Friday, February 28
South Bend, Ind.
7 PM
Michigan State University
23-6-4, 14-5-4
5
at
2
Notre Dame
10-22-1, 4-18-1
1
2
3
F
Michigan St.
2
1
2
5
Notre Dame
0
1
1
2
Spartans Top Notre Dame 5-2
2/28/2025 11:10:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
South Bend, Ind. . -- No. 3/3 Michigan State got three of its five goals from defensemen and junior Hobey candidate Isaac Howard scored his 23rd goal of the season in a 5-2 road victory at Notre Dame on Friday.
Combined with Minnesota's overtime loss at Penn State on Friday, MSU and the Gophers are now tied atop the Big Ten standings with 47 points each. Should the teams remain tied atop the Big Ten standings at the conclusion of tomorrow's regular-season finale, the teams would be crowned co-champions. Michigan State holds the tiebreaker over Minnesota based on taking seven of 12 points against the Gophers this season, and would therefore be the overall No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Spartans led 2-0 after the first period on goals by David Gucciardi and Matt Basgall. Each team scored once in the second, with Karsen Dorwart lighting the lamp and sending MSU into the locker room with a 3-1 advantage after 40 minutes. In the third, the teams traded goals just over 40 seconds apart, with Maxim Štrbák getting on the scoreboard – and Howard capped the win with his 23rd score of the season which is tied for second nationally.
Richter finalist Trey Augustine made 22 saves in claiming his 16th victory of the year. Owen Say stopped 33 Spartan shots in the Irish net. Seniors Justin Janicke and Axel Kumlin had the two Notre Dame goals on a night that the squad celebrated its seniors in a pre-game ceremony.
Friday's victory was MSU's third over the Irish this season. The Spartans (23-6-4, 14-5-4 B1G) look for the season sweep of Notre Dame (10-22-1, 4-18-1) when the teams face off on Saturday in a 6 pm game.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
First Period: Michigan State got a pair of goals from its defense to open the game. At the media time out, MSU trailed on the shot counter 7-2, but got more shots through as the period wore on. David Gucciardi scored his career-best sixth of the season at 11:55, as Joey Larson slid the puck to the senior at the top of the left circle and he one-timed it into the back of the net to open the scoring Less than three minutes later, Vlad Lukashevich passed along the blue line to Natt Basgall at the left point and his shot caromed off the back wall and bounced off the back of goalie Owen Say's leg pad and into the back of the net.
Second Period: The teams played through a scoreless opening 15 minutes , and the Irish found their way onto the scoreboard with 5:01 remaining in the period. Justin Janicke struck early on the power play off an assist from Danny Nelson, Janicke's 14th goal of the season. MSU put a third on the board with just 1:55 remaining in the period, as Joey Larson collected the puck and skated behind the net to Say's right, and from the left post slid a cross-slot pass to Karsen Dorwart at the bottom of the right circle. He had an open right side and scored his 11th of the year to send MSU to the locker room with a 3-1 lead.
Third Period: The teams traded goals just over 40 seconds apart to make a 3-1 game a 4-2 score. MSU struck first on a blast from the right point by Maxim Štrbák, his career-best third goal of the season , at 8:37. At 9:20, Axel Kumilin solved Augustine to make it a 4-2 core, with the defenseman potting his fifth of the year. The Irish pulled Say for the final three and a half minutes to add an extra attacker, but MSU iced it with a goal by Isaac Howard (assisted by Daniel Russell) for the final 5-2 margin.
Third Period: The teams traded goals just over 40 seconds apart to make a 3-1 game a 4-2 score. MSU struck first on a blast from the right point by Maxim Strbak, his career-best third goal of the season , at 8:37. At 9:20, Axel Kumilin solved Augustine to make it a 4-2 core, with the defenseman potting his fifth of the year. The Irish pulled Say for the final three and a half minutes to add an extra attacker, but MSU iced it with a goal by Isaac Howard (assisted by Daniel Russell) for the final 5-2 margin.
Combined with Minnesota's overtime loss at Penn State on Friday, MSU and the Gophers are now tied atop the Big Ten standings with 47 points each. Should the teams remain tied atop the Big Ten standings at the conclusion of tomorrow's regular-season finale, the teams would be crowned co-champions. Michigan State holds the tiebreaker over Minnesota based on taking seven of 12 points against the Gophers this season, and would therefore be the overall No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Spartans led 2-0 after the first period on goals by David Gucciardi and Matt Basgall. Each team scored once in the second, with Karsen Dorwart lighting the lamp and sending MSU into the locker room with a 3-1 advantage after 40 minutes. In the third, the teams traded goals just over 40 seconds apart, with Maxim Štrbák getting on the scoreboard – and Howard capped the win with his 23rd score of the season which is tied for second nationally.
