Notre Dame, In. — It was a whirlwind of a night for game one at Compton Family Ice Arena as Notre Dame bested Mercyhurst in a close 4-3 overtime game. The Lakers came into the Big Ten team's house and pushed them until the final seconds of match.
How It Happened
The arena was loud and highly energetic from the start as both teams came firing out of the gate. Mercyhurst picked up a penalty early on in the sixth minute of the game for tripping and the Fighting Irish would capitalize through Landon Slaggert on their power play opportunity only a minute later to give them a 1-0 lead. The Lakers weren't going to wait around too long before evening the game, as Mickey Burns was the man able to slot one in with help from Garrett Dahm's scrappy play and Tommy Bannister as well. The period would end with some redemption on a Mercyhurst penalty kill after another tripping call.
Mercyhurst turned the tables only two minutes in the second period, scoring six seconds into their own power play from a hooking call, making it a 2-1 Laker lead. Boris Skalos snagged the goal off a leg deflection assisted by Dustin Geregach and Steven Agriogianis. It ended up being a dominant period for the Lakers as they netted one more from, their now leading goalscorer, Philip Waugh. The goal for the 3-1 lead they would take into the third period was supplied by Spencer Smith and Connor Pelc.
The third period is when the Irish would bite back. Notre Dame scored twice in the first five minutes of play, evening the score at 3-3, as Tyler Carpenter and Trevor Janicke etched their names on the score sheet. The home team would fire everything they had on goal the rest of the period, but to no avail as Owen Say continued to add to his plethora of saves on the night.
It headed to overtime and, based off the way it started, it seemed as though Mercyhurst would be the ones to break through, getting off 4 shots compared to Notre Dame's one. In just over the third minute the Irish secured their win and comeback on just their second shot in overtime, again through Landon Slaggert.
Highlights
Philip Waugh scored his team leading third goal of the season and Mickey Burns netted his second on the year. Boris Skalos scored his second of the campaign.
Tommy Bannister, Dustin Geregach, and Garrett Dahm all tacked on their third assists of the season. Steven Agriogianis and Spencer Smith picked up their second assist of the seasons. Connor Pelc notched his first career assist, being Pelc's first ever NCAA point.
Owen Say had a career high and AHA season high 50 saves with a .926 save percentage.
Scoring Summary
P1: 14:15 - Mickey Burns from Garrett Dahm and Tommy Bannister
P2: 2:06 (PP) - Boris Skalos from Dustin Geregach and Steven Agriogianis
P2: 8:02 - Philip Waugh from Spencer Smith and Connor Pelc
Next Up
The Lakers are back in an action again tomorrow at the Compton Family Ice Arena for game 2 against Notre Dame. If tonight is any indication of what to expect from Mercyhurst tomorrow, we should be in for another thrilling competition. Puck drop is set for 7:30 PM.
