notre Dame: Carter Slaggert at 03:22 in the 1st with assists from Ryan Siedem and Tyler Carpenter

Minnesota: Ryan Chesley at 11:33 in the 2nd with assists from Bryce Brodzinski and Cal Thomas

Minnesota: Jaxon Nelson at 04:40 in the 2nd with an assist from Mason Nevers

Minnesota: Rhett Pitlick at 04:25 in the 3rd with assists from Mike Koster and Connor Kurth

Penalties

Minnesota: Jimmy Snuggerud for high sticking at 07:57 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Danny Nelson for hooking at 13:15 in the 3rd

Minnesota: Brody Lamb for cross-checking at 03:05 in the 3rd

Goalies

Minnesota: Justen Close, 37 saves

Notre Dame: Ryan Bischel, 29 saves

Moving Forward

The Irish will head home to take on the Boston College Eagles at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 24 in South Bend.

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