The men’s ice hockey team took all it could out of its weekend trip to South Bend, Ind.
The No. 9 Spartans (4-1-1 overall, 3-1 in the CCHA) swept the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-5-1, 0-2) in their only meeting of the season, winning by counts of 5-1 Thursday and 3-2 Friday. The games were also the first CCHA road contests for MSU this season.
“We only play Notre Dame twice, so if we can get four points out of them, that’s great,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
Sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller shut down the Irish attack, earning both wins in net. In Friday’s game, he recorded a career-high 40 saves.
Miller is now 4-1-1 with 1.83 goals against average and a .935 saves percentage.
Senior left winger Sean Patchell was the Spartans’ other hero on Friday, snapping a 2-2 tie with 1:18 remaining in the game. Senior right winger John Nail found him alone in front of the Notre Dame net and Patchell blasted a one-timer past Irish goaltender Tony Zasowski to catapult MSU to victory.
“It’s a positive feeling any time you can get a win like this where you’ve been battling the whole game,” Patchell said. “It’s a great feeling when you get rewarded for your effort.”
Junior right winger Adam Hall notched his team-leading fourth goal in Friday’s game, firing a shot past Zasowski from the right circle.
Freshman center Jeremy Jackson tied sophomore left winger Brian Maloney and Hall for the team lead in points with an assist on Hall’s goal. All three players have seven points this year.
MSU’s power play unit continued its torrid performance, converting on five of eight chances with a man advantage against Notre Dame. The Spartans have scored eight power play goals in the past three games.
“Our power play is a weapon,” Patchell said. “People know that when they take penalties on us they’re going to pay for it.”
The banged-up icers got no reprieve from the injury bug this weekend. Already playing without senior center Andrew Bogle and junior center Joe Goodenow, sophomore defenseman John-Michael Liles and Brad Fast sustained injuries against the Irish.
Liles hurt his shoulder when he was checked from behind by Irish defenseman Brett Lebda on Thursday night. Lebda received a game-misconduct penalty for the hit. Liles was able to finish the weekend with a sore shoulder.
Fast was injured in the first period Friday night and did not return to the game. Mason said he should be ready to play against archrival Michigan on Saturday.
Five Spartans notched goals in Thursday’s victory, led by freshman center Jeremy Jackson’s game-winner. Sophomore left wing Steve Jackson, sophomore center Steve Clark, junior defenseman Jon Insana and freshman defenseman Aaron Hundt also scored.
Miller made 25 saves to lead the Spartans to victory in South Bend for the first time since 1997.
The Spartans will now set their sights on a showdown with the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. The game will be the only time the teams skate at Yost Ice Arena in their four-game series this season.
Michigan won the series last year, compiling a 2-1-1 record over MSU. The Wolverines won the two games on campus sites while MSU went 1-0-1 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
“Michigan is a team that can put you down real quick,” Liles said. “We have to improve on everything - nothing can be too good.”
