Knuble’s OT goal makes No. 19/20 Irish 3-2 winner over Wisconsin for goalie Say (42 saves)
By JOHN FINERAN
SOUTH BEND – There was one person happier than Notre Dame’s Cole Knuble when the sophomore center scored the game-winning goal at 2:11 of overtime Friday night in a 3-2 Big Ten Conference victory over Wisconsin before 4,755 fans watching at the Lefty Smith Rink in the Compton Family Ice Arena.
That person, Irish junior goaltender Owen Say, who was 200 feet away when Knuble’s shot beat Wisconsin goaltender Tommy Scarfone, couldn’t contain himself when he saw the red light behind Scarfone go on.
“I think I turned around to the student section and gave a little fist pump,” chuckled Say, who stopped 42 of 44 shots directed his way by the Badgers, who outshot the Irish 44-24, including 36-13 in the second, third and overtime periods.
Then the 6-foot-2, 181-pound Say turned around to skate to his teammates and the 5-foot-10 Knuble jumped into the goalie’s arms before they were engulfed by the rest of the No. 19/20 Irish, who rebounded from last Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Long Island University to improve to 5-2-0 overall and gained two points in their first Big Ten game of the season.
“Owen was unreal tonight,” said Knuble, whose game-winner came off assists from senior Justin Janicke and sophomore defenseman Paul Fischer as the Irish skated on a 4-on-3 power play. “You can talk about countless other saves he made tonight. Without him, we don’t have a shot. We love playing in front of him. I just wish we could make it a little easier for him.”
Which would be okay with Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson, who first was impressed by Say last season here on Oct. 26, 2023 when the London, Ont., native made 50 saves before Landon Slaggert beat him and his Mercyhurst team 4-3 in overtime. When Jackson saw Say’s name in the transfer portal after last season, he pounced to provide incoming freshman Nicholas Kempf and returning backup Jack Williams some competition as Notre Dame looked to replace graduating All-America goalie Ryan Bischel.
“We bent and didn’t break,” Jackson said after the Irish played without junior defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico (day-to-day, upper body injury) and then lost graduate left wing Grant Silianoff early in the third period with an injury to his left shoulder. “Owen played well in net and the power play scored a big goal for us.”
The Irish started the five-minute overtime period shorthanded with defenseman Zach Plucinski sitting in the penalty box after incurring an elbow penalty at 19:38 of the third period. Say stopped Wisconsin’s leading goal-scorer Quinn Finley with a second remaining in regulation, and he then stopped Finley twice more 30 seconds and 1:02 into the overtime before Wisconsin’s Gavin Morrissey was whistled for tripping Janicke at 1:15.
Jackson called a timeout to make sure his team understood what it needed to do to make the transition from penalty kill to power play. When Plucinski rejoined the Irish at 1:39, Notre Dame controlled the puck in Wisconsin zone long enough for Janicke to get a shot off. Wisconsin cleared the zone.
As Knuble skated back toward the zone, left wing Cody Laskosky jumped off the Wisconsin bench and headed to knock Notre Dame’s Danny Nelson offside. But instead, Nelson survived the collision and the Irish had a break toward Scarfone. Knuble turned right across the mid-slot and used 6-foot-3 Wisconsin defenseman Jack Phelan as a screen before whistling a backdoor shot to beat Scarfone.
“I kind of pump-faked a little bit to get the defender to open up,” said Knuble, who worked hard on his shot during the offseason when he wasn’t building upper-body strength in the weight room. “I was trying to get a shooting lane. (The shot) went under his stick and it went back against the grain (on Scarfone’s) blocker side.”
A year ago, Scarfone, while playing for RIT, blanked Notre Dame 3-0 in Rochester, N.Y., making 36 saves. Friday night, he finished with 21, with 11 coming in the second and third periods (and none in the overtime). He is now 0-4-0 for coach Mike Hastings’ Badgers, who fell to 1-6-0 overall and are 0-3-0 in the Big Ten with two overtime losses to No. 15 Ohio State and now Notre Dame.
“They’ve had a pretty tough schedule,” Jackson noted. Indeed, the Badgers dropped a pair of games last weekend at No. 1 Denver. “They are feeling their way through (this season) just like we are. We’re trying to get an idea of what we have right now. We played well early in the game but they started elevating their forecheck and we had a harder time getting out of our zone.”
The Irish led 1-0 after the first 20 minutes after sophomore defenseman Henry Nelson blistered a shot from the left faceoff circle past Scarfone at 7:38 after receiving assists from brother Danny and grad right wing Blake Biondi.
Wisconsin then used a 21-7 shot advantage in the second period and a 24-10 advantage at the faceoff dots to grab a 2-1 second-period lead on goals by Ryan Botterill (15:02) and Owen Lindmark (18:16).
But 31 seconds after Lindmark’s goal, the Irish tied it after defenseman Axel Kumlin took a pass from blueline partner Ryan Helliwell and blasted a shot on net that Irish sophomore left wing Brennan Ali, a physical force all evening for Notre Dame, deflected home for his first goal of the year.
