ERIE, Pa. — The #2/4 Notre Dame hockey team skated to a 6-6 overtime tie against Mercyhurst in a back-and-forth affair at the Erie Insurance Arena in game two of the 2018 Ice Breaker tournament.
Cal Burke had a third period hat trick and added an assist, while Dylan Malmquist (a goal and three assists), Joe Wegwerth (a goal and two assists), Bobby Nardella (three assists) and Andrew Peeke (two assists) also had multi-point nights for the Irish.
In the shootout to determine an advancing team, Nardella netted the lone goal and Cale Morris made two saves to send Notre Dame to Saturday night’s Ice Breaker championship game against Providence.
Special teams proved pivotal as Burke and the Irish, trailing 4-3 in the third period, scored twice on a five minute power play to take a 5-4 lead. The teams then traded goals to ultimately end in a 6-6 tie. Overall, Notre Dame finished 3-for-8 on the power play, while the Lakers were 1-for-2.
In net, Cale Morris finished with 25 saves including back-to-back game saving stops on Brendan Riley with two minutes left in overtime and then as time expired in the extra stanza. Mercyhurst goaltender Colin DeAugustine totaled 42 saves.
NOTRE DAME GOALS
1-0 | Joe Wegwerth scored a power-play goal at 6:19 of the first period when he corralled a rebound in front and slid it past Mercyhurst goaltender Colin DeAugstine following a Bobby Nardella blast from the point. Andrew Peeke also earned an assist on the play.
2-2 | Cam Morrison tied the game back up when he tipped in a Matt Hellickson shot for his first goal of the season, while Peeke notched his second assist of the night on the play. The goal was scored at 19:18 of the first period.
4-3 | Dylan Malmquist cut the Mercyhurst lead to 4-3 when he scored his first of the year at of the second period. Joe Wegwerth picked up the puck in the neutral zone and sent Cal Burke and Malmquist in on a two-on-one chance. Burke flipped a pass over a Laker defenseman’s stick and Malmquist then buried the chance high glove side for his 31st career goal.
4-4 | Cal Burke scored his first of back-to-back power-play goals at 4:52 of the third, tapping in to an open net to finish off a nice passing play from Malmquist and Wegwerth.
5-4 | Burke scored his second goal at 5:43 of the third with another finish down low with the assists also going to Wegwerth and Malmquist.
6-5 | At 13:55 of the third Burke scored his third goal of the third period, beating the Mercyhurst defense through the neutral zone and breaking in on DeAugustine and beating him low.
NOTES
- It marks Notre Dame’s fifth appearance in the Ice Breaker tournament including: 1999, 2010, 2012, 2014.
- The Fighting Irish won the Ice Breaker tournament in 2012 by defeating Maine and Omaha.
- Notre Dame is now 7-6-1 in season openers under head coach Jeff Jackson.
- Joe Wegwerth scored on the power play, which marked his seventh career power-play goal (Wegwerth has 15 career goals).
- Wegwerth’s three points (1-2-3) marked a career high and it was his fourth career multi-point game.
- Andrew Peeke tied his career high with two points on two assists (sixth career multi-point game).
- Dylan Malmquist finished with a career-best four points on a goal and three assists. It marked his 12 career multi-point game.
- Bobby Nardella tied his career high with three points on three assists. It was his 14th career multi-point game.
- Cal Burke had a career-high four points on three goals and an assist. It marked his second career hat trick and his seventh multi-point game.