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• Sophomore wide receiver Michael Floyd is not listed on the depth chart. Floyd underwent a CAT scan today, so it’s possible that Weis just didn’t have the results before he set the depth chart. Weis had previously indicated that if today’s test came back 100 percent, and he anticipated it would, Floyd would play against the Midshipmen. Check back tomorrow after Weis’ press conference at noon for an update.
• Fifth-year senior Evan Sharpley is listed as the backup to Jimmy Clausen, indicating that Dayne Crist will miss some time after a knee injury against Washington State Saturday night. Again, we’ll find out tomorrow the true extent of the injury.
• As expected, senior Dan Wenger is listed ahead of sophomore Trevor Robinson at the right guard position. Robinson suffered what Weis described as a “low ankle sprain” against the Cougars.

Final score of the game, Ohio State 3, Notre Dame 2.

Shootout Round Three – Heeter stops Ryan’s shot. Ohio State wins in the shootout, 2-1.

Shootout Round Three – Hunter Bishop gets one in for the Buckeyes. All the pressure is on Notre Dame’s third shooter, Ben Ryan.

Shootout Round Two – Notre Dame’s Calle Ridderwall moves to the left side of the Buckeye goal, but Heeter smothers the shot. This shootout remains tied up.

Shootout Round Two – Ohio State’s Zac Dalpe loses control of the puck as he gears up to shoot. Credit one to Phillips by intimidation.

Shootout Round One – Notre Dame’s Billy Maday quickly evens things up.

Shootout Round One – Buckeyes shoot first, and John Albert converts it.

End of overtime – After the initial intensity, neither team threatens much and this game is headed to a shootout. I’m not real clear on the rules of overtime, but from my understanding, largely based off of a brief conversation with the Director of Officials a few minutes ago, each team gets three shooters, and the team with more goals obviously wins. Notre Dame will choose to shoot first or second. If the game remains tied after the initial three rounds, we will head to a sudden death format. Players are not allowed to be used twice until everybody on the team has taken a shot.

4:18 Overtime – Both teams have already threatened as a Ryan Thang shot was deflected by Buckeye netminder Cal Heeter and an Ohio State shot bounced off the left pipe of the Notre Dame goal.

End of regulation – Tied up at 2-2. Stay tuned for the drama to continue.

Ohio State certainly played stronger in the third period than the Irish did, holding a 30-24 shots on goal advantage, threatening Phillips much more often than the Irish threatened Heeter.

Coming up will be a five minute overtime period, “golden goal” style.

1:32 Third period – Phillips just made a beautiful glove save. He may have given up two power play goals, but only allowing those on 30 shots he has played an excellent game thus far.

2:00 Third period – Still tied at two. Ohio State holds a 29-23 shots on goal advantage, and they continue to attack, but the Irish defense is limiting clean shot opportunities.

5:13 Third period – The pace of play has picked up considerably, and it has also gotten much more physical. Both teams are looking for that one goal, but it has yet to come. In the process, players on both teams are taking any chance at a check they can get. Phillips just made two huge saves on clean Buckeye shots. This game will go down to the wire.

11:56 Third period – The power play passes without any damage done. Notre Dame is back to full strength and the game remains tied at 2-2.

13:56 Third period – Ohio State has another 5-on-4 advantage as Irish senior Dan Kissel will set in the penalty box for two minutes for interference.

14:58 Third period – Ohio State capitalizes on the penalty play opportunity as sophomore Zac Dalpe gets a shot by Phillips. Ohio State holds a 25-20 shots on goal advantage, and the score is tied at two.

16:22 Third period – Notre Dame senior Dan Kissel nearly just scored on the Ohio State power play, as he slipped the puck between the legs of the only defender between him and the goal, but Buckeye netminder Cal Heeter made a nice stop. Notre Dame holds onto its 2-1 lead.

16:52 Third period – Irish captain Ryan Thang takes a seat in the box for two minutes for slashing, giving the Buckeyes a 5-on-4 advantage.

17:29 Third period – With four seconds left on the power play, Notre Dame senior Kyle Lawson, assisted by sophomore Ben Ryan and freshman Riley Sheahan, scores to give the Irish a 2-1 lead. Earlier on the power play Irish junior Ian Cole shattered his stick on a shot, so when Lawson scored only four Irish skaters were involved in the action anyways.

19:26 Third period – Ohio State continues its penalty-per-period pattern with a quick penalty on junior Corey Troy for boarding. 5-on-4 advantage for the Irish for the next two minutes.

End of second period – The period ended with Ohio State handling the puck in front of the Irish goal. As soon as the horn sounded a brief skirmish broke out, with Notre Dame senior Kevin Deeth and Buckeye junior Sergio Somma in the middle of it. Three players from each team jumped in, but the refs calmed things down before any serious blows could be thrown.

Ohio State currently holds a 22-16 shots on goal advantage. Don’t ask me how Notre Dame lost a shot on goal. The Buckeyes surely did threaten more often in the period though. Outside of the one power play, Notre Dame never really mounted any strong attacks. That will need to change for the Irish to begin the CCHA season 2-0-0.

1:40 Second period – Two great saves by Irish netminder Brad Phillips keep the game tied at 1-1. Shots on goal is knotted up at 17.

10:58 Second period – The power play passes without Notre Dame finding the back of the net with the puck, even though for most of the power play one Ohio State defenseman played wihtout his stick. Notre Dame had two shots on the goal, but Heeter seemed unfazed.

12:58 Second period – The rink is filled with sounds of “Hit the Road Jack” as Ohio State’s Hunter Bishop heads to the penalty box for boarding, essentially a check from behind. Irish have a one-man advantage 5-on-4.

14:09 Second period – The increased attacking continues this period, and the Buckeyes’ attacks are much more dangerous than Notre Dame’s. Ohio State has taken an advantage in shots on goal 15-13.

16:06 Second period – Ohio State finally ended a sustained Notre Dame attack, lasting since my last update. Unfortunately, Notre Dame only managed two shots on goal, and neither was a serious threat to get past Heeter. But it is encouraging to see puck control like that by the Irish.

