Notre Dame got the scoring started and made it a 1-0 game 3:27 into play. Notre Dame commit Garcia answered though and evened the game up 4:28 later. A play that started in the defensive zone, Victor Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) made a touch pass along the boards to Garcia who sped past the defense and fired one past starting Notre Dame netminder Nicholas Kempf.

Notre Dame answered right back though at 11:41 as NTDP alumni Paul Fischer and Danny Nelson assisted on the power play tally.

It was a back-and-forth second period with chances coming from both ends of the ice. The U.S. nearly went into the locker room down just a goal, but Notre Dame put one through to make it a two-goal game after 40.

The Fighting Irish kept it going and converted off a turnover to make it 4-1 early, but the U.S. didn't count itself out as Dayne Beuker (Portland, Ore.) cut the deficit to a pair. Lukas Zajic (Plainfield, Ill.) got the play started with a stretch pass to Mikey Berchild (Minnetonka, Minn.) skating through the neutral zone. Berchild found Beuker dashing towards the net to which the puck deflected off him and went past Fighting Irish goaltender Jack Williams who came in for relief of Kempf.

Notre Dame went on to answer, once again, to bring its lead back to three at 5-2 and held on as Team USA fell.

Brady Knowling (Chicago, Ill.) started in net for the U.S. and stopped 21 shots

The U18s hit the road tomorrow to face the defending national champions in Western Michigan University. Puck drop from Lawson Arena is set for 6:00 p.m. ET. The U18s return to USA Hockey Arena Oct. 17 to continue its home slate of the Kroger College Series to face Lake Superior State University at 7:00 p.m. ET. Tickets for the game, and all home games this season, are available at USAHockeyNTDP.com/tix or by calling the box office at 734-453-8400.