NOTRE DAME, Ind. — A 60-minute battle for the University of Notre Dame hockey team went in favor of the visitors Saturday night as they fell to the No. 1/1 Michigan State Spartans, 3-1.
A late empty net tally for the Spartans sealed the Irish fate Saturday evening inside Compton Family Ice Arena as they fell to 3-8-1 on the season.
The Irish wasted no time getting pucks on net Saturday as the opening face-off was won by Sutter Muzzatti and the Irish starting lineup raced in on the Spartan net. Cole Brown registered the first shot on goal of the night, nearly converting just 14 seconds into game action but his attempt was turned aside at the last moment by Trey Augustine to keep it a 0-0 game early.
An early shot by MSU, off a quick passing sequence, trickled through the five-hole of Nicholas Kempf in the Irish net to make it a 1-0 game just 89 seconds into the first period.
A physical opening period saw the Irish called for the first penalty of the night, a trip, at 13:10 of the frame after a collision at the blueline.
The Spartans won the ensuing draw and set up a shot from the point early on the Irish kill but Carter Slaggert jumped in front of the puck to keep it off net and a 1-0 game. The kill continued with both Cole Knuble and Slaggert getting chances shorthanded but neither forward could break the Spartan netminder and the Irish finished off a successful first kill on the defensive end late in the first.
Sutter Muzzatti nearly had the Irish on the board at 19:55 of the first when Slaggert found his linemate with a cross-ice pass but Muzzatti’s shot caught the edge of Augustine’s blocker to keep Notre Dame off the board at the end of 20 minutes.
The Spartans extended their lead at 4:17 of the second period after a turnover in the Irish end resulted in a 2-0 tally. Less than a minute later the Irish saw their first powerplay opportunity of the night after a Spartan was called for a hook at 5:16 of the second stanza.
Michigan State was called for their second infraction of the night, this time a high-stick, and it was reviewed for a major. After a long deliberation in the box, the officials ruled the infraction just a minor and the Irish headed to the powerplay. The team’s first unit on the special teams opportunity took just 13 seconds to find twine as Danny Nelson tipped Evan Werner’s shot in front of the crease to get Notre Dame on the board at 9:43 of the second period.
Nelson nearly had his second of the night just a minute later as Augustine floundered in the crease leaving a wide-open shot for the top-line center. Nelson was unable to control the loose puck in the midair though and the Irish continued to search for the equalizer halfway through the middle frame.
The Irish got more good goaltending at the end of the frame as Kempf stood tall in his crease to keep it a one-goal game heading into the final period or regulation and his Irish looking to overcome the 2-1 score.
MSU looked to have extended their lead at 6:51 of the third as bodies were piled on Kempf in the crease. The Irish challenged the call on the ice of a good goal, calling goaltender interference as a Spartan attacker was on top of Kempf at the time of the goal, and the initial call was overturned to keep it a 2-1 contest.
Pano Fimis and Maddox Fleming created an odd-man rush just over nine minutes into the third period but Fleming’s shot rang off the post and play continued.
Both sides were whistled for cross-checking at 9:26 of the third frame to force four-on-four play for two minutes.
Fleming nearly had the Irish equal with the Spartans during the penalties when he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone to send play back into the Irish zone as he and Fischer forced a two-on-one chance. Following Fleming’s chance, both teams managed to kill off the remainder of the four-on-four play unscathed and action resumed at full strength.
The Irish called timeout with just over two minutes to play in regulation and opted for the extra attacker. The Spartans would find the back of the empty net to make it a 3-1 contest with 97 seconds to play. After picking up another save back in the crease, Kempf headed to the bench once more at 1:11 to go in the third as the Irish looked to come back from the two-goal deficit.
Despite a few looks in the final minute of regulation, the Irish were unable to overcome the 3-1 deficit as the game went final.
In the crease, Nicholas Kempf recorded 30 saves to finish the weekend with 73 stops in two games played against the top-ranked Spartans.
GOALS
- The Irish got on the board off the stick of junior captain Danny Nelson at 9:53 of the second period. With fresh legs to start the powerplay, Pano Fimis set up in the dot to take the draw. The freshman center won the puck back to Paul Fischer at the blueline who found Werner deep to set up their special teams unit. Werner skated out towards the top of the slot before firing a puck through traffic where Nelson tipped it past Augustine in the MSU net.
KEY STATS
- The Irish fired 29 shots on goal in Saturday’s contest, led by Sutter Muzzatti with four.
- Danny Nelson’s goal was his fourth of the season and was his first since Saturday night against Michigan when he scored the opening goal.
- Nicholas Kempf finished the night with 30 saves on 32 shots faced to finish the weekend with a .936 save percentage in the crease.
UP NEXT
The Irish will get some rest next week as they head into their first bye weekend of the season before their trip to New England to face off against Merrimack (Nov. 26) and Boston College (Nov. 28).