Say kept it at 2-2 with 13 third-period saves, two against Finley, who had a breakaway at 11:59 and finished with seven shots on goal.
“Owen has been solid since the beginning of the year,” Jackson noted. “He’s controlling the rebounds and that makes a big difference, especially with the injuries on the backend.”
Say, who earlier in the day was named co-goaltender of the month with Augustana’s Josh Kotai by the Hockey Commissioners Association, saw his goals-against average move from 1.00 to 1.24 and his saves percentage fall from .969 to .965. But he’s also now 4-0-0 as a starter.
The teams conclude their two-game series Saturday night with the puck dropping at 6:05 p.m. Peacock has the telecast while the game can be heard on 94.3 FM WZOC and UND.com with Tyler Reidy on the call.
“Rosie Place” wins, too: A silent auction was held for “A Rosie Place for Children,” a not-for-profit specialty hospital for children who are medically fragile and which was a favorite of the late Lefty Smith, Notre Dame’s first varsity hockey coach. An autographed jersey raised $985 while an autographed stick raised $730 and other donations brought the total to $1,999.98.
NOTRE DAME 3, WISCONSIN 2 (OT)
At Lefty Smith Rink in Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend, Ind.
Wisconsin 0 2 0 0—2
Notre Dame 1 1 0 1—3
First Period—Scoring: 1. Notre Dame, Henry Nelson 2 (Danny Nelson, Blake Biondi) EV 7:38. Penalties: Wisconsin 1-2, Notre Dame 1-2.
Second Period—Scoring: 2. Wisconsin, Ryan Botterill 1 (Logan Hensler, Tyson Dyck) PP 15:02; 3. Wisconsin, Owen Lindmark 1 (Ben Dexheimer, Kyle Kukkonen) EV 18:16; 4. Notre Dame, Brennan Ali 1 (Axel Kumlin, Ryan Helliwell) EV 18:47. Penalties: Wisconsin 0-0 (1-2), Notre Dame 1-2 (2-4).
Third Period—Scoring: None. Penalties: Wisconsin 1-2 (2-4), Notre Dame 3-6 (5-10).
Overtime—Scoring: 5. Notre Dame, Cole Knuble 6 (Justin Janicke, Paul Fischer) PP, GW 2:11. Penalties: Wisconsin 1-2 (3-6), Notre Dame 0-0 (5-10).
Shots on goal: Wisconsin 44 (8-21-13-2), Notre Dame 24 (11-7-5-1).
Goalie saves: Wisconsin, Tommy Scarfone 21 (10-6-5-0); Notre Dame, Owen Say 42 (8-19-13-2).
Power-play opportunities: Wisconsin 1 of 4, Notre Dame 1 of 2.
Faceoffs won: Wisconsin 44 (6-24-13-1), Notre Dame 37 (11-10-15-1).
Blocked shots: Wisconsin 11 (3-2-6-0), Notre Dame 11 (3-4-4-0).
Referees: Tony Czech and Kevin Corbett. Linesmen: Pat Richardson and Christopher Libett. Attendance: 4,755 (4,852).
Records: Wisconsin 1-6-0 overall and 0-3-0 Big Ten for 2 points; Notre Dame 5-2-0 overall and 1-0-0 Big Ten for 2 points.
BIG TEN STANDINGS: 1. Ohio State 2-0-0, 5 points (6-0-1 overall); 2. Minnesota 1-0-0, 3 points (6-1-0 overall); T3. Notre Dame 1-0-0, 2 points (5-2-0 overall); T3. Wisconsin 0-3-0, 2 points (1-6-0 overall); 5. Michigan State 0-0-0, 0 points (5-1-0 overall); 6. Penn State 0-1-0, 0 points (4-2-0 overall); 7. Michigan 0-0-0, 0 points (4-2-1 overall).
Friday schedule: Notre Dame 3, Wisconsin 2 (OT); Minnesota 3, Penn State 1; Michigan 5, Boston University 1; Ohio State 9, Lake Superior State 3
Saturday schedule: Wisconsin at Notre Dame, 6:05 p.m.; Lake Superior State at Ohio State, 5 p.m.; Michigan at Boston University, 7 p.m.; Penn State at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
THIS WEEK’S USCHO.com MEDIA POLL MEMBERS
- Denver(NCHC) (7-0-0) won at Yale Friday, 6-0. Next: Saturday at Yale.
- Boston College(Hockey East) (4-1-0) won at No. 10 St. Cloud State Friday, 4-1. Next: Saturday at No. 10 St. Cloud State.
- Michigan State(Big Ten) (5-1-0) is idle this week. Next: Nov. 8-9 vs. No. 15 Ohio State.
- Minnesota (Big Ten) (6-1-0) beat visiting No. 18 Penn State Friday, 3-1. Next: Saturday vs. No. 18 Penn State.
- Boston University(Hockey East) (4-2-0) lost to visiting No. 11 Michigan Friday, 5-1. Next: Saturday vs. No. 11 Michigan.
- North Dakota(NCHC) (3-3-0) lost at No. 9 Cornell Friday, 4-1. Next: Saturday at No. 9 Cornell.
