RPI Falls to No. 9 Notre Dame

Photo by DSPics.com

Boxscore

TROY, N.Y. -- The No. 9 University of Notre Dame came back from a three-goal deficit, scoring four straight through the final two periods to defeat No. 16 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 4-3, at the Houston Field House, to win the championship of the 57th annual Rensselaer Holiday Hockey Tournament. With the win, the Fighting Irish improve to 12-4-0 overall, while the Engineers fall to 6-4-3.

Notre Dame scored game-winning goal at 16:04 of the third period. Ryan Thang (Edina, MN/Green Bay Gamblers) took a feed from behind the goal and beat RPI goaltender Jordan Alford (Red Deer, AB/Canmore) high to his glove side. Erik Condra (Livonia, MI/Lincoln Stars) and sophomore Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, MI/Tri-City Storm) picked up the assists.

After RPI had broken out to a 3-0 lead, Notre Dame scored at 8:16 of the second, to get on the board. Sophomore Ryan Deeth (Gig Harbor, WA/Green Bay Gamblers) finished a rebound from just outside the RPI crease. He was assisted by Lawson and Condra.

Just over a minute later the Irish struck again, this time on the power play, as junior Justin White (Traverse City, MI/Sioux Falls Stampede) scored from the low slot. He beat Alford stick-side to cut the Rensselaer lead to 3-2. Notre Dame's second goal was assisted by sophomore Christiaan Minella (Aurora, CO/ Sioux City Musketeers).

The Fighting Irish tied the game on the power play at 5:59 of the third period. Senior defenseman Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, IL/Green Bay Gamblers) shot through a screen in front of the RPI net. The goal was assisted by Pearce.

Rensselaer got out to the 3-0 lead by getting the scoring started at 3:34 of the first period. Chase Polacek (Edina, MN/Holy Angels) redirected an Andrei Uryadov (St. Petersburg, Russia/Kent School) shot from the point past Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, AK/Lincoln Stars). Senior Jake Morissette (Fruitvale, BC/Williams Lake) recorded an assist on the goal.

Five minutes later, freshman Tyler Helfrich (Calgary, AB/Price George) lifted a backhand over Pearce to give the Engineers a 2-0 lead. Matt Angers-Goulet (St. Augustine, PQ/Notre Dame) and Polacek each had shots stopped by the Notre Dame goalie before the puck skipped to Hefrich.

On a five-on-three power play, Rensselaer scored at 5:30 of the second period. Starting from Polacek at the right point, he found Helfrich just to the left of the cage, who then slid a pass across the crease to senior Jonathan Ornelas (Mississagua, ON/Milton) who tallied.

The Engineers will continue their ECAC Hockey schedule next weekend when they visit Quinnipiac and Princeton on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Fighting Irish will host Nebraska-Omaha this Friday and Saturday evening. All games are scheduled to start at 7pm ET.