Coming off a sweep against the Ohio State Buckeyes, the No. 4 Michigan State hockey team was looking to keep its success going as it welcomed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in front of a packed house at Munn Ice Arena.
MSU defeated Notre Dame 8-3 in an impressive offensive performance with three Spartans scoring their first goals of the season.
The Irish proved that they belonged, opening the game with a goal by sophomore forward Danny Nelson 1:09 into the game.
After a few great chances on goal early on, the Spartans knotted it up a one with junior forward Tiernan Shoudy scoring his first goal of the season halfway through the first period.
The Irish were looking to capitalize on a power play chance, the Spartans however had plans of their own, turning good defense into breakaway offense as senior forward Red Savage scored a beautiful shorthanded goal.
Early on in the second period, the Spartans and Irish traded goals twice in a span of a minute or less. MSU junior forward Joey Larson and Notre Dame’s Danny Nelson scored on the power play, while Notre Dame junior defenseman Mason Mastrodomenico and MSU junior forward Charlie Stramel traded goals in a span of 13 seconds.
Sophomore forward Karsen Dorwart gave the Spartans the lead with his first goal of the season to give MSU the 5-3 lead.
Both teams scored a combined five goals in what was a high-scoring second period. Dorwart added his second goal of the night in the third period.
“It feels good every time you score," Dorwart said after the win. "I haven’t been off to a great start so far this year, just trying to play better every game and just focus on the little things try not to focus on scoring and stuff like that. Eventually, if you play the right way you’ll be rewarded."
Freshman forward Mikey DeAngelo scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the third period. MSU head coach Adam Nightingale spoke about DeAngelo’s impact on the team as a freshman and his experience coaching him on the U-17 national team.
“Mikey is playing well for us right now," Nightingale said. "I had a chance to coach (him) for a while when I was with the national team. He’s a great team guy, he can really skate and he’s competitive. He's just got to make sure that comes out every shift, and not just in the games, in practice. I think in the last month he’s done that."
Senior defenseman David Gucciardi scored the eighth goal of the night for MSU in the final minute of the game to wrap up an impressive night for the Spartans.
The Spartans went 2-for-3 on power plays in the game and recorded two shorthanded goals.
“Your first goal is you want to kill the penalty, but also if there’s open ice and guys feel like they can take advantage of it," Nightingale said. "We use guys on the kill and I think we have energy and maybe can catch teams."
MSU won the faceoff battle against the Irish, which proved to be crucial as multiple goals in the game for the Spartans came off of faceoffs. Despite their success, Nightingale believes the Spartans can improve on their faceoffs.
“Our centers have gotten better at draws," Nightingale said. "I thought early on we were getting beat. In the neutral zone, I thought there were times when we lost some draws and didn’t execute what we needed to do. We got four really good centers and not all of it falls on the center, to score off faceoffs is really important."
The Spartans will look to complete the sweep of the Irish tomorrow with puck drop from Munn Ice Arena set for 8 p.m.
