March 17, 2017
By Joanne Norell
BOSTON, Mass. — The No. 9/10 University of Notre Dame hockey team (21-11-5) dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 4/5 UMass Lowell (25-10-3) in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals on Friday night at the TD Garden.
How It Happened
Jack Jenkins gave the Irish a 1-0 lead when his dump in from center ice bounced in front of River Hawk goaltender Tyler Wall and beat him low to the glove side for Jenkins’ ninth goal of the year. The goal, scored at the 7:00 mark of the first period was assisted by Dennis Gilbert and Andrew Peeke.
But the River Hawks responded 25 seconds later on a goal by Colin O’Neill, who fired a shot past Petersen at the high slot to tie the game.
UMass Lowell took a 2-1 lead at 9:31 when Ryan Lohin set up in front of the net and guided the feed into the crease around the right skate of Petersen.
Bjork just missed tying things up late in the first period when he rang a wrist shot off the crossbar while the Irish were skating on the power play.
The River Hawks extended the lead 6:34 into the second period as C.J. Smith’s shot from between the faceoff circles slid under the pad of Petersen to make it 3-1. They tacked on another in the final two minutes of the period, scored by Michael Kapla.
Nick Marin gave the River Hawks their fifth goal three minutes into the third period, converting despite shooting from a tight angle to the right of Petersen.
UMass Lowell owned a 41-20 advantage in shots. Both teams were 0-for-2 on the powerplay
Petersen made 36 saves while Wall recorded 19 stops.
Up Next
The Irish will now hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament field, which will depend on the rest of this weekend’s results across the country. The NCAA selection show will be broadcast by ESPNU at noon (ET) on Sunday.
Notre Dame Notes – Hockey East Semifinal
- Junior goaltender Cal Petersen made his 87th-consecutive start in the Notre Dame net, which is the fourth-longest streak in the NCAA Div. I records book.
- Petersen has also appeared in 88 consecutive games, which is the fifth-longest mark in the NCAA Div. I records book.
- Jordan Gross skated in his 116th consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- Jack Jenkins scored in the first period, giving him four goals and six points (4-2-6) in the last nine games (season: 7-5-12).
- Notre Dame moved 1-2-0 all-time on St. Patrick’s Day, including a 2-1 win over Michigan to claim the 2007 CCHA Tournament Championship.
— ND —
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.