Penn State drops series opener at Notre Dame, 4-1
The Penn State men’s hockey program lost its series opener, 4-1, to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday night. The Nittany Lions moved 10-10-3 on the season, and 2-8-3 in Big Ten play with the decision.
Capitalizing on mistakes
Notre Dame was holding a 1-0 lead when Henry Nelson was called for a hooking penalty. The Nittany Lions had a chance to tie the game on the man advantage before it went to the first intermission.
Though they were generating chances, they could not sneak one past Irish Goaltender Ryan Bischel.
With time winding down in the period, Danny Nelson took advantage of the sleeping Nittany Lion power play and found Trevor Janicke streaking behind the Penn State blueliners, who tallied the empty net score as time expired.
Dylan Lugris took advantage of a loose puck off the pads of Bischel and buried the lone Nittany Lion goal of the game just after the halfway mark in the second period.
The Nittany Lions cut the deficit to one, but it did not take long for the Irish to strike back.
Maddox Fleming found the loose puck while Penn State was trying the clear the defensive zone and extended the Notre Dame lead back to two with his unassisted goal.
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Faceoff struggles
Notre Dame dominated Penn State in the battle in the circles Friday night, winning 32 of the 50 faceoffs in the contest.
The Nittany started the game winning the faceoff battle 9-8 after the first period but lost the faceoff battle 24-9 for the remainder of the game, including 11-1 in the second period.
Possession off the faceoffs was a big momentum builder for Notre Dame as they were able to establish themselves often on the attack, but it also played a key role in Penn State going 0-5 on the power play Friday.
What’s next for Penn State
The Nittany Lions will take on Notre Dame Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in South Bend, Ind. for the series finale.
