SOUTH BEND, Ind. No. 11 Notre Dame tallied three power-play goals en route to a 4-3 win over No. 5 Denver tonight before a sellout crowd of 2,413 at Joyce Center. Sophomore Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba) tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Pioneers in their first loss of the season.
DU’s Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) beat Jordan Pearce (17 saves) high to the stick side at 1:42 to give DU an early 1-0 lead. The Pioneers controlled the period until Notre Dame tied it at 1-1 on a power-play goal by Garrett Regan at 18:10. Tyler Bozak (Edmonton, Alberta) gave DU a 2-1 lead when he buried a feed from Trotter with 45 seconds remaining in the period. The Pioneers outshot the Fighting Irish, 11-6, but failed on several other quality scoring opportunities.
“We let too many scoring chances slip away in the first period, which allowed Notre Dame to get back into the game.” Denver Head Coach George Gwozdecky said. “We were outplayed in special teams tonight, but look forward to improving those areas in tomorrow night’s game.”
Notre Dame tied the score at 2-2 with its second power-play goal of the game at 12:27. Kyle Lawson’s shot trickled through traffic past DU goaltender Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.). Notre Dame took its first lead of the game when Ryan Thang beat Mannino (14 saves) high to the glove side at 17:48. The Fighting Irish outshot DU 9-3 and outplayed the Pioneers in the middle stanza.
The Irish took a two-goal lead when Ben Ryan scored on the power-play at 7:23 of the third period. Trotter scored 32 seconds later to make it 4-3, but DU couldn’t tie the score after pulling Mannino with 1:44 remaining.
DU outshot Notre Dame, 20-18, but went 0-for-5 on the power play. Notre Dame converted 3-of-4 man-advantage opportunities. Regan lead the Fighting Irish with a goal and an assist.
The teams play game two of the series tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. MT.
Notes: The game was delayed 12 minutes during the second intermission due to a tornado warning. Fans were instructed to evacuate the building until the warning was cancelled. Bozak’s goal in the first period was the first of his career. Both of Trotter’s goals this season have been unassisted.
