Opening up the varsity portion of the 13th Annual Memorial Meltdown, defending Division One State Champion Notre Dame Academy faced off against the traditional powerhouse Spartans of Superior. The Tritons scored twice in the first period and held on to down the Spartans 4-2 on Saturday afternoon in Eau Claire.

Superior had the size advantage over the Tritons, but NDA had the edge on speed, getting to loose pucks quicker and looked sharper with their passing. Much of the first period was spent in the Spartans end as they struggled to break out of their zone, not quite clicking on their passes.

Superior got the first scoring chance when a stretch pass found Cainen Raivala behind the NDA defensemen. Raivala tried to deke Triton goalie Anton Widas, but was stoned on the play.

Notre Dame scored first on an odd-man rush, with Andrew Ostermann firing a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat Spartan goalie Hunter Sidorowicz. The Tritons made it 2-0, with Nathan Antii scoring on a wrist shot during a 5 on 3 power play a couple minutes later.

Superior’s physical style of play got them into penalty trouble early on, but after their fourth call, they caught on and changed their style. Notre Dame then drew the next three penalties.

One of those Triton penalties helped Superior get on the scoreboard in the second period, when Brady Haroldson knocked in a rebound with the rest of his line crashing the net.

NDA got their two goal lead right back, however, when Drew Heil picked off an errant pass and went in alone on Sidorowicz, beating him for a short-handed goal that made it 3-1.

Notre Dame increased their lead to it 4-1 when Antii fired a shot towards the top of the crease and Tripp Wroblewski redirected it into the back of the net.

The Spartans finished the scoring with a rebound goal by Brayden Rice that made the final score4-2 with less than a minute left.