Notre Dame and New Hampshire squared off in Colorado Springs at the World Arena in one of four games played for the first round of the NCAA Mens’s Ice Hockey Championship Tournament on March 28th. For the first half of the game the two teams looked pretty evenly matched both offensively and defensively.

Early in the second period, however, Notre Dame took a 4-3 lead over New Hampshire and didn’t let it go, going on to score 3 more goals in the game, including 2 empty net goals. New Hampshire couldn’t score again and ended up losing 7-3.

Ultimately I am going to have to attribute this win for the Irish to their offense. Even when the team took the lead in the second, they continued to drive toward the net and create chances, putting New Hampshire on their heels and forcing them to play a very defensive game.

Other games played for the first round on the 28th include:

Michigan St. 3 Colorado College 1

Clarkson 2 St. Cloud St. 1

Niagara 1 Michigan 5

How are your brackets looking?