Saturday, March 1
South Bend, Ind.
6 PM
Michigan State University
24-6-4, 15-5-4
5
at
2
Notre Dame
10-23-1, 4-19-1
1
2
3
F
Michigan St.
1
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2
5
Notre Dame
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Spartans Claim Second Straight B1G Title With 5-2 Win At Notre Dame
3/1/2025 8:56:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
South Bend, Ind. -- No. 3/3 Michigan State claimed its second consecutive Big Ten Championship on Saturday, as it concluded the regular season with a 5-2 victory at Notre Dame.
The Spartans, who were selected No. 1 in the preseason Big Ten poll, win back-to-back regular-season titles for the first time since the start of the Big Ten Conference in 2013-14, and for the fourth time in program history. The first three occurrences happened in the old CCHA: 1984-85 and 1985-86, 1988-89 and 1989-90, and 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Michigan State becomes just the second team since the start of the Big Ten conference to capture consecutive titles – Minnesota won the first four titles (2013-17), and then won back-to-back again in 2021-22 and 2022-23. MSU and the Gophers tied for the title, each finishing the regular season with 50 points. MSU earns the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament by virtue of a 2-0-2 record against the Minnesota in the regular-season meetings.
On Saturday, freshman Shane Vansaghi and junior Tiernan Shoudy had a pair of goals to lead the Spartan offense, and sophomore Trey Augustine made 29 saves as the Spartans concluded the regular season with a 24-6-4 record (15-5-4 B1G).
MSU held 1-0 and 3-1 leads at the end of the two periods on a pair of goals by Vansaghi, but the Irish cut it down to a 3-2 game at the midpoint of the third on a Justin Janicke goal, his second of the weekend on the power play. MSU came back with a power-play goal of its own from Tanner Kelly to extend the lead back to 4-2; Shoudy scored his second of the night into an empty net to seal the victory.
The Spartans receive a bye and automatic advancement into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, and will host the lowest remaining seed on Saturday, March 15 at Munn Ice Arena.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
PERIOD RECAPS
First Period: Michigan State jumped on the board 2:25 into the game. Shane Vansaghi barreled into the offensive zone and took the pass from Patrick Geary at the left point. Vansaghi released his shot from just right of the dot and beat Kempf for his fifth goal of the season. The Spartans were aggressive throughout the entire 20 minutes, posting a 20-9 edge in shots on net.
Second Period: The Irish came out for the middle frame and tied the game before the period was 30 seconds old. Grant Silianoff forced the puck past Augustine for his fourth goal of the season to knot things up for the home team. MSU countered with a pair of goals less than two minutes apart before the media time out – the first from Tiernan Shoudy at 4:37, as he drove to the goal line and swiped at the puck off a feed from Matt Basgall, and his shot was kicked past Kempf by his own defenseman to give MSU a 2-1 lead. At 6:15, Nathan Mackie won an offensive-zone faceoff to Kampf's right, and Griffin Jurecki collected the puck and carried it below the goal line. He centered it in front for Vansaghi, setting up the freshman for his second goal of the night and a 3-1 lead entering the final 20 minutes.
Third Period: Notre Dame scored to make it a 3-2 game at the near midpoint of the period. Justin Janicke delivered a power play goal for the Irish for the second straight night, bringing the home team within a score. At 11:57, Tanner Kelly posted MSU's lone PPG of the night, re-establishing a two-goal lead at 4-2 with his eighth goal of the season. Shoudy scored into an empty net at 17:31 to ice the game, his eighth goal of the year. After the Irish had a slim 14-13 edge in shots in the middle period, the Spartans poured 17 shots on net in the final period to finish the game with an even 50.
The Spartans, who were selected No. 1 in the preseason Big Ten poll, win back-to-back regular-season titles for the first time since the start of the Big Ten Conference in 2013-14, and for the fourth time in program history. The first three occurrences happened in the old CCHA: 1984-85 and 1985-86, 1988-89 and 1989-90, and 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Michigan State becomes just the second team since the start of the Big Ten conference to capture consecutive titles – Minnesota won the first four titles (2013-17), and then won back-to-back again in 2021-22 and 2022-23. MSU and the Gophers tied for the title, each finishing the regular season with 50 points. MSU earns the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament by virtue of a 2-0-2 record against the Minnesota in the regular-season meetings.
