Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Notre Dame
Spartans Outlast Notre Dame
11/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 26, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- A solid power play and another strong performance from goaltender Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) sparked the Michigan State hockey team to a 5-1 win over Notre Dame at the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center tonight. The win is the first for the Spartans (3-1-1 overall/2-1-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) at Notre Dame since Oct. 31, 1997, as the Fighting Irish (2-4-1/0-1-1) drop their league opener.
"We played the style of game we normally play when we're ahead," said MSU head coach Ron Mason. "I thought Notre Dame played pretty hard tonight but we scored the goals. It wasn't a 5-1 game."
The slow-starting Spartans didn't get a shot on goal until nine minutes into the first period but rallied to outshoot the Fighting Irish over the last 11 minutes of the frame by a 10-2 margin. The MSU power play, which hit its stride in a 4-1 win against Nebraska-Omaha Saturday and accounted for three goals tonight, clicked again in its only first-period opportunity. Steve Jackson (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), sprung by a feed from John Nail (Brampton, Ont.), who was stationed by the near faceoff circle in the MSU zone, sprung Steve Jackson (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) with a pretty feed. Jackson got behind the Notre Dame penalty-killers, wheeled to his forehand and fired a shot the beat goaltender Jeremiah Kimento on his stick side.
MSU got a break when Notre Dame's Brett Lebda checked John-Michael Liles (Zionsville, Ind.) head-first into the boards behind the Fighting Irish net and drew a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct a little more than a minute into the second period. The Spartans capitalized when, with Notre Dame's Evan Nielsen in the penalty box serving a slashing minor, Jeremy Jackson (Los Angeles, Calif.) gathered a rebound off a Liles drive from the blue line and easily scored on the five-on-three advantage at 6:00.
Steve Clark (Mississauga, Ont.) scored the Spartans' third power-play tally of the night at 8:32 of the middle stanza. Damon Whitten (Brighton, Mich.) picked up the puck behind the Notre Dame net after teammate Rustyn Dolyny (Thunder Bay, Ont.) missed the cage wide with a shot from the blue line. Whitten then made a nifty backhand pass to Clark, who was stationed just outside the Fighting Irish goalmouth.
Notre Dame ruined Miller's shutout attempt 15 seconds into the third period when David Inman scored a power-play goal on a looping shot from the blue line that Miller appeared to misread. An empty-net goal by defenseman Jon Insana (New Baltimore, Mich.) and the first career goal by blueliner Aaron Hundt (Lansing, Mich.) in the game's final minute provided the final margin of victory.
Miller, who allowed just one goal for the third time in five starts this season, made 25 saves including 16 in a busy third period. Kimento stopped 26 shots for the Fighting Irish.
