By Madilynn Warren
History, yet again.
50 shots on goal, five pucks in the back of the net and a back-to-back Big Ten title came out of night two for Michigan State University hockey, taking down the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with a final score of 5-2 and a sweep on the road.
“It’s awesome, it really never gets old winning the league like that, it’s one of the hardest things to do,” senior forward Tanner Kelly said. “I don’t think our team is satisfied yet, we have bigger goals this year and we’re just looking forward to the rest of this season.”
After falling on senior night, Notre Dame aimed to bounce back in game two, hoping to send longtime head coach Jeff Jackson into retirement with his 600th career win.
For MSU, the stakes were higher. A win in regulation, coupled with a Minnesota victory over Penn State, would mean a shared title and a first-round bye. But if MSU won outright and Minnesota fell in Happy Valley, the Spartans would stand alone atop the Big Ten — making history with back-to-back titles.
“We’ve got a chance to host on home ice again,” head coach Adam Nightingale said. “To win in our conference is not easy, we don’t take it for granted, we’ve got a ton of respect for it. Special group of guys and we’ve hopefully got a lot more hockey ahead of us.”
MSU dominated offensive possession in the opening period, firing 20 shots on goal. Only one found the back of the net — a shot from freshman forward Shane Vansaghi that deflected off Nicholas Kempf’s glove, hit the crossbar, and dropped in for the early lead.
Notre Dame struck just 32 seconds into the second period, but MSU responded immediately. Kelly slid a puck from behind the net into the slot, where it deflected off a Notre Dame defender’s skate and in — restoring the Spartans’ lead.
MSU kept rolling as Vansaghi, known for his net-front presence, slipped past Notre Dame’s defense and buried another goal behind Kempf, giving the Spartans a two-goal cushion heading into the final period.
Midway through the third, Notre Dame’s Justin Janicke notched his second goal of the weekend, cutting the deficit to one. But MSU didn’t let up. With a goal off of a rebound shot for Kelly from graduate defenseman Nicklas Andrews and an empty net goal from junior forward Tiernan Shoudy in the final minutes, the Spartans were a shoe in.
With a road sweep and an outright win, MSU clinched its second straight Big Ten regular-season title and secured a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
“Last year I think we were picked to finish fifth or fourth. We were able to sneak up on some teams and prove some people wrong. We didn’t have that this year, we were picked to finish first,” Nightingale said.
MSU earns a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament (March 7-9) and will return to action on March 14 at Munn Ice Arena against the lowest remaining seed.
