#2 Irish Skate To 4-1 Win At Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. — The line of Cam Morrison, Mike O’Leary and Michael Graham accounted for three goals and six points to lead Notre Dame to a 4-1 road win over NCHC foe Omaha on Friday night at the Baxter Arena (6,209).
 
In net, sophomore Dylan St. Cyr stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced and Jack Jenkins added a late shorthanded tally to seal the victory as the Irish pushed their record to 2-0-1 to start the season.
 
Morrison and O’Leary scored in the first period for a 2-1 Notre Dame lead after 20 minutes.
 
Five minutes into the second, St. Cyr kept the Irish in front when he made a right pad save as Omaha’s Cole Pickup skated in on a breakaway. Then Graham notched the first goal of his career at 9:59 of the second to extend the Notre Dame lead to 3-1 after two periods of play.
In the third, Notre Dame’s penalty kill came up big, blanking the Mavericks on their three chances and with Jenkins adding his first career shorthanded tally.
 
Notre Dame outshot Omaha 41-21 as Maverick goaltender Evan Weninger finished with 37 saves. The Irish were 0-for-3 on the power play, while Omaha (0-2-1) finished 1-for-6.
 
Morrison finished with a goal and two assists, while O’Leary had a goal and an assist and Tory Dello had two assists.
 
The teams will play game two at 7:00 p.m. CT/8:00 p.m ET on Saturday night at the Baxter Arena.
 
NOTRE DAME GOAL DESCRIPTIONS
1-0 | Cam Morrison gave the Irish a 1-0 lead at 4:26 of the first period when he scored from a pass off the end boards by Tory Dello for his second goal of the season. Bobby Nardella also assisted on the play and Michael Graham provided the original screen in front of Evan Weninger.

2-1 | The Irish regained the lead at 17:08 of the first period when Mike O’Leary tipped home his first goal of the season. Dello caught up to the puck in the corner to Weninger’s left and the junior defenseman fired the puck towards the net. Morrison also earned an assist on the play.

3-1 | Michael Graham gave Notre Dame a two-goal lead at 9:59 of the second when he finished off a nice passing sequence by his linemates O’Leary and Morrison for his first career tally. O’Leary intercepted a pass in the high slot and got the puck to Graham, who then worked a give-and-go down low with Morrison.

4-1 | Jack Jenkins sealed the win with his first career shorthanded goal, scored at 17:55 of the third period. Graham Slaggert forced an Omaha defenseman to turn the puck over at the offensive blue line and Jenkins picked off the errant pass, skated in alone on Weninger and beat him low after a series of dekes.

NOTES

  • Dylan St. Cyr made his first start since Oct. 26, 2017 vs. Omaha at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
  • Cam Morrison tied his career high with three points on a goal and two assists and posted his 10th career multi-point game.
  • With a goal and an assist, Mike O’Leary posted his first multi-point game in an Irish uniform.
  • Michael Graham scored his first career goal.
  • Jack Jenkins scored his first career shorthanded goal.

 

— ND —