Penn State scored three goals in the third period and won its first game at Norte Dame since Dec. 2019, beating the Irish 5-2 Friday Night at the Compton Ice Hockey Arena.
The first period went smoothly with back-and-forth action. Penn State attacked the net and Notre Dame held firm on defense. Notre Dame scored first when Jesse Lansdell scored on a slap shot behind the net, beating Liam Souliere. Trevor Janicke and Jake Boltman had the assists. Penn State answered with three minutes left in the period when Connor McMenamin scored a breakaway. Penn State took the lead two minutes later when Paul DeNaples scored on a one-timer that got past Notre Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel. Tyler Paquette and Christian Berger assisted the goal, and Penn State led, 2-1, at the end of the first period.
Penn State outshot Notre Dame 18-9 in the first period but lost the faceoff battle 14-4.
Penn State started to control the action and kept pressure on Notre Dame, controlling the puck and staying on Notre Dame’s side of the ice. Both teams then started to pick up the pace with numerous fast break opportunities, but both goalies held serve. Penn State got the game’s first power play when Landon Slaggert got called for tripping. But it failed to capitalize on the opportunity. After the power play, the pace seemed to slow down but both teams still had the opportunities to get that critical next goal. Notre Dame went on the power play on a Jimmy Dowd interference penalty and capitalized on a goal by Ryder Rolston, assisted by Nick Leivermann and Chase Blackmun.
The game was tied at 2 at the end of the second period. Penn State won the faceoff battle 14-8, but Notre Dame outshot Penn State 11-9 in the second 20 minutes.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Penn State went on the power play at the beginning of the third period when Blackmun got called for interference, however, it failed to capitalize on that opportunity. Notre Dame seemed to control play getting various opportunities to get one past Souliere, but he held strong. With 7:46 left in the game, Connor MacEachern scored on a one-timer assisted by Kevin Wall and McMenamin. Notre Dame made one last push, but Dillon Gratton had an empty net goal, the goal was assisted by Ryan Kirwan and Xander Lamppa. Penn State scored another empty net goal that put Penn State up 5-2 and that was the final score.
Penn State and Notre Dame will face off again on Saturday faceoff at 6 p.m.
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