SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Irish hockey team returns North this weekend to close out their season slate in Michigan. After a two game series last weekend at Michigan, the University of Notre Dame hockey program heads to East Lansing, Michigan to take on the Michigan State Spartans in a Friday/Saturday series. Both games are set to stream on B1G+ with Friday’s puck drop being at 7pm before an 8pm start the following night.
SERIES OVERVIEW
Opponent: #4/3 Michigan State Spartans | Nov. 15-16
Location: East Lansing, Mich. | Munn Ice Arena
Schedule: Fri. 7pm | Sat. 8pm
TV: B1G+
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Radio: fightingirish.com/radioaffiliates/
Game Notes: Notre Dame
QUICK HITS
- The Irish are back in the Mitten State this weekend following a weekend series at Michigan a week ago.
- Notre Dame is now 5-5-0 on the season.
- With 45 saves in their overtime loss at Michigan last weekend, Owen Say recorded a career-best with the Irish and now boasts the third best save percentage in the nation (.953).
- The junior netminder has held Irish opponents to two or fewer goals in all but one start this season.
- Henry Nelson scored his second collegiate goal to open the scoring in game one against Wisconsin. His younger brother Danny notched the primary assist on the play, marking the first time brothers contributed to each other’s goals since Justin Janicke had the second assist on his older brother Trevor’s goal on February 2, 2024 vs. Michigan State.
- The last time one brother posted the primary assist on their brother’s goal was November 5, 2023 when Justin fed his brother Trevor a pass at Penn State in a 2-2 tie.
- The Irish team returned 19 student-athletes from the 2023-24 roster, including 11 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. The forwards include graduate senior Grant Silianoff and seniors Justin Janicke, Hunter Strand and Tyler Carpenter. Returning defensemen include four who appeared in the final series of the 2023-24 season in Michael Mastrodomenico, Paul Fischer, Zach Plucinski and Henry Nelson.
- Notre Dame returned two 20+ point scorers from a season ago as Danny Nelson (9-14-23) and Cole Knuble (9-11-20) are now in their sophomore seasons with the Irish.
- In total, eight returners posted double-digit points last season. In addition to Nelson and Knuble, Hunter Strand (4-15-19), Justin Janicke (4-12-16), Paul Fischer (2-14-16), Brennan Ali (3-10-13), Maddox Fleming (3-9-12) and Grant Silianoff (4-7-11) look to improve upon their double-digit performances a season ago.
- At the last line of defense, the Irish return Jack Williams in goal and added two new netminders to the mix in Nicholas Kempf (USNTDP) and Owen Say (Mercyhurst).
- The Irish added 10 new faces to the squad in 2024-25, including five freshmen and five transfers. The 10 newcomers consist of five forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
- Notre Dame swept its opening weekend in the North Country, Oct. 11-12, picking up wins over St. Lawrence and Clarkson in the program’s first ever trip to Northern New York.
- The season opener at St. Lawrence saw Blake Biondi score the team’s first goal of the 2024-25 season, notching his first goal for the Blue and Gold at 6:45 of the opening period. A pair of sophomores in Cole Knuble and Danny Nelson stepped into their bigger roles this season almost immediately, combining for three goals against the Saints to cap off Notre Dame’s opening night with the 4-1 final.
- Owen Say made his debut for the Irish in net at St. Lawrence on Friday night, stopping 32 of 33 shots faced and registering a .970 save percentage in his first start.
- The Irish continued their road trip out East with a 5-2 victory over Clarkson to complete the opening weekend sweep.
- The Irish hosted their first weekend series of the year last weekend against Alaska in which they split the series, 1-1. The team opened it with a 4-1 victory over the Nanooks before dropping a close 1-0 decision to Alaska Saturday to wrap up the series.
- In six games played, the Irish centers rank second nationally at the faceoff circle, winning 60.8-percent of their chances led by Danny Nelson with 76 draw wins. Hunter Strand’s .662 rate leads the team with a minimum of 75 faceoffs taken.
- The team unofficially opened its season against the USNTDP for an exhibition contest Oct. 4. Graduate senior Biondi made his Irish presence known immediately with a first period goal against the USNTDP in the team’s exhibition game last Friday night. The Hermantown, Minnesota native had two unofficial goals on the night, both scored on the powerplay. His second of the night sparked a third-period comeback for the Irish which included four unanswered goals to end the game and give the Irish the 5-2 win.
- Senior Justin Janicke posted four assists on the night against the U18 team, all of which came in the final frame.
- Grant Silianoff and Maddox Fleming also posted multi-point nights while Ian Murphy got hit twine for the first time in an Irish sweater as he closed out the scoring Friday with an empty net tally.
NOTRE DAME vs. MICHIGAN STATE
- In 146 all-time meetings between the Irish and the Spartans, Michigan State owns a 77-53-16 edge.
- The Irish have won 21 meeting at Michigan State and have five ties while in East Lansing.
- Notre Dame went 1-3-0 against the Spartans a season agowith their lone win over MSU coming in a 4-1 final at home in early February.
- Michael Mastrodomenico set up the team’s game-winning goal against the Spartans last season, posting the primary assist on Drew Bavaro’s tally to secure the win.
- With two assists against the Spartans in their first meeting of 2023-24, Cole Knuble recorded the first multi-point game of his career. The now-sophomore went on to boast 20 points in his rookie campaign and was one of only two Irish freshmen to do so.
- Knuble also had a multi-point game in the Irish win over the Spartans last season, recording a goal and an assist. His four points against MSU last season was a team best.
- Justin Janicke had two assists in the team’s win at home over MSU.