Richter finalist Trey Augustine made 22 saves in claiming his 16th victory of the year. Owen Say stopped 33 Spartan shots in the Irish net. Seniors Justin Janicke and Axel Kumlin had the two Notre Dame goals on a night that the squad celebrated its seniors in a pre-game ceremony.
Friday's victory was MSU's third over the Irish this season. The Spartans (23-6-4, 14-5-4 B1G) look for the season sweep of Notre Dame (10-22-1, 4-18-1) when the teams face off on Saturday in a 6 pm game.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Three of MSU's five goals came from its defense, and the blueliners accounted for 20 of MSU's 38 shots on net. Both Matt Basgall and David Gucciardi had five each.
- MSU has not lost consecutive games this season.
- The Spartans improve to 9-3-2 in road games and 13-3-2 in games away from Munn overall.
- Karsen Dorwart had a goal and an assist, his second straight game with that scoring line and the second straight multiple-point game for the centerman His 11th goal is four off his 15 scores a year ago. It was also his third game-winning goal of the year.
- Dorwart moved into second place on MSU's scoring chart with 11-15-26.
- Matt Basgall and David Gucciardi each scored first-period goals, which was also their sixth goals of the season – and career bests for the two blueliners. Basgall has a career best 24 points, and Gucciardi's 15 points is also a career high.
- Maxim Štrbák's third-period goal was his third of the season, also a career best for the sophomore. He now has a 3-14-17 scoring line after a nine-point freshman season.
- Tommi Männistö had a two-assist effort, his first multiple-assist game in his career. He has surpassed his freshman-season total of 10 points.
- Joey Larson had a pair of assists to push him to 22 points on the season.
- Trey Augustine leads the Big Ten in wins (16) with his 22-save performance on Friday.
- Charlie Stramel skated in his 100th career game on Friday.
First Period: Michigan State got a pair of goals from its defense to open the game. At the media time out, MSU trailed on the shot counter 7-2, but got more shots through as the period wore on. David Gucciardi scored his career-best sixth of the season at 11:55, as Joey Larson slid the puck to the senior at the top of the left circle and he one-timed it into the back of the net to open the scoring Less than three minutes later, Vlad Lukashevich passed along the blue line to Natt Basgall at the left point and his shot caromed off the back wall and bounced off the back of goalie Owen Say's leg pad and into the back of the net.
Ewwww, David.
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 1, 2025
Gucciardi takes the dish from Larson and one-times home his sixth of the season. pic.twitter.com/PueXeudoXF
Second Period: The teams played through a scoreless opening 15 minutes , and the Irish found their way onto the scoreboard with 5:01 remaining in the period. Justin Janicke struck early on the power play off an assist from Danny Nelson, Janicke's 14th goal of the season. MSU put a third on the board with just 1:55 remaining in the period, as Joey Larson collected the puck and skated behind the net to Say's right, and from the left post slid a cross-slot pass to Karsen Dorwart at the bottom of the right circle. He had an open right side and scored his 11th of the year to send MSU to the locker room with a 3-1 lead.
Larson whips around the net and sets up Dorwart for the third score! pic.twitter.com/d6kVN4jEkW
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 1, 2025
Third Period: The teams traded goals just over 40 seconds apart to make a 3-1 game a 4-2 score. MSU struck first on a blast from the right point by Maxim Štrbák, his career-best third goal of the season , at 8:37. At 9:20, Axel Kumilin solved Augustine to make it a 4-2 core, with the defenseman potting his fifth of the year. The Irish pulled Say for the final three and a half minutes to add an extra attacker, but MSU iced it with a goal by Isaac Howard (assisted by Daniel Russell) for the final 5-2 margin.
Strbak with the little shimmy at the left point and a snipe to make it 4-1. His third goal of the season. Shoudy and Mannito get the helpers. pic.twitter.com/1Q9ySuzG0W
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 1, 2025
Third Period: The teams traded goals just over 40 seconds apart to make a 3-1 game a 4-2 score. MSU struck first on a blast from the right point by Maxim Strbak, his career-best third goal of the season , at 8:37. At 9:20, Axel Kumilin solved Augustine to make it a 4-2 core, with the defenseman potting his fifth of the year. The Irish pulled Say for the final three and a half minutes to add an extra attacker, but MSU iced it with a goal by Isaac Howard (assisted by Daniel Russell) for the final 5-2 margin.
Team Stats
MSU
UND
Shots
38
24
PPG
0
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
4
Penalty Mins
10
8
Faceoffs Won
28
35
Game Leaders
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
4
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
0
Players Mentioned
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