SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame used seven unanswered goals to complete the series sweep over Penn State with a 7-1 victory in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening during the regular-season finale from Compton Family Ice Arena.
Penn State finishes the 2020-21 regular season at 9-11-0 and 7-11-0-2-1-0 in conference action while the Irish move to 14-12-2 overall and 12-10-2-1-2 in the Big Ten.
The two teams will once again converge on the Compton Family Ice Arena ice next Sunday to begin the Big Ten Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup at 12 p.m. Notre Dame will be the home team after earning the four seed while Penn State is the No. 5 seed.
The game will be the third consecutive meeting between the two teams and Penn State's fifth consecutive game against the Irish this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State once again opened the scoring as senior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) used a no-look pass at center-ice to spring freshman Christian Sarlo (Lynnbrook, N.Y.) into the offensive zone on a breakaway and the rookie used a forehand-backhand move that deflected off the far post and in for the 1-0 lead at 8:33 of the first period.
- Notre Dame wasted little time securing the equalizer as the second period began with Alex Steeves ripping a wrister over the glove of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) just 33 ticks into the frame for the 1-1 score.
- The Irish took the lead a few minutes later as the Nittany Lions coughed up the puck in the neutral zone and Jake Pivonka skated over the blueline and sniped one top shelf for the 2-1 edge at 4:46 of the second period.
- The hosts would then score their third-straight goal as Trevor Janicke tipped home a point shot by Nick Leivermann for the 3-1 margin at 8:28 of the middle frame.
- Notre Dame took advantage of another defensive lapse by Penn State as the Nittany Lions turned the puck over behind their net and Jesse Lansdell finished off a feed on the welcome mat for the 4-1 lead just 76 ticks into the third period.
- Janicke potted his second of the game as he was left alone in the slot and ripped a shot inside the far post for the 5-1 Irish lead at 11:26 of the third period.
- Max Ellis finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Spencer Stasney during an odd-man rush for the 6-1 Notre Dame lead at 15:35 of the third period.
- Graham Slaggert scored on another odd-man rush finishing off a feed from his brother Landon for the 7-1 edge at 18:02 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
- Autio falls to 8-8-0 on the year after making 21 saves over the first 41:12 of game action before being relieved by freshman Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) who stopped seven shots in 14:19 of action.
- Senior Will Holtforster (Mississauga, Ontario) played the final 4:25 making the first three saves of his collegiate career.
- St. Cyr improves to 11-8-1 after making 37 saves over the opening 55:30 before giving way to Nick Sanford who stopped one shot over the final 4:30 of play.
NOTES
- Penn State held the slim 39-38 edge in shots on goal but went 0-for-1 on the man-advantage.
- Penn State went a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill which included a full 2:00 of 5-on-3 play at the beginning of a five-minute major penalty.
- The seven goals scored by Notre Dame are the most all-time by the Irish against the Nittany Lions in a single game.
- Penn State has now scored first in eight of 12 games played during Phase II of the 2020-21 season schedule including three-straight against the Irish, however, the Nittany Lions fall to 7-4-0 on the year when scoring first including three-straight losses.
- Notre Dame wins the season series with a 3-1-0 record against Penn State while improving to 13-6-3 all-time against the Nittany Lions and 8-3-1 at Compton Family Ice Arena.
For more information on the 2020-21 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.