Notre Dame hockey: Herr’s third-period goals lift Irish Icers

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Sam Herr netted two goals in a 62-second span late in the third period as second-ranked Notre Dame came back to beat Vermont 3-2 Saturday afternoon in Hockey East action at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

The Catamounts fall to 2-2-1 (1-1-0 HEA) as they closed their 50th anniversary weekend, while the Fighting Irish improved to 6-2-0 (1-1-0 HEA).

Robert Polesello’s wrist shot through traffic beat Steven Summerhays inside the far post blocker side to give Vermont a 1-0 lead at the 2:41 mark.

With just 43 seconds left in the opening frame, the Catamounts doubled the lead as Colin Marksion split two Irish defenders, deked right, and roofed the puck into the upper right corner over Summerhays’ glove.

Notre Dame drew to within one less than three minutes into the second period on a long rush from Stephen Johns. The senior took a feed from Bryan Rust and deked through the neutral zone. Johns took the puck down the slot and slipped a backhander past Mike Santaguida to make it a 2-1 game.

It stayed a one goal Vermont advantage until the latter stages of the game. Herr netted his first goal at 13:18 as he beat Santaguida under the blocker with a wrist shot from the left circle. Herr then added his second for the eventual game-winner as he fired another shot from the left faceoff off the right post at 14:20.

The Catamounts pulled Santaguida late for the extra skater but couldn’t find the equalizing goal. Santaguida finished the night with 24 saves, while Summerhays collected 26.