Instead, the third period issues that have plagued UMass all season made an ugly reappearance. The Irish scored four times in a span of less than seven minutes to open up a 6-3 lead, and the Minutemen ended up losing by a final score of 7-5.

“We’re up a goal in the third, they scored on the first shift, and we got back on our heels,” UMass coach John Micheletto said. “We can’t have those swings when we get flat and on our heels.”

Sophomore forward Frank Vatrano also spoke about the early third period breakdown.

“We went into the third with a lead there, and we always talk about closing games, but they had three goals there before you could even blink,” Vatrano said.

“It’s one of the better stretches of hockey we’ve played in recent weeks,” Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said after the game. “I thought we did a really good job in the offensive zone cycling the puck and making plays that were there.”

That same phrase has been uttered several times by coaches against UMass this season, as they have been no strangers to third period breakdowns.

The Minutemen have been outscored 30-15 in third periods so far this year, and the five-goal outburst from Notre Dame is hardly an isolated event. The Minutemen gave up six goals in the third period against Boston University in their season opener en-route to an 8-1 loss, and surrendered five goals in the third against Vermont on their way to an 11-1 defeat.

“It’s a troubling trend that has happened three times, unfortunately all at home,” Micheletto said.

After two periods, even the most pessimistic UMass fan would have felt good about their chances to win or at least tie in overtime. After a sluggish first period, the Minutemen looked strong in the second. Junior Shane Walsh scored his second goal of the season filling in for regular first line winger Ray Pigozzi, who is day-to-day with an upper body injury. Frank Vatrano had scored twice and added an assist to keep up his red-hot scoring pace, and goaltender Henry Dill had made some key saves in net to keep UMass in the lead.

But the Minutemen arrived late to the start of the third period. They allowed the Irish to hem them into their own zone and dominate possession, and the result was four goals in a span of six minutes , 26 seconds to put Notre Dame up 6-3.

Despite a late-game rally that saw UMass close the gap to 6-5 at one point, the deficit was too much to overcome.

Vatrano stays hot

Four games into the season, sophomore forward Frank Vatrano hadn’t found the score sheet, and had yet to hit his stride with the Minutemen.

Ten games and 12 points later, he’s found it. Vatrano kept his hot streak alive Friday night against Notre Dame, when he scored two goals and recorded one assist to power the UMass offense in its 7-5 loss against the Irish. He now leads the team with seven goals on the season, and his 12 points overall are also tied for the team lead.

Against Notre Dame, both goals for Vatrano were courtesy of his powerful wrist shot. His first, at 13:47 of the first period, came when he corralled a loose puck near the right circle and fired a laser past Irish goaltender Chad Katunar, tying the game at 1-1.

The second, a shorthanded goal at 10:12 seconds of the second period, was a result of good hustle by the Minutemen on the penalty kill. Vatrano found himself with the puck in a two-on-one break, and went short side to give UMass a 3-2 lead that lasted until the events early in the third period.

Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on twitter @RossGien