Minnesota-Duluth freshman goalie Matt McNeely made 29 saves in his collegiate debut to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-1 win over Notre Dame on Thursday in men's college hockey.

McNeely faced only 20 shots for the Bulldogs, who were playing in South Bend for the first time since 1980. He turned away just five in the final period.

Notre Dame junior Kevin Lind was ejected in the 1st period after a nasty elbow to the head of Duluth's Caleb Herbert. The 5-minute major lead to Duluth's first goal with seconds remaining in the first period.

Freshman center Cal DeCowski had a goal and an assist, and Wade Bergman added two assists for UMD (2-1-0). Dan DeLisle and Justin Crandall also had goals for the Bulldogs.

Bryan Rust scored the only goal of the game for Notre Dame (2-1-0), which won the Ice Breaker Tournament last year. The Fighting Irish opened the year with two straight wins for the first time since 1998-99.

Notre Dame goalie Steven Summerhays had 17 stops.

The two teams meet again Friday night at 7:30 at the Compton Family Ice Arena.