EAST LANSING, Mich. — The University of Notre Dame hockey team fell to 5-6-0 on the season following a 8-3 defeat at Michigan State University Friday night.
The Irish won the opening faceoff and controlled the early moments of the game Friday night inside Munn Ice Arena. After a successful shift by the Notre Dame starters, the second group jumped over the boards and won the footrace to the puck deep in the offensive end. After settling the puck, Michael Mastrodomenico fired a shot into traffic from the point which Danny Nelson redirected behind Trey Augustine in the MSU net for the 1-0 lead just 69 seconds into play.
The Spartans evened the tally at 13:45 of the first after a series of saves and blocked shots denied the Irish a chance to change.
Moments later Michigan State was called for a high-stick in their offensive end and the Irish headed to the first powerplay of the night. It was the Spartans however that would take advantage of the special teams opportunity, intercepting the puck at the blue line and racing in to beat Owen Say glove side to make it a 2-1 game.
With 1:40 to play in the opening period both sides raced to the puck dumped behind the Irish net and the Notre Dame defender was whistled for interference.
The Irish successfully killed off the first 100 seconds to close out the period trailing by one.
After the whistle, penalties were assessed to either side and an Irish and Spartan skater were both forced to start the second period watching from the box.
Just 1:41 into the second period, Michigan State was called for a cross-check and headed to the box for two minutes as the Irish looked for the equalizer.
Nelson net his second of the night, this time on the powerplay, to even the score up 2-2 early in the second period.
Shortly after the Irish equalizer, Notre Dame headed back to the penalty kill for a cross-check and the Spartans were quick to convert, regaining the one-goal lead at 3:50 of the middle frame.
Michael Mastrodomenico scored at 7:59 of the second period to tie it back up, 3-3, but the score didn’t last long as MSU reclaimed the lead just 12 seconds later to make it 4-3. The Irish then found themselves trailing 5-3 at 9:43 of the second after a shot from the slot beat Say in net.
The high-scoring second period held stagnant the rest of the way despite the Irish nearly scoring their fourth of the night in the final seconds of the period as Hunter Strand and Tyler Carpenter peppered the MSU net in rebounds as the clock neared zero in the frame. Although outshooting the Spartans in the middle stanza, the Irish trailed by two heading into the final period of regulation.
Notre Dame was called for too many men on the ice at 4:34 of the third period and were faced with another penalty kill but the Spartans won the draw and buried a shot just six seconds into the penalty to make it a 6-3 game.
The Spartans extended their lead even more with a wraparound goal to make it 7-3 nearly halfway through the third period and the Irish were forced to make a change between the pipes as Jack Williams made his season debut.
With just over six minutes to play in regulation, MSU was called for interference and the Irish powerplay had an opportunity to chip away at the Spartan lead. The Irish failed to convert on the powerplay chance with Williams picking up four saves while on special teams.
After a series of highlight reel saves by Williams in the Notre Dame net to keep the score as it was, the Spartans were called for cross-checking with 1:49 to play in regulation following a scrap in the Irish end. Once again, the Spartans were the ones to convert, scoring their second short-handed goal of the night with 28 seconds left for the 8-3 final.
GOALS
- Maddox Fleming won the battle behind the net and skated the puck up along the halfwall before dishing a pass back to the point where Michael Mastrodomenico fired the shot towards the net into traffic. Danny Nelson stood posted up in front of the net where he deflected Mastrodomenico’s shot past the Spartan netminder for the early 1-0 lead.
- Nelson scored his second of the night at 2:55 of the second period to even the score 2-2. The powerplay goal was his team-best third of the season. Brennan Ali found his linemate alone in front of the net, beating a defender to find the tape of Nelson who shelved his shot over the stick of Augustine in the Spartan net. Fellow sophomore also picked up an assist on the goal.
- Michael Mastrodomenico tied it up 3-3 partway through the second period, gathering a pass from Jack Larrigan before firing a shot on net, ringing the crossbar before hitting twine for his second of the season. Stealing the puck in the neutral zone and registering the lone assist on the play, Larrigan recorded his first collegiate point on the play.
KEY STATS
- Danny Nelson’s two goals led the team and was his first multi-goal performance of the year. His second goal of the night came on the powerplay marking his team-best third of the year while on the man-advantage.
- The sophomore center opened the scoring at 1:09 of the night for the fastest goal to start a game this season for the Irish.
- With an assist on Michael Mastrodomenico’s second period tally, Jack Larrigan registered his first collegiate point. The rookie picked off a Spartan attacker in the neutral zone and carried it through the middle before feeding a pass over to Mastrodomenico who fired a shot top shelf from the top of the far circle.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Spartans close out the weekend series tomorrow night with an 8pm puck drop on B1G+ inside Munn Ice Arena.
Notre Dame then returns home for its final stateside series of the month as they host Minnesota, Nov. 22-23.