MSU defeats ND 5-2 to claim conference title share
It is always a great time to be a Spartan hockey fan, but currently, it is even better. The Spartans took care of business in South Bend Friday night and thanks to some help from Penn State, the Spartans rolled into Saturday in control of their own destiny. Win and the conference is yours, tie breakers give MSU the one seed in the BIG tourney. Saturday night was going to potentially be tough as emotions were high for the Irish in the special farewell tribute game to long time coach Jackson who is retiring. Well, the Spartans refused to be denied and played a game two in a series like they have almost all season, in dominant fashion. The game never felt close or worrisome as MSU jumped in front and never looked back.
With a 1-0 lead after the first intermission, thanks to a goal from Vansaghi, the Spartans headed into the second looking to continue their shot dominance and have some more hit the back of the net. The Irish tied it up almost instantly in the second but at the 4:23 mark Tiernan Shoudy answered to put MSU back on top where they would stay for the rest of the game. Shoudy would get a second goal on an empty netter later in the third. As you all know, I’ve been touting Shoudy all season as a sort of hidden hero on this team and I was glad to see him get a couple of goals in this one. Vansaghi had his second goal of the game a couple of minutes after Shoudy and the Spartans closed the second period up 3-1.
Notre Dame did manage to pull within one after connecting on a power play goal by Justin Janicke. Tanner Kelly had the answer a little over two minutes later with a power play goal of his own. At 17:31 Shoudy hit the empty netter as the Irish pulled the goalie in an attempt to make something happen. Once the Spartans went up 5-2 it was count down time to celebration.
MSU clinched back to back BIG Ten regular season champions and they unfortunately share that title with Minnesota as the Gophers finally slowed down the red hot Nittany Lions and finished tied with MSU at 50 points on top of the league. The good news for the Spartans is they hold the tie breakers against Minnesota due to its regular season point dominance in head to head games with the Gophers. This is crucial as it gives MSU home ice and the bye. The Spartans will face the lowest remaining seed March 15 at Munn. Whichever team comes to Munn will be a tough matchup but MSU will be hungry and ready to feast.
It has been an exciting regular season for the Spartans and it is about to get really fun now as we head into conference tournament and NCAA tourney time. MSU is looking to do well in the conference tournament to secure a one seed in the Toledo bracket of the NCAA to give them a bit of home ice feel as the Spartan faithful will travel.
Time to celebrate and get ready for the next mission. Let me know your prediction in the comments of who you think MSU will face on March 15 and possibly for the title on March 22. Who is your regular season MVP? Lots of candidates have a very viable argument. Augustine? Howard? Shoudy? Russell? Let the debates begin and Go Green!