- Maine (Hockey East) (5-0-1) beat visiting Merrimack Friday, 5-0. Next: Saturday at Merrimack.
- Colorado College(NCHC) (5-0-0) beat visiting Air Force Friday, 3-2 (OT). Next: Saturday at Air Force.
- Cornell(ECAC) (1-0-0) beat visiting No. 6 North Dakota Friday, 4-1. Saturday vs. No. 6 North Dakota.
- St. Cloud State(NCHC) (6-2-0) lost to visiting No. 2 Boston College Friday, 4-1. Next: Saturday vs. No. 2 Boston College.
- Michigan(Big Ten) (4-2-1) won at No. 5 Boston University Friday, 5-1. Next: Saturday at No. 5 Boston University.
- Providence(Hockey East) (4-1-1) beat visiting New Hampshire Friday, 6-3. Next: Saturday at New Hampshire.
- Western Michigan(NCHC) (3-1-0) is idle this week. Next: Nov. 8-9 at Omaha.
- Quinnipiac(ECAC) (2-3-0) did not play Friday. Next: Saturday at Holy Cross.
- Ohio State(Big Ten) (6-0-1) beat visiting Lake Superior State Friday, 9-3. Next: Saturday vs. Lake Superior State.
- Minnesota State(CCHA) (5-4-0) lost at Bemidji State Friday, 1-0. Next: Saturday at Bemidji State.
- Massachusetts(Hockey East) (3-3-1) did not play Friday. Next: Saturday at American International.
- Penn State(Big Ten) (4-2-0) lost at No. 4 Minnesota Friday, 3-1. Next: Saturday at No. 4 Minnesota.
- Notre Dame(Big Ten) (5-2-0) beat visiting Wisconsin Friday, 3-2 (OT). Next: Saturday vs. Wisconsin.
- UMass Lowell(Hockey East) (5-1-0) won at Holy Cross Friday, 5-4 (OT). Next: Nov. 8 at No. 5 Boston University.
Others receiving votes
Union (ECAC) (6-1-0) is idle this week. Next: Nov. 8-9 vs. Alaska.
Omaha (NCHC) (2-4-0) is idle this week. Next: Nov. 8-9 vs. No. 13 Western Michigan.
Clarkson (ECAC) (5-3-0) lost to visiting Alaska Friday, 3-1. Next: Saturday vs. Alaska.
Augustana (CCHA) (3-4-0) lost at St. Thomas Friday, 4-0. Next: Saturday at St. Thomas.
Harvard (ECAC) (0-1-0) lost to visiting Dartmouth Friday, 2-1. Next: Friday, Nov. 8 at Princeton.
New Hampshire (Hockey East) (2-2-1) lost at No. 12 Providence Friday, 6-3. Next: Saturday vs. No. 12 Providence.
Wisconsin (Big Ten) (1-6-0) lost at No. 19 Notre Dame Friday, 3-2 (OT). Next: Saturday at No. 19 Notre Dame.
Connecticut (Hockey East) (4-2-1) did not play Friday. Next: Saturday vs. Vermont Saturday; Sunday vs. Vermont.
Arizona State (NCHC) (3-4-1) is idle this week. Next: Nov. 8-9 at No. 8 Colorado College.
Minnesota Duluth (NCHC) (3-4-0) is idle this week. Next: Nov. 8-9 vs. No. 6 North Dakota.
Dartmouth (ECAC) (1-0-0) won at Harvard Friday, 2-1. Next: Sunday vs. Stonehill.
RIT (Atlantic Hockey) (2-6-0) lost Wednesday at Niagara, 4-1. Next: Nov. 8-9 at Bentley.
Brown (ECAC) (0-0-0) is idle this week. Next: Friday, Nov. 8 at Colgate.
Michigan Tech (CCHA) (3-2-0) won at Northern Michigan Friday, 3-0. Next: Saturday vs. Northern Michigan.
Bemidji State (CCHA) (3-3-0) beat visiting No. 16 Minnesota State Friday, 1-0. Next: Saturday vs. No. 16 Minnesota State.
Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey) (3-5-0) lost to visiting No. 20 UMass Lowell Friday, 5-4 (OT). Next: Saturday vs. No. 14 Quinnipiac.
Northeastern (Hockey East) (1-3-1) is idle this week. Next: Friday, Nov. 8 at No. 12 Providence.
Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey) (2-4-1) lost at Bentley Friday, 4-2. Next: Saturday vs. Bentley.
OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK
Thursday, Oct. 31
Canisius 4, Army 0 (Atlantic Hockey)
Friday, Nov. 1
Bowling Green 2, Ferris State 0 (CCHA)
Canisius 6, Army 1 (Atlantic Hockey)
Niagara 5, Mercyhurst 3 (Atlantic Hockey)
Rensselaer 3, Miami 2 (OT)
Robert Morris 3, Lindenwood 0
Stonehill 4, St. Lawrence 0
Saturday, Nov. 2
Niagara at Mercyhurst, 7 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)
Lindenwood at Robert Morris, 7 p.m.
Ferris State at Bowling Green, 7:07 p.m. (CCHA)
