EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Irish hockey program battled for 60 minutes against No. 4/3 Michigan State on the road but could not find the late equalizer as they fell to the Spartans 4-3 Saturday.
A bit of shoving after Nicholas Kempf froze the puck in the Irish end sent a Notre Dame skater to the box at 1:27 of the opening period. The Irish were successful in their first kill of the night, limiting the Spartan offense in front of Kempf to keep the game scoreless five minutes in.
At the first media break of the evening, Kempf had made 10 saves in the Irish net to keep it a 0-0 game halfway through the opening period.
The Spartans struck first Saturday with a goal 11:45 into play after a shot on the doorstep beat Kempf high glove side.
The Irish responded well following the goal, generating offense in the Spartan end but they could not break Trey Augustine in the MSU net and continued to trail 1-0 late in the first frame.
Notre Dame was tasked with their second penalty kill of the night at 17:13 of the first period after a tripping call went against the visitors behind their net. Justin Janicke nearly had the game-tying goal while shorthanded but his shot was turned aside by the MSU netminder’s toe. As play came back into the Irish end, a Spartan interfered with an Irish skater and they were sent to the box for a few seconds of four-on-four play before the first Notre Dame powerplay of the night.
The Irish took advantage of the late man-up chance as Blake Biondi redirected a shot in front of the net for his third goal of the year to make it 1-1 with 21 seconds to play in the period. The even score did not last long however as the Spartans reclaimed their lead with 0.6 ticks left on the clock to make it 2-1 as the Irish faced the one goal deficit through 20 minutes of play.
The Spartans won the opening faceoff to start the second and peppered the Irish net with shots before beating Kempf 1:14 into the frame to extend their lead.
A Notre Dame defender was shoved during a break in play and Michigan State was called for their second infraction of the night. Despite chances the Irish were unable to convert on the powerplay but a second whistle against the Spartans gave Notre Dame seven seconds of a five-on-three edge. After nearly four minutes of powerplay opportunity for the Irish, the game returned to five-on-five with Notre Dame still trailing 3-1.
Ian Murphy’s defection in front of the net drew the Irish within one at 12:52 of the second…