Lakers hold on for 3-1 win

The Lake Superior State Lakers and Notre Dame Irish faced off Sunday night in a fast-paced and hard-hitting game on the Olympic Rink at the Amherst Pepsi Center. The Lakers won 3-1.

The Irish came out flying and generated several great scoring chances in the first couple minutes. Notre Dame's Ryan Shaw buzzed around the Laker net but Anthony Kroese kept the Irish off the board with great goaltending.

Once the Lakers settled down, they put on some pressure of their own. Center Muj Soniwala picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and split the Irish defense. He went in all alone and scored to put the Lakers up 1-0. Both teams continued trading chances and hits but with three minutes left in the first period, Trevor Barrett notched the Laker's second goal and third of the season. The play started in the Lakers end when Dominic Carlino intercepted an Irish pass. He raced up ice through several Notre Dame players and made a beautiful drop pass to Barrett in the slot who buried it.

Early in the second period, Trevor Barrett rushed in on Irish goaltender Eric Bress and beat him with a slick move for his second of the game to put the Lakers up 3-0.

Throughout the rest of second and into the third, both teams played strong. The hitting was fierce which led to several power plays going both ways. Irish players Patrick Glose, David Neimanis and Alex Sawicki had great scoring opportunities but Anthony Kroese remained flawless in net.

For the Lakers, Carlino continued to play strong in his own end and Alex Shanahan created several chances from the point.

Irish goaltender Eric Bress kept the game within reach with fine play and with just over five minutes left, his team's hard work finally paid off.

Irish center Ryan Shaw broke down the right side, cut to his left between the Laker defensemen and scored through the five-hole to ruin Kroese's shutout bid. Notre Dame poured it on for the remaining five minutes but thanks to some great defensive play, including strong back checking from Michael Biggane, Soniwala and Jonathan Rera, the Lakers were able to hold on for their second win of the season.