Notre Dame hockey: Aesthetics aside, Irish enjoy a win

SOUTH BEND -- It wasn't pretty Friday night, but at this point, Notre Dame will take every win it can get in Hockey East play.

Despite giving up a season-high 39 shots on goal and committing eight penalties for the second straight game, the Irish managed to hold off Massachusetts and get to .500 in the conference with a 5-3 win at the Compton Family Ice Arena.

Mario Lucia scored two goals and added an assist for No. 13 Notre Dame (10-6-1, 3-3-1 HEA), Sam Herr had one goal and an assist, and Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays made 36 saves.

"It was an ugly win," said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. "We did what we had to do."

Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Jeff Costello and Herr. Costello scored on a penalty shot, 3:47 into the game, and Herr's goal came off a nice feed from T.J. Tynan, who stole the puck on the forecheck and fed Herr out front from behind the UMass net.

But as was the case in their last game, a 3-2 loss to Northeastern, penalties came back to haunt the Irish. They committed four in the first period, resulting in two 5-on-3 UMass power plays.

The Minutemen (3-11-2, 1-7-2) capitalized on the first 5-on-3 when Steven Iacobellis chipped in a one-timer to make it 2-1. Summerhays saved the Irish on the second one when he lost his stick sliding across the crease, but threw up both hands as he fell backwards to snuff out a wide-open Ben Gallacher shot.

"I got a piece of it, luckily," Summerhays said. "You get some of those sometimes, and it's nice to get 'em."

Behind seven power plays and an aggressive forecheck, UMass peppered Summerhays with 32 shots through the first two periods.

"We want to play fast," said UMass head coach John Micheletto, who was an assistant at Notre Dame under Dave Poulin from 1999-2003. "We were able, for the most part, to play in the guts of the ice and through the neutral zone in transition and get the puck on the attack."

Notre Dame got its lead back up to two goals in the second period when Robbie Russo slid a one-timer over to Andy Ryan for a power play goal. But that lead didn't last, either. Costello went to the penalty box with 10 seconds to play in the second, and UMass scored five seconds later to get it back to 3-2.

Moments after hitting the post on a power play, Lucia found his way to the front of the net to stuff home a rebound to make it 4-2 at 6:14 of the third period. Lucia then added his eighth of the year, again on the power play, with 3:06 to play on a one-time pass from Vinnie Hinostroza, who returned from a knee injury that forced him to miss six games.

FIRST PERIOD

ND - Jeff Costello, 5 (penalty shot) 3:47; Sam Herr, 7 (T.J. Tynan) 7:32; UM Steven Iacobellis, 5 (Joel Hanley, Ray Pigozzi) PP, 9:05. Shots on goal: UM 18, ND 10; Penalties: ND 4-8, UM 1-2.

SECOND PERIOD

ND - Andy Ryan, 2 (Robbie Russo, Mario Lucia) PP, 13:34; UM - Branden Gracel, 6 (Conor Sheary, Ben Gallacher) PP, 19:55. Shots: UM 14, ND 12; Penalties: ND 3-6, UM 3-6.

THIRD PERIOD

ND - Lucia, 7 (Herr, Stephen Johns) PP, 6:14; ND - Lucia, 8 (Vince Hinostroza, Johns) PP, 16:54; UM - Brandon Wahlin, 1 (Pigozzi, Iacobellis) 18:40. Shots: ND 10, UM 7; Penalties: UM 3-6, ND 1-2.

Shots: UM 39, ND 32; Saves: ND 36 (Steven Summerhays), UM 27 (Steve Mastalerz); Power plays: ND 3-6, UM 2-8; Penalties: ND 8-16, UM 7-14; Attendance: 4,830.