This weekend, Notre Dame hockey traveled to Arizona State University to compete in the Ice Breaker Tournament and kickstart its season. The Irish fell short in both games of their tournament, losing 5-3 to No. 15 Arizona State on Friday and 7-2 to No. 8 Quinnipiac on Saturday. Arizona State ended up competing against the University of Alaska-Fairbanks for the championship game on Saturday, claiming the title as the hosting team.
In the ASU game, the Sun Devils scored first, with a goal in the first period by junior forward Kyle Smolen, who landed the puck in the bottom left part of the net. The first period frustrated the Irish, and freshman forward Will Belle was forced to leave the game after receiving a major penalty for elbowing. The second Sun Devils goal was scored by sophomore forward Noah Powell, who retrieved the puck after Irish graduate forward Sutter Muzzatti’s stick broke, taking advantage of the unfortunate situation.
Just 53 seconds into the second period, freshman forward Carmelo Crandell scored a breakaway goal between the legs of sophomore Irish goaltender Nicholas Kempf, putting the Sun Devils up 3-0 against the Irish. The Irish got on the board less than a minute later, with junior defenseman Henry Nelson scoring a sniper of a shot just past the blue line, with an assist by freshman forward Pano Fimis. Nelson’s goal fired up the Irish, and junior defenseman Paul Fischer scored a power-play goal from distance at 12:32, with assists by junior forward Evan Werner and junior forward Cole Knuble to bring the game within one. Freshman forward Ben Kevan scored not once but twice in the second period for the Sun Devils, though, landing his first goal top-shelf at 13:32 and his second on a breakaway just over the pad of Kempf.
Despite the five goals scored in the second period, the Irish held off the Sun Devils all through the third. Junior forward Carter Slaggert was posted on the right side of the net and landed a slap shot in the top left corner. The Irish pulled Kempf from the net with 55 seconds left, yet were unable to score on their last-ditch effort with the extra attacker.
Although falling two goals short, the Irish team played a strong game. They scored well from distance and had more blocks than Arizona State, the Irish with 16 and the Sun Devils with 10. Most notably, Notre Dame outshot Arizona State 50-38, which showed Notre Dame’s offensive ability to create scoring opportunities all game.
In its second game of the tournament, Notre Dame faced No. 8 Quinnipiac as both teams were competing for third place in the tournament. The Bobcats lost 2-1 to Alaska-Fairbanks on Friday in a slow-paced game. The Bobcats put up an offensive performance on Saturday, scoring the first three goals. Freshman forward Antonin Verreault scored a power-play goal at 6:44 in the first period, and junior forward Mason Marcellus scored eight minutes later.
During the second period, Quinnipiac freshman forward Markus Vidicek scored unassisted 9:33 in. After a harsh push on offense, Notre Dame’s Muzzatti picked up a rebound and scooped the puck into the bottom right of the net for the first Irish goal of the game. Muzzatti was assisted by junior forward Brennan Ali and Fischer. Five minutes later, Bobcat sophomore forward Chris Pelosi scored once again, keeping Quinnipiac at a three-goal advantage.
Early in the third period, Quinnipiac scored two goals, the first 2:17 in by freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach and the second 4:41 in by sophomore forward Aaron Schwartz. After a lot of back-and-forth offensive possessions, Muzzatti scored through traffic on a deflection to the top left corner. The goal, with assists by senior defensemen Michael Mastrodomenico and Axel Kumlin, ended up being the second and final Irish goal of the game after official review. In the last seven seconds of the game, Verreault scored Quinnipiac’s seventh and final goal with an assist by Wyttenbach.
The Irish were disappointed in the loss to Quinnipiac, but they played a gritty game against a tough opponent. Goaltender Kempf for the Irish had more saves than Bobcat junior goaltender Matej Marinov, with 31 for Kempf and 23 for Marinov.
The Irish have their home opener this Thursday, Oct. 16, against St. Lawrence at Compton Family Ice Arena at 7 p.m. The Irish will play St. Lawrence again on Friday, Oct. 17, at the same time. Although the Ice Breaker tournament was not the outcome the Irish expected, they began their season against two ranked teams in preparation for the rest of the season and will be back and ready to prove themselves this week.
