The No. 2 Michigan State hockey team clinched their spot in the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season by defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Munn Ice Arena Saturday night, 1-0.
Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale credited the valiant effort of Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson, who coached the final game of his career tonight.
“Ton of respect for Notre Dame, you look at what they did to go on the road and beat a really good Minnesota team and then come in here and give us a heck of a game, I think it speaks to how much Jeff’s players enjoy playing for him, and heck of a career,” said Nightingale.
It was a defensive battle to start, as both goalies shined in the first two periods. Entering the third period, the Spartans had recorded 36 shots on goal and had gone 0 for 3 on power play opportunities.
In the opening seconds of the third period, in the final moments of the Spartans fourth power play of the net, Big Ten leading goal scorer junior forward Issac Howard found the back of the net. Junior defenseman Matt Basgall and junior forward Karsen Dorwart picked up the assists on the game winning goal.
“Part of being a good power play is managing frustration, it’s not always going to go in but you can create momentum,” said Nightingale.
The goal was enough to give the Spartans the win, and they advanced to the Big Ten Tournament final game for the second consecutive season. MSU outshot the Fighting Irish 46 to 18 in the semifinal game.
Nightingale was impressed with how the Spartans finished out the rest of the game.
“Lot of good habits, lot of winning hockey," Nightingale said. "I thought putting the team first, they kept short, they played behind them. This is a good one to have in our back pocket, you’ve got to be able to win games in different ways. For our guys to stay with it like they did and get rewarded with a win was huge."
Sophomore goaltender Trey Augustine had an impressive performance in net recording his third shutout win of the season with 18 saves. Despite the loss, junior goaltender Owen Say was dominant in net recording 45 saves.
The Spartans will face off against Ohio State next Saturday at Munn Ice Arena.
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