NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame hockey fought to the final horn as they battled Penn State University to a 5-2 loss. Aside from two empty net goals late in the contest, the Irish and Nittany Lions skated even a majority of the contest, with the Irish firing several shots on net in the waning minutes, looking for the tying goal.
After allowing five of the first six shots on goal in the contest, the Irish dominated puck possession halfway through the opening period. With the top line back on the ice for their second shift of the night, the Irish peppered the Penn State net with shots but were unable to break the stalemate just six minutes into the game.
Just over halfway through the first period Ryan Bischel made an incredible toe save, denying the Nittany Lions’ wraparound look before Jesse Lansdell dove in front of the rebound to keep the two teams even at 0-0.
The Irish lit the lamp to snap the scoreless period and give ND the 1-0 lead at 13:28 of the first.
The Nittany Lions tied it up late in the period with a shot from the near circle trickling past Bischel’s left pad. On the next shift the visitors took the lead when a floater from the point beat Bischel, blocker side, and the two teams skated to the locker room after one period with the Irish down a goal.
Nearly halfway through the contest, the first penalty of the game was whistled and the Irish sat for tripping where the penalty kill unit cast aside all five shots faced.
With 17:54 elapsed in the second, the Nittany Lions were whistled for interference and the Irish saw their first powerplay opportunity of the night. It took the Blue and Gold just 14 seconds to find the equalizer on the man advantage as the team’s leading scorer Ryder Rolston took advantage of the open lane at 18:08 of the second.
Penn State retook the lead at 12:14 of the final period when a centering pass behind the net found an open Nittany Lion at the top of the crease.
A pair of empty net tallies late in the contest sealed Notre Dame’s fate as they fell 5-2 on night one of the weekend series.
GOALS
- Jesse Lansdell opened the scoring Friday night with a shot top-shelf, over the glove of PSU’s netminder Liam Souliere. Trevor Janicke’s initial shot sailed wide of the net where Jake Boltmann gathered the rebound. Feeding the puck along the boards back to T. Janicke, the alternate captain found his fellow senior out front who lifted the puck into the back of the net.
- The Irish evened it up with a powerplay goal at 18:08 of the second stanza, courtesy of Ryder Rolston. Notre Dame won the faceoff to start the man advantage and passed the puck along the blue line momentarily as the powerplay unit set up. Chase Blackmun found Nick Leivermann at the opposite end of the blue line who sent a pass over to Rolston atop the near circle who sent a sharp wrister into the back of the net.
KEY STATS
- With his fifth goal of the season, Ryder Rolston now boasts a team-best 12 points this year and is tied for goals.
- Six individuals highlighted the box score in Friday’s contest, including Rolston and Jesse Lansdell with the goals.
- Ryan Bischel made 34 saves in the contest while the Irish sent 31 pucks on net, breaking the PSU netminder twice.
- Notre Dame registered 19 blocked shots in the loss to the Nittany Lions, led by Nick Leivermann with three. On the opposite end of the ice, the Irish had 12 shots blocked in game one.
UP NEXT
The two teams meet again Saturday at 6 p.m. to close out the first half of the season. Following the tilt, fans are invited to skate with Santa and the team to celebrate the holiday season.