Notre Dame hockey: Vermont edges Irish
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Notre Dame's first-ever Hockey East game didn't have the ending the Irish were hoping for, falling to Vermont, 2-1 Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 4,007.
Freshman Mario Puskarich got the game-winning goal on the power play at 18:16 of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie to give the Catamounts the win.
Vermont's Chris McCarthy and Irish senior Bryan Rust scored in the first and second period, respectively.
Notre Dame out-shot the Cats 21-19. Steven Summerhays took the loss, making 17 saves while freshman Mike Santaguida had 20 saves for the victory.
The loss, the second in a row, dropped the second-ranked Irish to 5-2-0. Vermont is 2-1-1 overall and 1-0-0 in conference play.
Vermont's win evened the all-time series at 1-1-1.
Game two of the series is set for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Vermont will celebrate hockey's 50th year at the University.
| Notre Dame (5-2-0) | 0 | 1 | 0 - 1 |
| Vermont (2-1-1) | 1 | 0 | 1 - 2 |
Scoring
1st Period: UVM: Chris McCarthy 2 (Connor Brickley, Jake Fallon), 18:18.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UVM: 1 for 2 minutes.
2nd Period: ND: Bryan Rust 1 (Jeff Costello), SHG, 00:49.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UVM: 2 for 4 minutes.
3rd Period: UVM: Mario Puskarich 1 (McCarthy, Fallon), PPG, 18:16.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; UVM: 2 for 4 minutes.
Shots On Goal: Notre Dame 7 - 9 - 5 - 21; Vermont 8 - 1 - 10 - 19
Goaltender Saves: ND: Steven Summerhays (60:00) 7 - 1 - 9 - 17; UVM: Mike Santaguida (60:00) 7 - 8 - 5 - 20
Power Plays: ND: 0 for 6; UVM: 1 for 4
Attendance: 4,007 (sellout)