Irish Rally For 5-4 Victory At Merrimack – Notre Dame Fighting Irish – Official Athletics Website

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — A four-goal third period, led by Cole Knuble’s goal and trio of assists, lifted the Irish to a 5-4 victory Wednesday afternoon at Merrimack College.

Knuble kicked off the third period goal surge for the Irish, finding the back of the net at 4:56 of the frame to draw the Irish back within one of the Warriors. He then tallied assists on each of the final three goals to finish the night with a career-best tying four points.

The Irish and Warriors skated even through the first few minutes of game action before Evan Werner’s fourth goal of the season gave Notre Dame the 1-0 lead at 9:23 Wednesday afternoon.

A late opening period goal for Merrimack made it a tie game through the first 20 minutes of play inside Lawler Arena as the two teams headed to the locker room for the intermission break.

The Irish were called for a hook at 1:37 of the second period and looked to kill off their second infraction of the night but the Warriors capitalized just five seconds in to take the 2-1 lead at 1:42 of the middle frame.

Less than 30 seconds later the Irish were whistled again, this time for interference and the PK unit hopped back onto the ice. Knuble looked to have scored the team’s first shorthanded goal of the season when his shot from the circle beat the Merrimack netminder but the home team challenged the call on the ice for offsides and the play was overturned.

The Irish managed to kill off the remainder of the interference penalty unscathed, including a second shorthanded chance for Knuble, but ultimately returned to full strength still trailing by a goal.

A netfront scramble at 5:31 of the second period found the puck behind Nicholas Kempf where Caeden Carlisle tried to outman the opposition and sweep the puck out of the crease but the loose puck inched over the goal line to give the Warriors the 3-1 lead.

Notre Dame saw its first powerplay opportunity of the day at 12:52 of the second period as they fought to overcome the two-goal deficit. The Irish were unable to convert on the man-advantage and play returned to five-on-five.

Will Belle was caught on a breakaway and nearly had his first collegiate tally but was stopped at the doorstep before being shoved from behind after the puck was frozen. A small scrum ensued and both teams were sent to their respective boxes to serve roughing penalties.

With just under two minutes to go in the middle frame, and skating four-on-four after the coincidentals, a high hit on Knuble at the blueline handed the Irish a five-minute powerplay opportunity which would carry over into the third. A late chance from Brennan Ali was cleared the length of the ice, giving the Irish one last rush before the end of the period. Axel Kumlin fired a shot on goal before Pano Fimis tried to bury the rebound chance but got robbed by the glove of Merrimack’s Lundgren to keep it a 3-1 contest.

The Irish headed to their locker room trailing by a pair ahead of the third period but would see 3:03 of powerplay time remaining when they returned to the ice for the final frame of regulation.

Despite not being able to capitalize on the rest of the Warriors’ major, the Irish offense refused to let up and Knuble found the back of the net just under five minutes into the frame to spark the Notre Dame bench. Danny Nelson evened the tally minutes later when his one-timer on the powerplay made it a 3-3 contest.

The scoring continued for the Irish at 13:22 of the third when Cole Brown broke the stalemate with his second of the year. Merrimack would answer with the equalizer less than a minute later to make it a 4-4 game late in the contest.

Not to be denied his game-winning tally, Brown once more gave the Irish the lead at 14:37 to secure the victory on the road at Merrimack.

Kempf finished the night with 31 saves between the pipes for the Irish, including 12 in the final frame to keep the Irish ahead by a goal en route to the win.

KEY STATS

With four points in the third period alone, Cole Knuble tied his career-best point total with a goal and three assists. His last four-point contest came against Long Island in October 2024.
The four-goal third period was the team’s first since October 2022 in a 5-5 tie at Air Force as part of the Ice Breaker Tournament.
After netting his first collegiate goal in the team’s home-opener last month, Cole Brown doubled his goal count with a pair of late third period tallies Wednesday, marking his first multi-goal game. Adding an assist to his tally at Merrimack, the freshman forward tied his career-high point total with three.
Nicholas Kempf picked up 31 saves in the Irish crease Wednesday to improve to 4-8-1 on the season. His save tally includes 12 stops in the final 20 minutes to secure the victory in game one of the team’s road trip.
Four individuals boasted multiple points in the win, including Knuble’s four which was a team-best. Brown had three off two goals and an assist while Paul Fischer and Sutter Muzzatti both registered a pair of helpers in the contest. Additionally, four others highlighted the box score in Danny Nelson (1-0-1), Evan Werner (1-0-1), Henry Nelson (0-1-1), and Brennan Ali (0-1-1).

UP NEXT

The Irish close out their East Coast road trip Friday afternoon at Boston College. Puck drop is set for 1pm inside Conte Forum and will air locally on NESN and stream nationally on ESPN+.