On Saturday, freshman Shane Vansaghi and junior Tiernan Shoudy had a pair of goals to lead the Spartan offense, and sophomore Trey Augustine made 29 saves as the Spartans concluded the regular season with a 24-6-4 record (15-5-4 B1G).
MSU held 1-0 and 3-1 leads at the end of the two periods on a pair of goals by Vansaghi, but the Irish cut it down to a 3-2 game at the midpoint of the third on a Justin Janicke goal, his second of the weekend on the power play. MSU came back with a power-play goal of its own from Tanner Kelly to extend the lead back to 4-2; Shoudy scored his second of the night into an empty net to seal the victory.
The Spartans receive a bye and automatic advancement into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, and will host the lowest remaining seed on Saturday, March 15 at Munn Ice Arena.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Michigan State captured its second straight Big Ten Title in Adam Nightingale's third season behind the bench. He has gone from guiding MSU's first-ever wins in the Big Ten tournament in his first season (a 2-1 series victory on the road as the No. 5 seed) to two straight regular-season league crowns.
- MSU becomes just the second school in league history to capture back-to-back B1G titles. Minnesota is the only other.
- The Spartans and Gophers finished the season with 50 B1G points in the standings to share the regular-season championship. The Spartans had the fewest league losses (5) and goals allowed in conference games (50), and also scored the most goals (92).
- MSU has won consecutive league regular-season crowns on three previous occasions, The first three occurrences happened in the old CCHA: 1984-85 and 1985-86, 1988-89 and 1989-90, and 1997-98 and 1998-99.
- The Spartans completed the season sweep of Notre Dame, earning two wins both at home and on the road.
- Michigan State got three goals and nine points from its defense in the two-game series.
- MSU had 50 shots on net, its second-most in any game this season and the highest total in a Big Ten contest.
- Trey Augustine stopped 29 shots in Saturday's tilt and 51 of 55 on the weekend in earning the weekend sweep. Two of the goals he surrendered came on the power play.
- Freshman Shane Vansaghi scored his fifth goal of the season to open the scoring in the first three minutes of the game, and he added a second eight minutes into the second for his first career multiple-goal game.
- Tiernan Shoudy had his first two-goal game of his career and recorded his first career two-goal game. He has surpassed his previous career high with eight goals on the year, and he has also bettered his previous career best in points, as he now has 17.
- MSU got the game-winning goal from Tanner Kelly on the power play in the third period. It was Kelly's eighth goal of the season, one shy of his career best.
- Isaac Howard captured the Big Ten scoring title with 33 points (16g, 17 a) in 24 games (1.38 gpg). Three of his goals were power-play strikes. Overall, he ranks second in the country in goals (23) and is fourth in points (46). He enters the postseason with 99 career points.
PERIOD RECAPS
First Period: Michigan State jumped on the board 2:25 into the game. Shane Vansaghi barreled into the offensive zone and took the pass from Patrick Geary at the left point. Vansaghi released his shot from just right of the dot and beat Kempf for his fifth goal of the season. The Spartans were aggressive throughout the entire 20 minutes, posting a 20-9 edge in shots on net.
Second Period: The Irish came out for the middle frame and tied the game before the period was 30 seconds old. Grant Silianoff forced the puck past Augustine for his fourth goal of the season to knot things up for the home team. MSU countered with a pair of goals less than two minutes apart before the media time out – the first from Tiernan Shoudy at 4:37, as he drove to the goal line and swiped at the puck off a feed from Matt Basgall, and his shot was kicked past Kempf by his own defenseman to give MSU a 2-1 lead. At 6:15, Nathan Mackie won an offensive-zone faceoff to Kampf's right, and Griffin Jurecki collected the puck and carried it below the goal line. He centered it in front for Vansaghi, setting up the freshman for his second goal of the night and a 3-1 lead entering the final 20 minutes.
Third Period: Notre Dame scored to make it a 3-2 game at the near midpoint of the period. Justin Janicke delivered a power play goal for the Irish for the second straight night, bringing the home team within a score. At 11:57, Tanner Kelly posted MSU's lone PPG of the night, re-establishing a two-goal lead at 4-2 with his eighth goal of the season. Shoudy scored into an empty net at 17:31 to ice the game, his eighth goal of the year. After the Irish had a slim 14-13 edge in shots in the middle period, the Spartans poured 17 shots on net in the final period to finish the game with an even 50.
Team Stats
MSU
UND
Shots
50
31
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
3
Penalty Mins
6
6
Faceoffs Won
30
30
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
2
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
6
A
1
Players Mentioned
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