SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Penalty trouble kept the Purple Eagles from getting into a groove and they dropped Saturday night's game 7-0 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
 
Special teams were a factor early in the game as Niagara (0-6-0) took three penalties in the opening period, including a five-minute major to Patrick Conte. The penalty killing unit had already killed off both previous Notre Dame (4-2-0) opportunities and had killed off most of the major after Tyler Akeson made a goal saving play. Saturday's game was the defenseman's first of the year after missing the previous five due to injury. A puck slipped past Adrian Ignagni and trickled towards the goal line, but Akeson made a diving play to clear the puck and keep the game scoreless.
 
With under two minutes left in the major, Notre Dame was able to get on the board first with a shot that was wired into the top corner. They added two more goals over the next four minutes to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
 
"We just couldn't get our feet under us," said head coach Dave Burkholder. "When you give a skilled team like Notre Dame time and space on the power play, they're going to burn you. They've been really struggling. They were 0-for-20 heading into the weekend, but if you give a team with that much skill nine power plays you're not going to win too many games, especially on the road."
 
The second period saw the Purple and White outshoot the Irish 6-1 through the early going, but a goal from the doorstep at the 7:27 mark extended the lead to 4-0. The teams combined for seven penalties in the period and Notre Dame would take advantage with a pair of power play tallies extended the Notre Dame lead to 6-0 heading into the break.
 
The Irish added one more goal late in the third while on the penalty kill to take the final 7-0 lead with 45 seconds remaining.
 
Ignagni took the loss in net after making 32 saves through 60 minutes.Notre Dame finished the game 3-for-9 on the power play while Niagara went 0-for-7.
 
Niagara returns home next weekend for a two-game set against AIC. Friday's game begins at 7:00 p.m. with Saturday's game beginning at 4:00 p.m.