Notre Dame would have liked to come off its Big Ten bye with at least one win over Minnesota. But after tying the Gophers and losing a shootout Friday, the Irish blew a 1-0 lead in the third period of the teams’ rematch Saturday and lost, 2-1.
Nick Leivermann scored the lone goal for Notre Dame (12-12-6, 7-8-5-3) at the 8:02 mark of the second period. Colin Theisen was credited with the only assist on the tally.
Ben Meyers tied it for Minnesota (14-11-5, 9-6-5-4) 3:34 into the third period after the Irish turned it over at the blue line. A couple of minutes later, Cam Morrison was sent to the penalty box for elbowing, and Blake McLaughlin made him and the Irish pay by scoring on the ensuing power play. It was the only penalty kill out of eight between the two games this weekend that Notre Dame failed at.
Cale Morris made 24 saves for the Irish.