Early Goals Propel Irish to 4-2 Win at Munn

GAME CAPSULE

No. 12/11 Notre Dame scored twice in each of the first two periods and skated away with a 4-2 victory at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

The Irish (23-9-0, 15-7-0 B1G) had three players credited with a goal and an assist: Justin Janicke, Jack Adas, and Spencer Stastney   while MSU (11-20-1, 5-17-0) got a goal and an assist from Erik Middendorf and a pair of assists from freshman Jesse Tucker. Jeremy Davidson had the other score for MSU.

Notre Dame had an edge in shots on goal (31-29) and blocked 19 Spartan shot attempts, helping goalie Matt Galajda (27 saves) keep the Spartans at bay, even when they spent extended time in the offensive zone or on their five power play attempts.

Drew DeRidder had 27 stops on the night.

The Spartans complete the regular season with a two-game set against Penn State next weekend at Munn Ice Arena Gametimes are 7 pm (Friday) and 6 pm (Saturday).

STATISTICS OF NOTE

Erik Middendorf had a goal and an assist. It was his 11^th goal and pushed him to 18 points
Jeremy Davidson scored his 11^th goal of the season.
Jesse Tucker picked up assists on both MSU goals.
Drew DeRidder had 27 saves.

NOTABLES AND STORYLINES

MSU was 1-for-5 on the power play, and has a PPG in each of the last four games – the longest stretch of games with a power play goal this season. MSU denied Notre Dame on each of its power play chances in the game.
Erik Middendorf and Jeremy Davidson now share the team lead in goals (11).
Middendorf had a goal in each game this weekend (both power play markers) and had three points total for an 11-7—18 scoring line.
Davidson and Jesse Tucker share the team scoring lead with 22 points. Tucker had a pair of assists on the weekend and owns a 2-20—22 scoring line.

GAME SYNOPSIS

FIRST PERIOD: The Irish got on the board first, taking advantage of a Spartan turnover to create a 2-on-1 chance. Justin Janicke took the pass and scored from the left side off a feed from Jack Adams. MSU had the only power play chance of the frame when Max Ellis was whistled for tripping at 12:05, but despite a couple of good looks, the shots were off target and MSU didn't find a goal on the man advantage. Late in the period, the Irish went up 2-0 after Janicke set up Adams for his third goal of the year.

SECOND PERIOD: Notre Dame came out firing in the second period, forcing DeRidder to make four saves before the frame was 90 seconds old. At 3:24, a tripping call against Spencer Statsney put MSU back on the power play, and the Spartans came out assertive – which resulted in Jesse Tucker picking up a penalty 30 seconds in and putting the teams to four-on-four. With five seconds remaining in the original penalty, Chase Blackmun wristed a shot from the right circle that beat DeRidder blocker side for a 3-0 lead. The Spartans got back into it at the 12:23 mark, when Jeremy Davidson took a pass from Tucker behind the net and the shot found its mark over the stick hand of Galadja; just 67 seconds later, the Irish gotthe goal back when Statsney's shot ricocheted off a Spartan stick, off DeRidder, and into the back of the net to re-establish a three-goal lead.

THIRD PERIOD: The Spartans kept pace with their visitors in the third period, and DeRidder made a couple of good saves – one on a breakaway by Ryder Rolston – to keep his team in the game. The Spartans refused to go quietly, outshooting the Irish 12-8 in the final period and kept pushing into the final minute. Notre Dame took a late penalty - captain Adam Karashik was whistled for holding – giving MSU a third power play chance in the period. The Spartans got a second goal with just seven seconds remaining in regulation, as Erik Middendorf picked up his second goal of the weekend. He took a pass from Dennis Cesana out on the perimeter and launched a sharp-angle shot for his 11^th goal of the season. Cesana and Tucker both had assists.

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Team Stats

Erik Middendorf

Jesse Tucker

Jeremy Davidson

Dennis Cesana

Players Mentioned

Dennis Cesana

Jeremy Davidson

Drew DeRidder

Erik Middendorf

Jesse Tucker