18:31 Second period – Both goalies have already had to make tough saves this period. The Irish got two quick shots off on Buckeye sophomore Cal Heeter, but Heeter stopped both shots, aided on one by two Irish skaters colliding and disrupting a shot. The Buckeyes quickly moved the puck to the other end of the ice, but Phillips stopped three shots, including one with his lower leg on a wrap-around attempt by a Buckeye.

End of First period – The score is knotted up at one. Both teams used power penalties to score. Notre Dame has a slight shots on goal advantage, 8-6. So far the puck has mostly moved up-and-down the ice. Notre Dame has had one or two decent scoring chances, but neither team really dominated the period. Netminder Brad Phillips has played excellently, stopping five Buckeye shots, and only letting the one power play goal get past him, off of a rebound amidst a scrum in front of the net.

0:36.9 First period – Ohio State capitalizes on the power play with less than twenty seconds left with an advantage. Junior Hunter Bishop gets the goal and the score is even at 1-1.

2:21 First period – Two minute penalty for tripping on Notre Dame senior Dan Kissel. 5-on-4 in favor of the Buckeyes.

5:04 First period – Notre Dame quickly takes advantage of the power play with a goal ten seconds into it by freshman Riley Sheahan. Notre Dame up 1-0.

5:14 First period – High sticking call on Ohio State defenseman Shane Sims. Two minutes in the box. 5-on-4 for the Irish.

19:13 First period – First item of note, junior netminder Brad Phillips is in the goal tonight. Coach Jeff Jackson continues to switch it up in the net this season.

0:53.3 3rd period – Notre Dame still getting outshot 31-16, but have a 3-0 advantage on the scoreboard. I’m done for the night, heading down for postgame interviews, but check out https://www.ndsmcobserver.com for a full game recap.

2:27 3rd period – BU has pulled their goalie, giving them a 6-on-4 advantage.

3:24 3rd period – Kyle Palmieri takes a penalty for slashing. If BU wants to win this game, they should probably score on this powerplay. David Warsofsky also takes a ten-minute misconduct for BU, but the Terriers will still have five men on the ice. BU takes their timeout.

6:50 3rd period – A fairly strong “Let’s go, Irish” chant is drowned out by a much, much larger “Let’s go, Terriers.”

8:02 3rd period – Really, really entertaining run of play over the last couple of minutes. The Terriers have done everything except find the back of the net, and the crowd has really gotten energized.

11:08 3rd period – BU comes real close to scoring a couple of times on flurries in front of the net, but Phillips makes some saves, and gets some help from the post.

12:32 3rd period – Too many men on the ice for Notre Dame, Minella serving the penalty.

13:16 3rd period – Another long run of play is concluded with a nice stretching glove save from Phillips on a long shot from the point.

17:07 3rd period – Another great chance for the Terriers, a complete breakaway by Connolly that Phillips stopped by stretching across the goal. Calle Ridderwall follows it up with another Irish goal to put Notre Dame up 3-0. On a feed from Maday, Ridderwall fired a shot from the slot that looked like it hit off Millan’s glove into the net.

18:52 3rd period – The Terriers have probably their best chance of the game, as Colby Cohen finds Saponari all alone in the slot. Saponari, though, fires a backhander wide of the net. And the Irish will now go on the powerplay as Gryba is called for high sticking.

20:00 3rd period – Teams back on the ice, let’s start the third period.

End 2nd period – And the Irish head to the locker room up 2-0. I have no idea what came over Notre Dame in the last five minutes of that period, but they were infused with confidence, getting several good scoring chances on Millan, cutting BU’s shots-on-goal advantage to 17-13. Before any Irish fans get over-confident, though, this is the same BU team that came back from a 3-1 deficit in the last 1:30 of last year’s championship game against Miami (OH).

1:11 2nd period – And Phillips makes his presence felt with a nifty glove save on a sharp wrister from the point.

2:29 2nd period – Wow. The Irish have taken control of this game in a big way. After the two goals, Thang almost adds a third, but his breakaway backhand attempt rings off the post. On another flurry in front of the net, Millan has to look behind him to check for the puck, but it slides wide.

4:33 2nd period – Finally, we have our first goal of the game. Billy Maday puts the Irish up 1-0 on a feed from Sean Lorenz. Lorenz found Maday all alone in the slot, and the sophomore fired a wrister past Millan. And literally as I’m typing this, Notre Dame scores again to make it 2-0. This time it’s Ben Ryan to light the lamp.

5:18 2nd period – The Irish are ultimately able to set up on the powerplay, but can’t get anything past Millan, who’s played well for his part tonight.

7:59 2nd period – After a long run without a whistle, Notre Dame will go on the powerplay again after Alex Chiasson is whistled for cross-checking.

11:45 2nd period – A good chance for Notre Dame on a scrum in front of the net, but the shot goes wide and the game remains scoreless.

13:08 2nd period – Another Irish powerplay ends with few scoring chances. The Terriers are dominating shots on goal by a count of 14 to 5.

15:29 2nd period – After BU kills the penalty, a flurry of big hits and physical play leads to a penalty on Bonino for hitting from behind and an0ther ND powerplay.

18:08 2nd period – Notre Dame goes on the powerplay after killing off both penalties to start the period.

20:00 2nd period – Second period ready to start with Ridderwall and Lawson in the box for Notre Dame.

8:00 left 1st intermission – Funny little note: The Boston Police bagpipe band just performed, and they finished their performance with Rakes of Mallow, known more familiarly around the Notre Dame campus as the Irish jig, performed by the Irish band at football, basketball and hockey games.

End First Period – The period ends without BU capitalizing on their powerplay, although they did have chances. The second period will begin with five more seconds of 4-on-3, followed by a 5-on-3 and then 5-on-4 for BU. Overall, the Terriers definitely controlled play in the first period, although powerplays most likely had something to do with that. Phillips has been tested and looked good. The only problem, as always, is that he gives up big rebounds just begging to be put back in the net. It hasn’t hurt him yet, but those things usually come back to bite goaltenders.

