NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Fighting Irish dropped a 6-3 contest to Penn State in game one of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Colin Theisen and Jesse Lansdell staked the Irish to a 2-0 lead early in the first period but led by Connor McMenamin’s two goals, the Nittany Lions responded with three goals in the second period and held on for the win.
Ryder Rolston scored his first career goal for the Irish late midway through the third period.
Notre Dame (14-13-2) went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Penn State was 1-for-3.
In net, Dylan St. Cyr made 33 saves, as did Oskar Autio for the Nittany Lions.
Notre Dame sits on the NCAA bubble and the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship bracket will be announced on Sunday, March 21 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPNU.
How It Happened
The Irish started fast, with Colin Theisen opening the scoring at 2:10 of the first period while the Irish were on the power play and then Jesse Lansdell making it a 2-0 game just 31 seconds later.
Theisen put back a rebound on the doorstep following an Alex Steeves shot, with Landon Slaggert earning the second assist on the play.
Lansdell made a quick deke to get to the slot and finished with a backhander high past Autio for his fourth goal of the season and his second in as many games.
With just 1:08 left in the first Christian Sarlo got the visitors on the board to make it a 2-1 game after one.
Connor McMenamin then tied it up, 2-2, at 3:19 of the second. McMenamin netted his second of the period at 10:10 before Tim Doherty made it a 4-2 game at 14:55 of the second.
Theisen had a chance down low early in the third, but his shot was sticked aside.
At 8:20 of the third Chase McClane extended Penn State’s lead to 5-2.
The Irish got one back when Ryder Rolston tapped in his first career goal following an end to end rush and pass by Jake Pivonka with 7:04 remaining. The power play tally came with St. Cyr pulled for the extra attacker as well.
Notre Dame continued to mount pressure with St. Cyr pulled, but was unable to get within one before Chase McLane netted an empty-netter in the final minute.
Notes
- Senior Matt Hellickson skated in his 146th-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- With an assist, Alex Steeves extended his point streak to seven games (5-5-10).
- Steeves has now posted at least one point in 22 of 29 games this year.
- With an assist, Landon Slaggert extended his point streak to seven games (3-7-10).
—ND—