Michigan State University
9-7-1, 4-5-0
Notre Dame
12-4-0, 6-3-0
Early Goals Fall Short In 3-2 Loss at Notre Dame
12/10/2021 10:35:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
GAME CAPSULEÂ Â
Michigan State scored a pair of goals in the first two minutes of the game but couldn't get another one past goaltender Matthew Galajda and fell at No. 8/8 Notre Dame on Friday, 3-2.  Â
The Spartans were not without chances, as the game featured end-to-end action to entertain the crowd of more than 4,000 fans at the Compton Family Ice Arena.   Notre Dame's game winner – scored at 8:14 in the third period - was a bit of an unfortunate bounce for the Spartans, as Nick Leiverman drove up the right side and was circling below the goal line to pass into the slot, but his shot ricocheted off of goalie Pierce Charleson (25 saves) into the net behind him.  Â
MSU opened the scoring on the night with a pair of quick goals, as Tanner Kelly scored his first collegiate tally (1:04) and Dennis Cesana his fifth of the year (1:51) to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead before many of the fans were in their seats. The second period belonged to Notre Dame with a pair of Spencer Statsney goals – his first two of the season – as MSU had to kill off a pair of penalties, one a major.  Â
Overall, the Spartans were 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and had 11 blocked shots on the night – Notre Dame was 3-for-3 on the kill, and outshot MSU 28-24.  Galajda had 22 saves.  Â
Michigan State and Notre Dame stage the rematch on Saturday at 7 pm in South Bend.  Â
STATISTICS OF NOTEÂ
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Tanner Kelly scored his first collegiate goal just 1:04 into the game.  Â
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Pierce Charleson made 25 savesÂ
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Dennis Cesana had the other Spartan goal.  Â
NOTABLESÂ
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Pierce Charleson made back-to-back starts for the second time this season – the first was the second game vs. Air Force (Oct 9) and the first game vs. Miami (Oct. 15).  Â
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MSU is now 7-2-1 when scoring first.Â
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Dennis Cesana has five goals on the season, two shy of his career best of seven, set as a sophomore.  Â
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Kristoff Papp extended his point-scoring streak to four games (1-3—4) Â
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Mitchell Lewandowski's career-best 11-game point-scoring streak came to a halt. He had recorded a point in each of the games he had played so far this season.  Â
GAMEÂ Â SYNOPSISÂ
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FIRST PERIOD:   The Spartans jumped on the board with two goals in the back of the net before the game was two minutes old. Tanner Kelly received a pass at the top of the slot from Nicolas Muller and the freshman shot through a pair of defenders and netted his first collegiate goal at 1:04. Just 47 seconds later, the Spartans had a 2-0 lead on a Dennis Cesana goal.   Kristof Papp won the faceoff to the right of the goalie, and Adam Goodsir whipped the puck up to Cesana at the point, and his shot found its mark for the senior's fifth goal of the season.   The Spartans had an extended power play opportunity in the second half of the frame when the Irish took penalties 90 seconds apart, but could not convert and took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.  Â
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SECOND PERIOD:   The second period started out with tremendous end-to-end action, and the home team finally found its way onto the scoreboard at 7:57. The Irish broke into the zone on an odd-man rush, with Jesse Landsdell going cross-slot to Spencer Statsney who went top-shelf for his first goal of the season.  At the 9:33 mark, Christian Krygier got a major for slew-footing and a game misconduct, spelling the end of his evening and giving the Spartans a five-minute major to kill off. Just 28 seconds into the major, Notre Dame took a hooking penalty to even things up at four-on-four for two minutes. Shortly after the Irish penalty expired, the home team got the equalizer at 12:35 when Statsney scored his second of the night.  The up-tempo hockey continued to the end of the period as the teams headed to the locker rooms tied at 2-2.  Notre Dame had a 10-4 edge in shots with about five minutes of power play time – a similar advantage that MSU enjoyed in the first when it outshot its hosts 15-8 with a pair of man-advantage opportunities.  Â
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THIRD PERIOD:  MSU had an early power play chance in the third on a cross-checking call against Ellis, but his team killed the penalty.  At 8:14, the Irish took their first lead of the game when Nick Leivermann's drove below the goal line to Charleson's right, and his attempt to pass it into the slot ricocheted off the goalie and then behind him for the Notre Dame score.  That would be the only goal for either team in the period, as the home team outshot MSU 10-4 for a final 28-24 edge.  Â