0:29 – And one more penalty for good measure. This time Notre Dame’s Kyle Lawson is called for holding. So BU will have a 4-on-3 advantage to end the stanza.

1:25 1st period – Looks like we’ll go 4-on-4 to end the first, as Calle Ridderwall is whistled for tripping right after a faceoff in ND’s offensive zone.

1:56 1st period – The Irish will go on the powerplay to (possibly) finish of the first period as Saponari is whistled for holding.

2:41 1st period – The teams trade scoring chances, with an Ian Cole blast from the top of the circle for the Irish and a Chris Connolly one timer from Saponari for BU, but neither team can score.

4:20 1st period – A lot of neutral zone play dominates the first real extended spell of 5-on-5 hockey. Neither team has gotten many scoring chances since the last penalty ended.

6:57 1st period – BU kills the penalty with only one shot on net for Notre Dame.

8:58 1st period – Palmieri gets a breakaway chance, but the puck hit the post according to the official. From the press box, it looks like it may have gone in, but they won’t take a look at it. Also, Eric Gryba is sent to the box for BU, giving the Irish their first powerplay chance.

9:24 1st period – The Irish once again kill the penalty, and even had a scoring chance for good measure. But Billy Maday couldn’t connect with Ian Cole on a two-on-one.

11:33 1st period – The Terriers have their best scoring chance of the game by far, with Saponari hitting the post after a great feed from Bonino. The play came on a delayed call to Ryan Thang, who is sent to the box for hooking.

12:11 1st period – The Terriers have controlled play for most of the first period, but Ian Cole’s two penalties haven’t helped the Irish, who have yet to register a shot on Millan.

13:12 1st period – Another good penalty kill by ND. The Irish didn’t let BU get set up at all on their powerplay.

14:02 1st period – Great breakup by Lorenz on the penalty kill. After Kyle Lawson fell down, Lorenz deftly broke up a BU pass that would have led to an easy scoring chance.

15:42 1st period – Ian Cole didn’t get to enjoy being on the ice very long, as the junior is once again sent to the box for hooking. The Irish penalty kill will be tested once again.

15:54 1st period – Notre Dame kills BU’s powerplay without any threat at all from the Terriers. Seconds after it ends, though, BU gets a chance but Phillips saves a shot from the BU player streaking through the slot.

17:58 1st period – We have our first penalty of the evening, as Ian Cole is whistled for cross-checking to give BU their first powerplay.

0:00 to faceoff – After a lovely rendition of the national anthem, it’s finally hockey time. Deeth and Bonino are at center ice for the faceoff.

5:30 to faceoff – Ridderwall/Deeth/Maday will start for the Irish, with Blatchford/Lawson on defense. As I said before, Phillips is in net. For the Terriers, it will be Chris Connolly/Nick Bonino/Vinny Saponari up front with Colby Cohen/Kevin Shattenkirk on defense. Sophomore Kieran Millan is in net for BU.

6:30 to faceoff – The teams take the ice. Outside of the two BU student sections at either end of the ice, it’s a little surprising to see the arena barely half full. I’m sure that will change before the opening faceoff, but interesting nonetheless.

19:23 to faceoff – Just walking around the arena, I was a bit surprised how many Irish fans made the trip to Boston. For a team relatively new to the national stage, it’s nice to see a good road presence from the fans.

29:36 to faceoff – The teams have taken the ice for warmups and the stands are starting to fill up. Agganis is a really nice arena, just opened in 2005. It’s always nice to see a college hockey game at an arena that, well, isn’t the Joyce Center.

52:50 to faceoff – Early start tonight folks, as I think I was the first person in human history to drive from southern Connecticut to Boston without hitting any traffic. A couple of lineup notes as the Irish prepare for warmups:

• Notre Dame’s starting four lines are as follows: Kissel/Ryan/Minella, Thang/Sheahan/Palmieri, Ridderwall/Deeth/Maday and Larson/Gaul/Guentzel. I, for one, really like this set up. First of all, the Ridderwall/Deeth/Maday line was extremely productive last season and it’s nice to see the three back together. I also really like Thang playing with the two super-freshmen Sheahan and Palmieri. Notre Dame SID Tim Connor just told me that there were 22 NHL scouts on hand last weekend to watch the draft-eligible season, with even more expected tonight. Thang’s experience should help make the most of Sheahan and Palmieri’s talents.
• The defensive pairings are: Cole/Ringel, Condon/Lawson and Blatchford/Lorenz. Nothing much of note here, other than the fact that not having Teddy Ruth sucks. Jackson said the junior will be out “a couple more weeks” with a lower body injury.
• Junior Brad Phillips will be starting between the pipes for the Irish. After two disappointing losses against Alabama-Huntsville and Providence in his last two starts, it will be interesting to see if Phillips can get back on track in what could be a really, really tough road game.

UPDATE 9:15 – Time has expired on this one. Indiana gets the win, but in reality the Irish defeated themselves with a score of Notre Dame 3, Notre Dame 0. In the final minutes the Irish did not mount any sort of offensive threat.

A small silver lining is that this game was a non-conference match, so it does not affect Notre Dame’s standing in the Big East. The Irish will resume conference play Saturday at home against West Virginia at 11:30.

UPDATE 9:05 p.m. – A turnover left Hoosier forward Will Bruin wide open with the ball in front of the goal and he easily beat Quinn to make the score 3-0 Indiana. This is very unlike Notre Dame’s defense, which almost never makes mistakes but has really lost all three goals tonight due to mistakes. This is the first game of the season that Notre Dame has allowed more than two scores in a game. In the 85th minute, the Irish hopes aren’t looking good.

UPDATE 9:00 p.m. – Another huge mistake results in another Indiana goal. After a goal kick going over everyone’s head into the Notre Dame box, Schaefer tried to play it back to Quinn who was not expecting it. Hoosier midfielder Darren Yeagle tapped the ball towards the goal and Quinn could only watch as it rolled into the net. Double Ouch. Indiana is up 2-0 with 10 minutes to play.

