Heavy underdog Notre Dame dealt fourth-ranked MSU a double blow with a 3-2 upset win at Munn Ice Arena Saturday night.
With the setback, the Spartans saw their school-record home unbeaten streak snapped at 33 games (30-0-3). MSU hadn’t lost at home since a 2-1 decision to Omaha on Oct. 20, 2000.
But more importantly, the loss dropped the Spartans into a tie with Michigan atop the CCHA standings. The Wolverines entered the weekend down two points, but swept third-place Nebraska-Omaha in Ann Arbor.
Meanwhile, all the Spartans (20-6-5 overall, 15-5-4 CCHA) could manage was a split with the Fighting Irish (10-15-5, 8-12-4).
“Nothing good ever comes from a loss, in my estimation,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said Saturday. “It’s frustrating. You never like to lose a game you thought you played pretty well in.”
The Spartans out-played the Irish for most of Saturday’s game and racked up a 36-24 shots advantage - including 20-4 in the second period. But Irish goaltender Morgan Cey denied MSU again and again in helping seal the upset. He stopped 34 shots overall and made a dazzling glove save while lying on his back on a golden scoring chance by senior right wing Adam Hall late in Saturday’s game.
“We’ve had (luck) on our side most of the year - and the last couple years - so now we know how the other team feels when that happens to them,” Mason said.
On Saturday, Notre Dame raced to a 3-1 lead in the second period on goals by right wing David Inman and defensemen Neil Komadoski and Brett Lebda.
“We knew this could happen if we didn’t play our game,” Hall said. “It’s no big secret, it’s not like we can win no matter what.
“This team has racked up a lot of points and a lot of wins in this building and around the league because we worked hard. We just need to stick with that kind of thinking and fight through things like this.”
Freshman defenseman Duncan Keith and junior defenseman Brad Fast scored for MSU on Saturday. Keith’s goal, which made the score 1-1 late in the first period, was his first tally since Oct. 26 and third of the season.
“It wasn’t anything special,” Keith said. “It hit a couple of sticks or players or something - I don’t even know how it went in.
“It feels nice, but at the same time, it doesn’t really matter now that we didn’t get the win.”
The weekend wasn’t a total bust for the Spartans, as MSU won 2-0 in Friday’s series-opener.
Cey was brilliant Friday, stopping 41 shots. But MSU junior defenseman John-Michael Liles fired a rocket past Cey’s glove on a Spartan power play with 33.6 seconds left in the second period.
Hall added an empty-netter for his 15th tally of the year.
MSU junior goaltender Ryan Miller, the NCAA’s all-time shutout king, made 39 saves for his 25th career shutout Friday. It was his first blanking since Dec. 8 at Northern Michigan and concluded the longest stretch between shutouts in his career.
