FINAL SCORE: No. 20 Notre Dame 3, No. 13 Vermont 2 |
CatamounTV HighlightsSOUTH BEND, Ind. – The second of Thomas DiPauli's two goals came early in the third period and proved to be the game-winner as 20
th-ranked Notre Dame edged 13
th-ranked Vermont 3-2 on Friday night in Hockey East action at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The Catamounts fall for the first time this season and drop to 4-1-0 (2-1-0 HEA), while the Fighting Irish improve to 5-2-0 (1-0-0 HEA) with its fifth consecutive win.
The Catamounts came out strong in the first period and carried the play until the latter stages of the frame. Notre Dame opened the scoring at the 17:17 mark as DiPauli drove the net down the left wing. The junior forward's initial shot was stopped by
Mike Santaguida, but DiPauli found the rebound and lifted it into the back of the net.
Just 70 seconds later, Peter Schneider skated into the right side of the UVM zone on a 2-on-1 with Mario Lucia. Schneider's pass was blocked by a diving
Mike Paliotta, but the puck deflected to Lucia at the left post and he snuck a shot under Santaguida to double the lead. Vermont out-shot Notre Dame 9-8 in the opening frame but trailed entering the first intermission.
Vermont stormed back into the game with two goals in just over three minutes late in the second period to knot the score.
Jonathan Turk began the comeback with five minutes left as he gained the Notre Dame zone and fired a high slap shot on target. Cal Peterson made the save, but the rebound spilled behind the freshman and
Jarrid Privitera pounced at the right edge of the crease for his first career tally.
Minutes later,
Jake Fallon centered a pass to
Kyle Reynolds at the top of the crease and the senior quickly finished past Peterson into the center of the net.
Brady Shaw picked up the second assist on the play at 18:09. The Catamounts out-shot the Fighting Irish 15-7 in the middle frame and the schools headed into the final period deadlocked at two.
"We had a huge second period and made it a ball game again," said head coach
Kevin Sneddon. "They play very well with the lead so for us to come back from a two-goal deficit definitely was encouraging."
The eventual game-winner came at 7:31 of the third after a strong individual effort from DiPauli. The forward took a feed from Anders Bjork and skated up the right wing boards in the UVM zone. DiPauli deked into the slot before wristing a shot off the right post and into the net to beat Santaguida and put the Fighting Irish back in front.
With an offensive zone faceoff, Vermont called its timeout and pulled the sophomore netminder with roughly 90 seconds left in regulation but could not find the equalizer.
Alexx Privitera was called for tripping with 50 seconds to go, and Notre Dame closed out the victory with the man advantage.
"It was a good hockey game and they made one more play than we did," said Sneddon.
Santaguida finished the night with 20 saves, while Peterson stopped 34 shots in a winning effort. Vermont was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill to remain perfect on the season while going scoreless on a pair of power plays. UVM held a 36-23 edge in shots on the night.
The Catamounts and Fighting Irish complete their weekend series on Saturday (Nov. 1) at 7:05 p.m. in South Bend. Live video is available online via NBC Sports Live Extra (cable subscription required), and pre-game radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with
Alastair Ingram on the call.