UPDATE 8:50 p.m. – The Irish look like they’re coming apart after the own goal. Another tussle in their box did not end up in a Hoosier score, but Notre Dame got so confused that Schaefer had to run in and make a save because Quinn was nowhere to be found. Indiana is also retaining possession better than they have all game. With just 20 minutes left, the Irish need to get their heads back in it and quickly if they want to make a comeback.

UPDATE 8:47 p.m. – After a Hoosier free kick into the wall and a little scrambling, the ball bounces off of Duckett and into the goal for an OWN GOAL. The score is now 1-0 Hoosiers. Ouch. This is especially painful because both teams are having so much trouble getting off shots; Notre Dame will now have to work very hard to make up for its own mistake.

UPDATE 8:32 p.m. – The second half has started and the players really just look cold. No one is being very aggressive to this point. A Notre Dame corner kick almost resulted in a goal as Schaefer headed the ball perfectly, but Hoosier goalkeeper Luis Soffner made the save. Soffner, just a freshman, has been fantastic tonight. He has three official saves, but he has also made several key plays that kept the Irish from scoring. In the 55th minute, the game is still tied 0-0.

UPDATE 8:08 p.m. – The score remains 0-0 at halftime, though the game is far but over. The Hoosiers have scored 12 of their 14 goals in the second half this season, and the Irish have scored 17 of 22 in the second half (and one in overtime).

So far in the game Notre Dame has taken five shots to Indiana’s three, and both goalies have two saves. Notre Dame has three corner kicks, Indiana four. The Hoosiers have committed four fouls, while the Irish just the one. That last stat is unusual for the Irish, who are a very physical team who tend to draw several fouls each game. The temperature has dropped to 41 degrees.

UPDATE 8:00 p.m. – Senior Bright Dike has been issued a yellow card after tripping up Hoosier defender Tommy Meyer in the 18. The play did not look vicious or intentional, but Meyer is still down with what may be a knee injury. The score remains 0-0 in the 40th minute, and the Hoosiers have not taken a shot since their two early in the game. All of Notre Dame’s defenders have been stepping up, with Duckett, sophomore Aaron Maund and senior John Schaefer each getting important stops for the Irish.

UPDATE 7:45 p.m. – The Hoosiers threatened with a long possession in the Notre Dame half – although they did not make any shots during that time – but junior defender Bilal Duckett managed to steal the ball and clear it out into the Indiana half. Notre Dame has retained possession since then but the game is still scoreless in the 25th minutes.

UPDATE 7:30 p.m. – Senior goalie Andrew Quinn has already made two impressive saves on what were essentially open shots by the Hoosiers. The Irish are coming out aggressively as the game enters the 15th minute. It’s obvious that these teams are very evenly-matched, but Notre Dame has been able to control the ball for the beginning part of this game. They have made two shots so far, one by sophomore Brendan King and another by senior Jeb Brovsky, but the score remains 0-0. Both of these teams are big second-half scorers, so most of the offense is probably yet to come.

UPDATE 7:15 p.m. – As the starters for both teams are introduced, the Irish are lined up with what I can only imagine is a CYO champion soccer team (The St. Pius Flying Lions). They’re probably no older than 10 and it’s really adorable. In other news, the sky is getting dark and it is very cold outside – 46 degrees at the start, with a windchill in the upper 30s. The stands are almost full, but there are tons of Indiana fans who made the trip from Bloomington.

The nice thing is, Charlie Weis understands how difficult this game will be and has his head in the right place about it.

“We know the challenge we have to face, we’re not oblivious to that fact,” Weis said. “We’re going to give it a fair go.”

Biggest news of the day: Michael Floyd may be on track to return sooner than expected. Weis said he will be in practice today and sometime before the Pittsburgh game, he will have a scan to determine whether or not he can return.

Jimmy Clausen, Armando Allen and James Aldridge are all “gos” according to Weis.

This is a huge recruiting weekend for Notre Dame. No fewer than 15 recruits are currently scheduled to make the trip to campus

“This is a very active week for us obviously, because we’re playing against one of the best teams in the country and we’ve got a ton of recruits coming in both officially and unofficially,” Weis said. “When these kids come in during their academic year, they want to come in for a big game, and what bigger game is there as far as buzz than this one?”

No. 1 recruit Seantrel Henderson, an offensive tackle from Cretin-Durham Hall High in Saint Paul, Minn., will make the trip.

Weis said more players than in the past believe the Irish have a shot at winning this game, but that winning required more than that.

“It’s easy to get up for a game against USC. I think that we’re doing a number of things in the last two weeks,” Weis said. “You can get them to a fever pitch, you still have to go and play against USC on Saturday.”

Weis also addressed questions regarding Jimmy Clausen’s Heisman hopes. Clausen at this point, has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,544 yards and 12 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He’s done half of this without Michael Floyd. His quarterback rating is 179.3 and he averages 308 yards per game. But to Weis, it was about the team’s success, not Jimmy.

“I think that if Jimmy were to ever win that award it would mean that we’ve won a lot of games,” he said. “Because if we did not win a lot of games he would not be in the hunt. If we don’t win a lot of games no matter how good his stats are I don’t think it would do him any good.”

He also said USC quarterback Matt Barkley’s success had to do, in part, with the players around him.

“I think that Jimmy wasn’t around as good a supporting cast. That might be the biggest understatement I might ever say but I’m trying to be politically correct,” he said. “Matt’s playing behind a seasoned offensive line with good skill people but he’s not just managing the game. He’s making plays too.”

Now on to some USC notes:

Joe McKnight has emerged as the leading rusher for the Trojans. He’s averaging 94.8 yards per game and has six touchdowns.

Weis showed great respect for fullback Stanley Havili, who is second behind Damian Williams in receptions (13 for 188 yards).

Speaking of Williams, he’s got 24 catches for 359 yards and a touchdown. Ronald Johnson, who broke his collarbone before the season, is expected to come back this week. Along with David Ausberry and Brice Butler, the Irish secondary will have its hands full.

The offensive line, led by center Kris O’Dowd, has allowed the Trojans to rush for 5.5 yards per carry and allowed only six sacks all season. The Trojans have 21 sacks.

