The Irish upset the third-ranked Golden Gophers 4-3 in overtime on Saturday at Minnesota. We recap Notre Dame’s most impressive win of the season, thus far, below:
Photo by The Irish Tribune
A back-and-forth affair was ultimately decided thanks to a 30-save performance from Irish Goalie Owen Say and two-point outings from Forwards Cole Knuble and Ian Murphy. Knuble’s second point came on Forward Blake Biondi’s overtime game-winner.
Murphy was the first to strike as he redirected Defenseman Henry Nelson’s shot past Gophers Goalie, Liam Souliere, to put the Irish up 1-0 about eight minutes into the game. Henry’s brother, Forward Danny Nelson, was also credited with an assist on Murphy’s third goal of the year.
Minnesota responded about five minutes later when Jimmy Snuggerud powered his way past the Irish defense before tying the game up at 1-1.
In the first period, both teams played clean with no penalties called as the Golden Gophers outshot the Irish 14-11.
Two and a half minutes into the second, Irish Forward Carter Slaggert put Notre Dame back on top 2-1 off of some great passing from Forward Hunter Strand and Defenseman Jimmy Jurcev, both of whom were credited with assists on the goal. Jurcev’s assist extended his point streak to three as the young defenseman has come alive offensively recently.
Again the Gophers would respond with a goal of their own about three minutes later. Luke Mittelstadt tied the game 2-2 after finishing a backhander past Say.
Notre Dame would again answer about five minutes later and just over midway through the period to take a 3-2 advantage. Knuble added his ninth goal of the season on a great wrist shot to beat Souliere. Forwards Brennan Ali and Murphy were awarded assists.
A strong offensive performance from the Irish was the highlight of the second period as they outshot the Golden Gophers 15-9. The Gophers successfully killed their two penalties as the Irish killed their lone mistake as well.
Unfortunately, this offense appeared to completely disappear in the third period as the Irish mustered just two shots in the final twenty minutes.
Minnesota’s Matthew Wood connected on a backhander to tie the game 3-3 just over seven minutes into the period.
This was the lone goal of the period as both teams needed an extra period to decide a winner. Notre Dame killed their only penalty in the third as they were outshot 9-2 by the Gophers.
Biondi was the overtime hero as he finished off a great assist from Knuble to give the Irish a 4-3 victory over a top-three team in the country. Defenseman Axel Kumlin was also credited with an assist on the game-winner.
Notre Dame will look to carry this momentum into next weekend when they host Lindenwood.
Key Player Stats:
Owen Say (ND): 30 saves, 3 goals against
Ian Murphy (ND): 1 goal on 4 shots, 1 assist, +1
Cole Knuble (ND): 1 goal on 3 shots, 1 assist
Erik Pahlsson (MIN): 2 assists, 5 shots, +2
Key Team Stats:
Shots: MIN (33) - ND (31)
Blocked Shots: ND (14) - MIN (10)
Faceoffs Won: MIN (31) - ND (30)
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