Irish score four in third period to defeat Clarkson 5-2 in freshman goalie Kempf’s debut
By John Fineran
No. 18/20 Notre Dame followed a slow start with a fast finish, scoring four goals in the third period to make freshman goaltender Nicholas Kempf’s first start a successful one with a 5-2 non-conference hockey victory at Clarkson in Potsdam, N.Y., Saturday night.
The victory gave coach Jeff Jackson’s Fighting Irish a weekend sweep of their road trip to play two ECAC Hockey powers whose campuses are just below the Canadian border in upstate New York. Notre Dame beat St. Lawrence 4-1 Friday behind junior-transfer goaltender (from Mercyhurst) Owen Say’s 32 saves.
Despite allowing a pair of first-period goals, the 6-foot-2 Kempf, who played for the U.S. Under-18 team a year ago and was a fourth-round NHL Draft pick of Washington last summer, grew more comfortable as the game proceeded and finished with 30 saves, 11 in each of the final two periods.
The Irish, who didn’t have a shot on Clarkson goaltender Ethan Langenegger in the first 14:35 of the game, waited until 21 seconds remained in the second period to finally score. Sophomore center Cole Knuble, who scored twice in Friday’s victory, performed a give-and-go with senior left wing Justin Janicke and scored his third goal of the season at 19:39 with the Irish on the power play to make it 2-1 St. Lawrence after two periods.
Junior defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico then tied the game at 1:12 of the third period off assists from Knuble and graduate-transfer right wing (from Princeton) Ian Murphy. Senior center Hunter Strand followed with the winning goal on a power play at 8:38, with assists from sophomore right wing Maddox Fleming and junior-transfer defenseman (from Miami University) Axel Kumlin, as the Irish went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage on the evening.
Sophomore center Danny Nelson added his second goal of the season at 10:21 for a 4-2 Irish lead. Janicke then finished off a two-point evening by blocking a shot by Clarkson in the defensive zone and watching the puck go the length of the ice into an empty net at 16:37 shortly after Clarkson coach Jean-Francois Houle pulled goaltender Ethan Langenegger, who finished with 22 saves.
Notre Dame (2-0) will play at home the next three weekends beginning with a non-conference series with Alaska (0-4). Friday’s faceoff is 7 p.m. at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Fresh from its victory down U.S. 11 at St. Lawrence, the Fighting Irish struggled offensively in the first period in the Cheel Arena, and the Golden Knights took advantage for a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes on goals by Jaren Mangan (3:50) and Tristan Sarsland (18:39).
St. Lawrence helped its own cause with eight blocked shots in each of the first two periods. Notre Dame’s Brennan Ali finally gave Langenegger some work at 14:35 of the first period with Notre Dame’s first shot on goal, and the Clarkson goalie later denied Strand at 15:15 and Ali one second later.
Kempf settled in during the second period and turned aside all 11 Clarkson shots he faced. Perhaps his biggest saves came at 12:31 when he stopped Trey Taylor. Then with Notre Dame’s Ryan Helliwell off for tripping at 14:27, Kempf made two saves during the penalty kill and another two just after it ended to keep the Irish deficit at 2-0.
With Clarkson’s Erik Bargholtz off for holding at 18:00, Knuble and Justin Janicke performed a give-and-go coming into the offensive zone. Knuble shot a quick wrister over Langenegger to make the Irish deficit one goal after two periods. Defenseman Paul Fischer also added an assist.
Mastrodomenico then tied the game early in the third period, Kempf made several big saves before Strand scored the game-winner at 8:38 with Clarkson’s Kaelan Taylor in the penalty box for tripping.
For the game, Clarkson had six penalties totaling 12 minutes, the Irish three totaling six minutes. With Nelson winning 11 of 20 faceoffs and Strand winning eight of 12, Notre Dame finished with a 29-18 edge in faceoffs. Graduate defenseman Zach Plucinski had two of Notre Dame’s 11 blocked shots.
NOTRE DAME 5, CLARKSON 2
At Cheel Arena, Potsdam, N.Y.
Notre Dame 0 1 4—5
Clarkson 2 0 0—2
First Period—Scoring: 1. Clarkson, Jared Mangan 1 (Ryan Bottrill, Ryan Richardson) EV 3:50; 2. Clarkson, Tristan Sarsland 1 (Ryan Richardson, Ty Brassington) EV 18:39. Penalties: Notre Dame 1-2, Clarkson 2-4.
Second Period—Scoring: 3. Notre Dame, Cole Knuble 3 (Justin Janicke, Paul Fischer) PP 19:39. Penalties (total): Notre Dame 1-2 (2-4), Clarkson 2-4 (4-8).
Third Period—Scoring: 4. Notre Dame, Michael Mastrodomenico 1 (Cole Knuble, Ian Murphy) EV 1:12; 5. Notre Dame, Hunter Strand 1 (Maddox Fleming, Axel Kumlin) PP 8:38; 6. Notre Dame, Danny Nelson 2 (Brennan Ali) EV 10:21; 7. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke (unassisted) EN 16:37. Penalties (total): Notre Dame 1-2 (3-6), Clarkson 2-4 (6-12).
Shots on goal: Notre Dame 27 (6-9-12), Clarkson 32 (10-11-11). Goalie saves: Notre Dame, Nicholas Kempf 30 (8-11-11), Clarkson, Ethan Langenegger 22 (6-8-8). Power-play opportunities: Notre Dame 2 of 4, Clarkson 0 of 1. Faceoff wins: Notre Dame 29 (6-11-12), Clarkson 18 (5-6-7). Blocked shots: Notre Dame 11 (2-1-8), Clarkson 19 (8-8-3).
Referees: Kevin Graber and Jason Williams. Linesmen: Adam Wood and Michael Wrobel. Attendance: 3,110. Records: Notre Dame 2-0-0, Clarkson (2-2-0).