The USC defense is absurd. The Trojans allow 8.6 points per game and 64.8 yards per game on the ground. No team has thrown for a touchdown yet this season. They’ve allowed only 173.8 yards per game passing.

Chris Galippo and Taylor Mays lead the defense in tackles with 32 and 28 respectively. They both have an interception. Defensive end Nick Perry leads the team with six sacks and defensive end Everson Griffen has four.

On Wednesday, make sure to check ndsmcobserver.com/podcasts for the latest Irish Insider podcast. Myself, Matt Gamber, Michael Bryan and Sam Werner preview the USC game this weekend.

Also, make sure to check out The Daily Tailgate, a sports Web site that keeps you in touch with the latest sports news. They recently did an interview with former Notre Dame tight end Anthony Fasano, who now plays for the Miami Dolphins, which can be found here:

https://dailytailgate.com/issues/58-DT-Romo-Under-Fire-Fasano-QA

They are also running a BCS challenge, where you pick the top 15 teams in the country and have a chance to win $100,000. For more information, check out https://www.dailytailgate.com.

Final – This one ends 3-1 Irish. Tonight, Notre Dame played the third period they should have played last night, shutting down the Chargers defensively and adding an insurance goal for good measure. Splitting this series isn’t ideal, but Notre Dame bounced back tonight the way you’d hope them too. The shots on goal was just absurd, with Notre Dame outshooting the Chargers 51-14 on the night. Check out Monday’s Observer for a full recap of both games.

1:20 3rd period – Let’s have one more penalty, just for good measure. Notre Dame failed to score on the 5-on-3 advantage and now Christiaan Minella has been sent off for tripping, and received a ten-minute misconduct.

5:10 3rd period – And now Notre Dame can really put the game out of reach. UAH’s Brennan Barker is sent to the box for delay of game.

6:11 3rd period – Debruyn gets sent off for cross checking, giving Notre Dame another powerplay and making Alabama-Huntsville’s comeback attempt that much more challenging.

7:32 3rd period – Freshman Kyle Palmieri puts the Irish up 3-1 with his second goal of the weekend. After a crowd gathered in front of the net, Palmieri was able to corral a pass from Kevin Deeth and stuff it five hole to give the Irish an insurance goal.

11:59 3rd period – An elbowing call on UAH’s Keenan Desmet draws a sarcastic cheer from the crowd, who seem to be displeased with the officiating so far. We’ll have 42 seconds of 4-on-4 then an Irish powerplay.

13:17 3rd period – Now Kevin Deeth is sent to the sin bin for holding, giving the Chargers a powerplay. It appeared that Deeth brought a UAH player down and sent him careening into Tom O’Brien’s net.

17:22 3rd period – Notre Dame kills off the remaining penalty time easily, and will get a powerplay of their own now. UAH’s Curtis Debruyn is sent off for hooking for the first penalty (of probably many) in the third period.

20:00 3rd period – The teams are back on the ice for the final period. Once again, it’s Thang, Deeth, Lorenz and Cole for Notre Dame.

End 2nd period – Notre Dame holds a 2-1 lead heading into the third. Just like last night, the Irish have a slim lead heading into the final stanza. The penalties are really breaking up the flow of the game, and it will be interesting to see how the teams respond in the third and if the physicality and after-the-whistle shoving continues. As I said before, the Irish also need to stop turning the puck over in the defensive zone. Through two periods, the Irish are outshooting the Chargers 33-12. Talbot is playing well though, and I think Notre Dame is going to need at least one more goal to win this game.

0:27.8 2nd period – Kyle Lawson gives Notre Dame a 2-1 lead. After a blistering shot by Ian Cole from the slot that ricocheted off the boards behind the net, the rebound came straight to Lawson, who pushed it past Talbot, who seemed unsure where the puck was. The goal was shorthanded.

2:27 2nd period – Not enough penalties for you? OK, how about another. UAH’s Brennan Barker gets called for tripping, giving Notre Dame 1:32 of  4-on-3 advantage.

2:56 2nd period – Yet another penalty, this time against the Chargers. Kevin Morrison gets whistled for cross checking so we’ll have two minutes of 4-on-4.

4:24 2nd period – Kissel gets a breakaway chance shorthanded, but his wrist shot rings off the crossbar. The Irish kill off Minella’s penalty, but just seconds later, Brett Blatchford gets a five minute major and a game misconduct for checking from behind during a scrum in the corner. I know the referees are trying to keep the game under control, but the punishment didn’t seem to fit the crime there.

6:46 2nd period – In what’s quickly becoming a very heated game, Christiaan Minella gets sent to the box for two minutes after hitting a Alabama-Huntsville player after the whistle.

7:31 2nd period – After yet another Notre Dame defensive zone turnover, UAH gets a great scoring chance foiled only by a great save by O’Brien.

8:43 2nd period – Notre Dame appeared to score on a Riley Sheahan rebound off an initial Ian Cole shot, but the goal is waved off after officials rule that Sheahan kicked the puck in. We don’t have replay up here, so it’s tough to tell if Sheahan did make a distinct kicking motion, but the Irish players don’t seem happy with the call.

9:50 2nd period – Once again things getting chippy after the whistle. A scrum of players converged around O’Brien’s net, with more than a few unkind words exchanged. At the end of it all, Palmieri and UAH’s Vince Bruni each get two minutes in the box for roughing. The referees have a few words with the teams’ captains, surely to try and make sure things don’t get out of hand.

11:46 2nd period – Another defensive zone turnover by Notre Dame. It doesn’t lead to anything this time, but the Irish can’t keep giving the puck away in their own zone and expect to win.

15:28 2nd period – And we have our first penalty call of the second period, with Charger Tom Durnie getting whistled for tripping Ryan Guentzel on an Irish scoring chance. Alabama-Huntsville gets an early shorthanded chance on a Keenan Desmet breakaway, but O’Brien keeps him out.

17:59 2nd period – Some sloppy defensive play by Notre Dame, and it leads to an Alabama-Huntsville goal to tie the game 1-1. Notre Dame’s Nick Condon turned the puck over at the Irish blueline and UAH’s Neil Ruffini took advantage, taking the puck, skating in, and lifting a backhander over O’Brien’s shoulder.

