MSU Advances to Conference Tournament Championship With 1-0 Victory Over ND
In a game where only one goal was needed to get the job done, No. 2 Michigan State hockey was able to prevail in Saturday's Big Ten Tournament semifinal matchup with Notre Dame.
The Spartans had the benefit of playing on their home ice, which allowed for the Spartan faithful to witness a celebration after the Green and White had clinched the Big Ten regular season title in South Bend two weekends ago.
The last time the Spartans had played at Munn Ice Arena, they had fallen to Penn State in their final regular-season home game on Senior Day.
Michigan State was the far more aggressive team on Saturday as it outshot the Fighting Irish, 46-18.
It wasn't enough for the Spartans to get on the board for the first two periods. Despite there having been five power-play opportunities going into the third (three for Michigan State and two for Notre Dame), neither team was able to capitalize as the game was still scoreless after the two intermissions.
The silence was finally broken when the nation's leading point-scorer this season, junior forward Isaac Howard, found the net on a power play that had carried over into the third, giving the Spartans the 1-0 edge just 19 seconds in.
He was assisted by junior forward Karsen Dorwart and junior defenseman Matt Basgall.
It was an even-strength battle the rest of the way, as no penalties were committed in the final period.
Notre Dame junior goaltender Owen Say made an incredible 45 saves, and it was nearly enough, had the Spartans not turned in one of their best defensive outings of the season.
Spartan junior goalie Trey Augustine finished with 19 saves.
Along with its domination in the shooting department, Michigan State was also +20 in faceoffs.
Michigan State will be back at Munn next Saturday to face the winner of Penn State/Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Just one season after winning both the Big Ten regular season title and conference tournament title, the Spartans will have an opportunity to secure both again for a second consecutive year.
Perhaps Michigan State will get a shot at redemption against the Nittany Lions.
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