Nov. 9, 2014
Minneapolis, Minnesota – The University of Minnesota scored three times in the first period, including two via the power play, and junior goaltender Adam Wilcox made it stand up as the Gophers held on to hand Notre Dame a 4-2 loss in front of 9,774 at Mariucci Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Sam Warning, Hudson Fasching and Mike Reilly staked Minnesota to the 3-0 lead and Mike Brodzinski added the fourth goal of the night for the Gophers. Robbie Russo and Austin Wuthrich scored for Notre Dame as the Irish dropped both games of the weekend series to top-ranked Minnesota.
The Gophers out shot Notre Dame 31-23 in the game, as Wilcox finished with 21 saves. Cal Petersen got the start in goal for the Irish and made six stops in the first period. Chad Katunar played the final 40 minutes, giving up just one goal on 22 shots.
The loss dropped Notre Dame to 5-4-1 on the season while the Gophers improved to 7-1-0 for the year.
Minnesota wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Warning made it 1-0 just 29 seconds into the game, as he walked the puck out of the right wing corner across the slot and whipped a wrist shot over Petersen’s glove for his third of the season.
The Gophers scored their next two on the power play. Fasching made it 2-0 on a great passing play at 6:24. Mike Reilly snapped a pass from the left point to Taylor Cammarata on the left post. When Petersen slid over to face Cammaratta, who had three assists in the win, the sophomore right wing slid a pass across the crease to Fasching who had a wide-open net to shoot at, as he notched his fifth goal of the season.
Reilly got credit for the Gophers third goal of the game at 15:46 when his shot from the left point deflected off an Irish defenseman and over Petersen’s stick hand for his second of the season and a 3-0 Minnesota lead.
Irish head coach Jeff Jackson replaced Petersen in goal with Katunar and the moved seemed to give Notre Dame some life.
After struggling offensively for the first four periods this weekend, the Notre Dame offense came to life in the second period, firing 11 shots on Wilcox, scoring twice.
Russo scored the first goal of the weekend and the first power-play goal for the Irish since Oct. 25 versus Niagara when he whipped a wrist shot from the center point through a screen and over Wilcox’ glove at 12:42 to make it 3-1. The goal was Russo’s fourth of the season and came off assists to Steven Fogarty and Thomas DiPauli.
The Gophers answered less than a minute-and-a-half later when Brodzinski’s wrist shot from the right point eluded Katunar low to his stick side at 13:46 to make it a 4-1 game. The goal was Brodzinski’s first of the season.
The Irish returned the favor at 16:02 when Wuthrich snapped a wrist shot from the top of the left circle over Wilcox’s stick hand for his second of the season. Freshman center Dawson Cook made a nice little pass as he carried the puck over the Gophers’ blue line to defenseman Jordan Gross. Gross played give-and-go with Wuthrich, putting a nice pass in his wheel house and the senior from Anchorage, Alaska, buried the shot to make it 4-2.
In the third period, the the teams traded power-play chances but did not score as Minnesota out shot the Irish 15-9 in the stanza. Notre Dame got Katunar off the ice for the final two minutes and had several good chances that Wilcox or the Gopher defense turned aside.
Notre Dame was 1-for-6 on the power play while Minnesota was 2-for-4.
The Irish continue their four-game road swing next weekend, as they return to Hockey East play with a pair of 7 p.m. games at Merrimack (Nov. 14-15). The two-game series is the first road Hockey East series for Notre Dame this season. All-time, the Irish are 4-3-1 versus the Warriors. The last time the teams played at Merrimack (North Andover, Massachusetts) was Nov. 26, 1991, a 2-1 overtime win for the Irish.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - FNotre Dame (5-4-1) 0 2 0 - 2Minnesota (7-1-0) 3 1 0 - 4
Scoring 1st Period: UM: Sam Warning 3 (Justin Kloos, Taylor Cammarata), 00:29; UM: Hudson Fasching 5 (Cammarata, Mike Reilly), PPG, 6:24; UM: Reilly 2 (Cammarata, Kyle Rau), PPG, 15:46.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; UM: 1 for 2 minutes.
2nd Period: ND: Robbie Russo 4 (Steven Fogarty, Thomas DiPauli), PPG, 12:24; UM: Michael Brodzinski 1 (Warning, Kloos), 13:46; ND: Austin Wuthrich 2 (Jordan Gross, Dawson Cook), 16:02.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; UM: 2 for 4 minutes.
3rd Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; UM: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 3 - 11 - 9 - 23Minnesota 9 - 7 - 15 - 31
Goaltender Saves:ND: Cal Petersen (19:21) 6 - x - x - 6 Chad Katunar (38:02) x - 6 - 15 - 21UM: Adam Wilcox (59:42) 3 - 9 - 9 - 21
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 6UM: 2 for 4
Attendance: 9,774