19:33 2nd period – Period two underway with Thang, Deeth, Lorenz, and Cole to kill the final 58 seconds of the Charger powerplay. Cole and Thang get a 2-on-1 chance 30 seconds in, but Talbot stops a Cole wrist shot.

End 1st period – The teams head to the locker rooms with the Irish holding a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame outshot UAH 16-3 in the stanza, which was dominated by an almost absurd amount of penalties. There’s still 58 seconds remaining on Blatchford’s time in the box. Overall, the play seems similar to last night. The Irish are dominating the play, but Alabama-Huntsville is getting some chances and Notre Dame can’t put enough pucks past Cameron Talbot to put the game out of reach.

1:02 1st period – After a fairly long spell of 5-on-5 play, Brett Blatchford gets called for elbowing.  Kyle Palmieri gets a breakaway chance 21 seconds into the penalty, but is stuffed on the backhand by Talbot.

3:39 1st period – Good chance for Palmieri coming down the right side, skating across the crease and trying to stuff a backhander past Talbot, but is was not to be. Minella was also stuffed on the rebound. With that, the Irish powerplay ends.

5:24 1st period – Second night in a row for a very dangerous play by Alabama-Huntsville’s Keenan Desmet, who received a game misconduct last night for a hit from behind. Here, Desmet gets just a two-minute minor for boarding behind Notre Dame’s net. So 30 seconds of 4-on-4 then a truncated Irish powerplay.

6:52 1st period – The trio of penalties expire without consequence, but just a few seconds later, Calle Ridderwall is called for tripping in the high slot on an Alabama-Huntsville possession.

9:10 1st period – One more penalty. This one on UAH’s Baxter, who get called for a pretty obvious tripping penalty as the Irish attempted to make a short-handed rush up the left wing.

9:37 1st period – And another one. Now Ben Ryan gets called for boarding on a play in the corner. Another debatable call, as the hit looked clean from the press box. At any rate, the Irish now have to kill over a minute of 5-on-3.

10:24 1st period – Now it’s Notre Dame’s turn to go down a man as Christiaan Minella is whistled for tripping.

11:49 1st period – The Chargers kill the penalty without too much difficulty.

14:17 1st period – The potent Irish powerplay will get another chance as the zebras whistle Alabama-Huntsville’s Matt Baxter for hooking. So far this season, all three Irish goals have come with the man advantage.

18:40 1st period – Just 14 seconds later, Charger Matti Jarvinen gets whistled for holding the stick. The Irish have a 4-on-3 powerplay and capitalize 51 seconds in on a Brett Blatchford goal. Blatchford took the puck at the top of the left circle, skated into the high slot area and fired a wrister past UAH goalie Cameron Talbot.

18:54 1st period – ND has the first offensive chance with a couple of early shots. Things get a little physical in the corner after the play. Kyle Palmieri and Alabama-Huntsville’s Cale Tanaka were getting into it after the whistle, and then Kevin Deeth came in and got involved. Tanaka and Deeth both got roughing penalties.

0:00 to faceoff – It’s Kissel/B. Ryan/Minella to start of the game, with Cole/Lorenz on the blueline. Also, senior Tommy O’Brien is starting between the pipes for Notre Dame.

3:56 to faceoff – It’s parents night at the Joyce Center, and each team member is being introduced with their parents.
A few quick notes on tonight’s lineup:

• The first line of Kissel/B. Ryan/Minella stays intact, but Irish coach Jeff Jackson shuffled up the other three lines so they are, from left to right, Thang/Deeth/Palmieri, Ridderwall/Sheahan/Maday and Guentzel/Gaul/Kevin Nugent (making his Irish debut).
• On defense, the pairings are Cole/Lorenz, Blatchford/Sam Calabrese (another Notre Dame debut) and Condon/Lawson.

Final: 3-2 Alabama-Huntsville. Not quite as important as the Bemidji State game six months ago, but disappointing nonetheless. Notre Dame outshot the Chargers 42-29, but some fantastic goaltending by Talbot as well as some sloppy defensive play in the final seconds allowed UAH to take the win. One thing Jordan Pearce had trouble with last year, and it looks like Phillips is, too, is controlling rebounds. At least two goals tonight could have been prevented with better rebound control.
Ryan Thang is still talking with the officials after the whistle and, to be honest, both penalties on him were borderline at best. Tough calls in the final minutes of a tie hockey game.

0:05.4 – Ugh. Goal Alabama-Huntsville. 3-2 on another rebound goal on a skirmish in front of the net. Credit the goal to Cody Campbell.

0:36.4 3rd period – Ryan Thang just can’t keep himself out of the box. On his way back to the bench after the Irish killed his initial penalty, he gets called for another borderline penalty, this time tripping.

2:44 3rd period – Well if Notre Dame wants to win this game in regulation, it just got a lot more difficult, as Ryan Thang is whistled for a two-minute penalty on a, ahem, questionable interference call. UAH hits the post about 10 seconds into the powerplay.

3:53 3rd period – Kyle Palmieri just came close to giving the Irish a 3-2 lead, but was denied by a great save by Talbot sliding across the crease. After the play, Palmieri brought his hands up to his head in disbelief. Still tied 2-2.

6:45 3rd period – Play is getting just a little bit more physical with each team trying to get that game-winner.

11:59 3rd period – Justin Cseter ties the game for Alabama-Huntsville 2-2 on a rebound. After the initial shot by Tom Train, Phillips left a fat rebound and a wide open net for Cseter on the right side, and the Charger freshman punched it home.

13:15 3rd period – UAH is putting some pressure on Phillips trying to tie this game again. So far, though, the junior has been solid.

17:34 3rd period – Alabama-Huntsville successfully kills off the major penalty. The real difference in this game so far has been special teams, as the Chargers have been playing with the Irish 5-on-5. Big penalty kill right there.

