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Irish open regular season with North Country sweep

Irish open regular season with North Country sweep

With six home games scheduled in the second half of October, Notre Dame Hockey had a lot to gain in terms of momentum this past weekend. The Irish took full advantage of the opportunity, heading to New York’s North Country and defeating St. Lawrence (4-1) and Clarkson (5-2) to begin the 2024-25 regular season. They face Alaska next weekend in the home opener series with a 2-0 record, their first since the 2021-22 season.

Knuble returns with two-goal game at St. Lawrence

When Notre Dame hosted a United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) exhibition on October 4, one notable name did not appear on the Irish line chart. Sophomore center Cole Knuble, who sat out that game for precautionary reasons, returned to the Irish on Friday and appeared to have no chance with two goals. His performance led the Irish to a 4-1 victory in their first visit to Appleton Arena and first overall game against St. Lawrence since 2000.

With Mercyhurst newcomer Owen Say in goal for the first time (officially) in an Irish jersey, Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the first half thanks to another transfer addition. Senior forward Blake Biondi, who had already scored two goals against the USNTDP, again scored his first official goal at Notre Dame. The former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog won the contest with a blocked shot from the point that landed in the bottom slot, got to his knees and sent a backhander over St. Lawrence goalkeeper Mason Kucenski for his first goal of the season.

Less than two minutes later, St. Lawrence responded to Biondi’s 31st career goal. A power-play shot pass from Philippe Chapleau traveled from the high slot to the top of the goal crease, where Tyler Cristall was waiting with his stick lowered. With a quick swing, Cristall directed the puck through Say’s body and equalized the score to 1-1. Notre Dame could have easily led into the first intermission, but both Biondi and sophomore forward Brennan Ali hit the posts, keeping the Saints and Irish even after 20 minutes.

In the first half of the second period the momentum remained balanced and the score remained 1-1. But with eight minutes left, a poor turnover by St. Lawrence tipped the ice irrevocably in Notre Dame’s favor. Knuble intercepted the dangerous outlet pass in the deep slot, glided down to the hash marks before firing a glove-side wrister that gave the Irish the lead. Five minutes later, as Notre Dame went on the power play, Knuble won a puck battle at the center wall and got the Irish offense going. After observing some exchanges on the right side of the zone, second-year defenseman Paul Fischer ran the puck from right to left along the blue line and sent a shot that second-year forward Danny Nelson sent in Tor steered. That was the top center’s first goal of the season. Notre Dame led 3-1 at the end of two periods.

The final frame belonged to Say, who made 18 of his 32 saves to keep St. Lawrence at bay and earn its first win at Notre Dame. Knuble helped him and the Irish get to the goal with a game-winning goal late in the third period, getting into the firing line with a free kick from senior forward Justin Janicke. The latter’s rebound ricocheted off Knuble’s blade at the tip of the blue paint, touched the inside of the right post and provided Notre Dame’s fourth and final goal.

The Irish use an explosive rally to take down Clarkson

In last week’s 5-2 exhibition win over the USNTDP, the Irish used a four-goal third-period score to overcome a deficit. They returned in a momentous game on Saturday night at Clarkson Stadium, picking up another 5-2 victory.

Notre Dame looked a bit disorganized on the second night, losing 2-0 at the end of a period on Clarkson goals from Jared Mangan and Tristan Sarsland. The Irish couldn’t do much offensively and went 14 minutes without a shot on goal, largely due to the Golden Knights’ seven blocked shots.

But when Notre Dame freshman goaltender Nicholas Kempf made his collegiate debut with 30 saves, the Irish skaters followed suit. Exactly two minutes before the end of the game in the second period, they started a power play and started their comeback. Entering the zone, Knuble again played give-and-go with Janicke and scored Notre Dame’s lead from downfield with 21 seconds left.

With the outcome of the game largely dependent on Notre Dame’s ability to maintain momentum in the second period, the Irish delivered. Knuble once again pulled out of a 50-50 battle in the corner and ran to the high slot, where he threaded the needle with a pass to the right point. There, junior blueliner Michael Mastrodomenico moved down from his spot and fired the game-winning shot. Mastrodomenico’s second career goal and first since December 31, 2023 was achieved in front of numerous fans who had made the short journey from his home province of Quebec.

Just before halftime of the third period, Notre Dame returned to the power play and took the lead. A point-to-point feed from the sophomore forward found senior forward Hunter Strand in the right circle, where he loaded a shot and ripped it under the crossbar on the glove side. Not long after, an Ali forecheck and a pinpoint pass up the middle set up Danny Nelson, who scored Notre Dame’s fourth goal with a one-timer.

Notre Dame was closing in on a weekend win and sealed the deal in the final moments with one of the most absurd goals imaginable. Just seconds after Clarkson took out his goalie, Janicke blocked a shot that bounced off his shin pad and 170 feet the other way, resulting in a scoreless goal. Thanks to extremely efficient defense-to-offensive hockey, Clarkson fans led the Irish by three players for the second straight game.

Notre Dame’s upcoming puck drop times for the Alaska Series are set for 7:00 p.m. Friday and 6:00 p.m. Saturday at Compton Family Ice Arena.