For the second time this year, hockey fans filled the Falleti Ice Arena for the cross-town matchup between the Ice Devils and the Fighting Irish. The Devils were out for revenge after losing the first matchup and succeeded, upsetting the Irish 4-2.
"It felt great to beat a really good team going into sectional play," said Batavia senior captain Tim Finnell. "Now we have momentum to build off of."
The Irish got on the board first as Tyler Kessler set up Brett Perfitt in front of the net, where he put the puck past Batavia goaltender Adam Kurek.
Freshman Rich Francis then put Batavia on the board to even the game at 1-1. Joe Saraceni was credited with the assist.
Conor Holvey beat ND goalie Tom Dehr for his first of two goals to give Batavia the lead off an assist from Trevor Powers.
Zach Blew and Dylan Versage set up Josh Johnson to tie the game for the second time at two goals each to end the 2nd period.
Heading into the 3rd period tied 2-2 was a familiar scenario for both teams. Last time the two teams faced off it was the same situation, and Notre Dame made the most of the 3rd period by scoring 4 goals to win 6-2.
"Last game we got too hyped up going into the 3rd and we came out flat. When a couple bounces went their way we started to hang our heads because things weren't going our way," says Batavia forward Josh Marr. "This time we stayed calm and knew what had to be done in order to win this game...we had no room to take any shifts off."
Finnell led Batavia into the final period as Holvey and Trevor Schimley set him up to beat Dehr right side.
Holvey sealed the win for the Ice Devils, netting an empty net goal as the buzzer sounded to end the score 4-2.
Both Kurek and Dehr made 17 saves for their respective teams.