End of 2nd period – Well this game may be a little bit closer than it should be, but the Irish take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. It’s clear that both teams are stilling trying to get their legs under them at the beginning of the season, but both goalies have been playing some superb hockey, and Talbot is the only reason this game is still close. Notre Dame still has 2:26 remaining in the major penalty, so they’ve got that going for them. Which is nice. The penalty all but negates any hope that the Chargers could come out to a fast start in the third. Trough two periods, the shots are 27-19 in favor of the Irish.

2:34 2nd period – On a dangerous play skating down the ice, Charger Keenan Desmet knocks down Patrick Gaul from behind and receives a five-minute major, as well as a game misconduct. This could be Notre Dame’s opportunity to put this game away.

4:10 2nd period – Call it freshman night here at the Joyce Center, Kyle Palmieri nets the first goal of his Irish career to give Notre Dame a 2-1 lead. On a beautiful cross-ice feed from Calle Ridderwall, Palmieri fires a one-timer from the lower left circle that blows past Talbot’s glove.

4:43 2nd period – UAH’s Cale Tanaka gets sent to the box for hooking. This powerplay could the just what the Irish needed to reclaim the lead.

6:47 2nd period – Alabama-Huntsville ties the game 1-1 on a goal from Tom Train. After a few initial shots and a crowd in front of the net, Train pushed a rebound past Phillips. The goal was the culmination of a long wave of building Charger momentum.

10:47 2nd period – As Calle Ridderwall blasts a shot from long range on Talbot, Cole gets booked for holding well behind the play, giving Alabama-Huntsville another powerplay. Just five seconds in, the Chargers come dangerously close to evening the game, with a puck bouncing off the crossbar.

12:56 2nd period – A beautiful chance for Kevin Deeth shorthanded. On a long feed from Ian Cole, Deeth found himself all alone bearing down on Talbot, but the junior made a nice save to keep the Irish lead at one.

14:09 2nd period – The Chargers will get their second powerplay chance of the night as Kissel gets called for boarding.

16:35 2nd period – Much as he did two years ago against Notre Dame in the RPI Tournament, Charger netminder Cameron Talbot is almost single-handedly keeping the Chargers in this game. After nifty saves on Maday and Palmieri, Talbot stuffs Dan Kissel from point-blank range.

18:32 2nd period – Two good scoring chances to open the period for Notre Dame. The first was on an absolutely gorgeous give-and-go between Maday and Sheahan, the second when Palmieri found himself all alone right on the doorstep but couldn’t punch it in.

20:00 2nd period – Once again it’s Maday/Sheahan/Thang and Cole/Lorenz out to start the period. First period shots were 12-10 Irish, by the way, with most of the Chargers’ shots coming late in the stanza.

End of 1st period – The Irish head to the locker room with a 1-0 lead. Both teams had additional scoring chances, but nothing too close. Sheahan’s goal is obviously the big play, but fellow freshman Kyle Palmieri has looked very impressive, every bit like the NHL first-round pick that he is. The future Anaheim Duck had a couple of nice dekes and some big hits. It only seems a matter of time before he gets on the board.
On another note, I just got a text from a friend saying over a hundred students were turned away at the gate due to the full student section. On the one hand, I’d like to congratulate the Notre Dame student body for showing up like this, and hope it continues for the rest of the season. On the other hand, man, I can’t wait for the Lefty Smith Rink.

3:00 1st period – Phillips covers up on a couple of scrums in front of the net. The junior has looked good so far, and as he told me yesterday, these type of games can be difficult since he’s not seeing a consistent amount of shots to get in a good rhythm. It’s a bit of a challenge for a goalie to stay mentally focused when Notre Dame is controlling the playing like it is.

8:27 1st period – The Irish kill off the brief four-on-four and look downright pretty on their powerplay, cycling the puck around well and getting good chances. It may have something to do with the quality of opposition, but if Notre Dame can keep looking like this with the man advantage they won’t have any trouble scoring. Unfortunately here, the Irish come away with nothing but a few good chances.

9:28 – After one of the longest delayed penalty calls I’ve ever seen, Alabama-Huntsville’s Brandon Roshko is sent to the box for slashing. So we’ll have six seconds of four-on-four and then a 1:54 Notre Dame powerplay.

11:23 1st period – Kevin Deeth takes Notre Dame’s first penalty of the night on a, well, pretty obvious elbowing call. Deeth was trying to get to a puck in the offensive zone and just got a little overzealous with his check.

17:18 1st period – We have our first penalty of the game as Alabama-Huntsville’s Justin Cseter is called for cross-checking. And it doesn’t take long for Notre Dame to capitalize, as Riley Sheahan gets a goal in the first game of his Notre Dame career on a scrum in front of the net. Sheahan’s goal comes from Maday and Thang at 3:02 of the first.

18:45 1st period – UAH gets the first decent scoring chance when Cale Tanaka gets in almost alone of Phillips, but isn’t able to do anything with the puck.

3:50 to faceoff – Maday/Sheahan/Thang line announced as the starting line. Playing alongside Maday and Thang, Sheahan is going to get a ton of playing time. Cole and Lorenz starting on defense.

12:40 to faceoff – Student section already completely packed. I kind of expected an early season malaise among the student body, but I guess hockey fever has hit Notre Dame harder than swine flu. Too soon?

24:19 to faceoff – A few quick pregame lineup notes to start things off:

• Junior defenseman Teddy Ruth is scratched with a “lower body injury.” First I’ve heard of anything, but we’ll see what Irish coach Jeff Jackson says after the game.
• If you listened to our pre-season podcast (at https://www.ndsmcobserver.com/podcasts), please ignore any predictions Matt and I made regarding lines and defensive pairings. Notre Dame’s starting lineup is as follows:

LW                                C                                            RW
Dan Kissel                Ben Ryan                       Christiaan Minella
Billy Maday           Riley Sheahan                  Ryan Thang (C)
Calle Ridderwall    Kevin Deeth (A)              Kyle Palmieri
Kyle Murphy           Patrick Gaul                    Ryan Guentzel

The defensive pairings are Brett Blatchford/Eric Ringel, Nick Condon/Kyle Lawson (A) and Ian Cole/Sean Lorenz with Brad Phillips between the pipes.

