NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Cale Morris made 37 saves and three different Irish players scored as #14/15 Notre Dame earned a 3-0 victory over # 7/7 Penn State on Saturday night inside Compton Family Ice Arena (4,308).
Max Ellis, Alex Steeves and Graham Slaggert each netted goals for the Irish while Matt Hellickson collected a pair of assists.
The Irish finished 0-for-2 on the power play and Penn State went 0-for-3.
How It Happened
The Irish took a 1-0 lead at 7:35 of the first period on an all-freshman goal from Jesse Lansdell and Ellis. Lansdell crashed in on the forecheck to create a turnover below the goal line and he then shoveled the puck to Ellis in front, who snapped a shot high past Jones for his first career goal.
Morris stopped 14 shots in the opening frame as the Irish took the one-goal lead into the first intermission.
Notre Dame doubled its lead to 2-0 at 9:05 of the second period. Just after a Notre Dame power-play chance expired, Hellickson sent a cross-ice pass from the far point to Alex Steeves at the near circle. Steeves one-timed a shot past Jones for his second goal of the weekend and fourth of the season. Michael Graham also assisted on the play.
The Irish earned a three-goal advantage when Slaggert scored his second tally of the season at 15:15 of the second stanza. After Hellickson ripped a shot wide from the point, Slaggert put home the loose puck just to the right of Jones for the score.
Morris made another 12 saves in the second period to keep Penn State off the board.
The Nittany Lions pulled Jones in favor of the extra attacker with 5:57 remaining, but were unable to cut into Notre Dame’s lead as Morris and the Notre Dame defense held strong.
Up Next
- Notre Dame has reached the semester break and will return to action with a home-and-home non-conference series against Western Michigan Jan. 3 and 5.
- Game one of that series will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3 at the Compton Family Ice Arena (Tickets).
- Game two will then be played at 5 p.m. in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 5.
Notes
- Freshman forward Max Ellis scored his first career goal.
- Ellis became Notre Dame’s 18th goal scorer this season.
- Matt Hellickson had a pair of assists – his second two-assist game of the weekend series.
- It also marked Hellickson’s second multi-point game of the season and the fifth of his career.
- Saturday marked the ninth shutout of Cale Morris’ career.
- The 37 saves Morris recorded are the second most he’s made in a shutout (44 vs. Minnesota – Nov. 24, 2017).
- Notre Dame is now 5-0-1 when leading after two periods of play this season.
- Saturday night’s game marked Notre Dame’s sixth consecutive game against a ranked opponent and 10th game versus a ranked opponent in its last 12 games.
- Notre Dame is now an 9-5-2 all-time against Penn State in games played while both teams were at the NCAA DI level.
- Dating back to three seasons now, the Irish are 8-3-1 against Penn State as conference opponents.
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