Yeah, they needed some help — Michigan State overthrowing an open receiver in the end zone, a last-second touchdown against Purdue and a huge two-point conversion against Washington. But the Irish have won all three games, so you have to figure it’s not luck at this point.

Positives:

• Clausen. The accuracy, the fourth-quarter poise, the ability to run the passing game effectively in the absence of Michael Floyd. He’s good.  Charlie Weis said he might give Clausen a rest this week because of the bye coming up this weekend, but he reconsidered. “I think the more rest I can give that turf toe, or maybe on the flip side of that, maybe we should give him another turf toe,” he joked Sunday.

• Hughes. Seventy yards rushing on just eight carries, a touchdown in overtime and a two-point conversion where he and the O-line pushed about nine guys into the end zone with him. Armando Allen appeared to re-tweak his ankle, allowing Hughes to see more carries. Weis said Allen could have played, but he didn’t want to take Hughes out while he was running well. Hughes also ran well during the Purdue game and will probably continue to see carries.
• Tate. Nine catches for 244 yards and a touchdown. He’s a freak, and he’s taken Floyd’s absence as a personal responsibility to increase his production. He caught two long passes, one for a touchdown. Weis said, however, he may catch some flak this week. “We will have some fun at his expense coming up shortly in the team meeting,” he said. “Getting knocked out on the two-yard line, run the reverse first play of the game and not scoring a touchdown, trying to do a triple axel in overtime. So there will be some fun at his expense. But who can argue with the production you got out of this kid; he had a great game.”
• Te’o. Superfreshman Manti Te’o finally started and played well, recording 10 tackles. It was clear he was confused at times and appeared out of position, especially in pass coverage. But he played so much that it’s doubtful that will happen again, and you have to figure the learning curve will speed up because a) more time this week with the bye and b) all the PT he got. “You’re going to go through some growing pains when he’s out there that much,” Weis said. “But his speed and athleticism covered a whole lot of the things right there, and and I thought he was very active and involved in a whole bunch of plays.”
• Nick Tausch. He made all five field goals he attempted and has now made 10 straight. Isn’t it nice to have a kicker?
• Red zone defense. Seven straight goal-line stops (we’ll assume the evidence on recalling the touchdown was, in fact, indisputable). Great plays.

Negatives

• TACKLING. Wrap up. I’m begging you. The Irish are not, and they let Chris Polk run all over the place. He had 136 yards on 22 carries, an absurd amount. He’s a decent runner, but not 136-on-22 good.
• The secondary. They were out of position, and when they were in position they couldn’t make plays on the ball. In the fourth quarter, Robert Blanton had inside position on his receiver, but let him get up over him for a long catch. Weis said Blanton was in the right spots but needs to make plays while he’s there. When Raeshon McNeil and Gary Gray were in, they played closer coverage and the secondary improved.
• Third-down conversions. Notre Dame moved the chains two times out of 10 third-down plays. The Irish stalled in the red zone, which led to Tausch’s five field goals.

Injury update:

• Armando Allen should be ready to play against USC, especially with the bye week to rest.
• Weis said Duval Kamara’s knee, which he hurt in the preseason, was still an issue, so he’s been relegated to blocking and playing in the Wildcat formations.
• Darius Fleming hurt his hamstring and told Weis during warm-ups he didn’t think he could play. He had practiced earlier in the week.

Final thoughts:

Thanks to Joel for pointing out that Marcus Trufant went to Washington State, not Washington like I wrote in my last post. Sorry about that folks. That must be why our readership dipped under a million this weekend. His brother Desmond, however, is in fact a freshman at Washington.

Throwing this out there, comment or e-mail in with your thoughts: Jimmy Clausen, right now, is the leading Heisman contender. It’s not Tim Tebow (yet), it’s not Sam Bradford, it’s not Colt McCoy, Tony Pike or Jahvid Best. But, to win the Heisman, Clausen needs to beat USC. Notre Dame won’t beat USC, therefore Clausen cannot win the Heisman. What do you think? Comment or e-mail in to IrishInsider at gmail.com.

Speaking of which, check out the Irish Insider podcast, where the other football writers and I talk about the game and, on Thursday, what we hear at Freshman Media Day Wednesday. It can be found at ndsmcobserver.com/podcasts or on iTunes by searching Irish Insider.

Jake Locker equals scary. He’s quick, and still has the read-option capability he had before he got hurt last year, and now new coach Steve Sarkisian has him running a pro-style offense. Against Notre Dame’s suspect defense, the options for what Locker can do are endless. The defensive line, while getting better pressure on Purdue’s Joey Elliott last week, still can’t be relied upon to disrupt the quarterback.

The Huskies allow 195.8 yards on the ground so far this season, which, at almost two football fields worth, bodes well for a strong Irish ground attack. Armando Allen said Tuesday he was 90 percent healthy and should produce big yardage on the ground. The Huskies gave up 200 yards to Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, so Allen (and Jonas Gray and Robert Hughes) get them legs churning for some yards.

Jimmy Clausen should play well. Apparently he’s throwing in pain, but he’s better off than last week against Purdue. Still, look for Dayne Crist to get some playing time. Charlie Weis said Tuesday that Crist was getting more reps in practice, but with plays that Weis would conceivably call with Crist in the game. This implies that Weis is planning on using Crist in the game.

Manti Te’o will play more. No word on how, when or where. Just that he’ll play more. And thank the good lord, because he’s Notre Dame’s best linebacker and right up there with Kyle McCarthy as the best defensive playmaker in my opinion. He’s young and raw, but he’s too talented to keep on the bench behind Toryan Smith.

Eric Olsen, meet Alameda Ta’amu, all 348 pounds of him, because you’ll be responsible for keeping the massive defensive tackle out of the backfield Saturday.

Weis said Desmond Trufant, brother of former Husky and current Seahawks defensive back Marcus, runs well, but that strong safety Nate Williams is the key to the secondary.

Check in Saturday and Sunday for updates. Don’t forget to listen to the Irish Insider podcast, available on iTunes or at ndsmcobserver.com/podcasts.