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Notre Dame tops Michigan State 1-0 in Big Ten Quarterfinals, Spartans one loss away from elimination

On3 imageby:Jim Comparoni•03/03/23•

JimComparoni

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Notre Dame's Grant Silianoff whacks the puck past Michigan State goalie Dylan St. Cyr for the only goal of the Irish's victory over Michigan State in Game 1 of the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal series, Friday in South Bend. (Photo courtesy of @NDHockey)

Michigan State’s hockey season is one loss at Notre Dame away from coming to an end. The Spartans dropped a frantic, 1-0 decision at Notre Dame in Game One of a three-game series in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals, Friday night at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

Michigan State needs to even the series in Game Two on Saturday (4:30 p.m. | FS2) in order to force a decisive Game Three on Sunday. All games are in South Bend.

Notre Dame’s Grant Silianoff scored the game’s only goal with 3:47 left in the second period on a bit of a fluke bounce.

The Spartans (16-17-2) applied heavy pressure in the third period, and outshot Notre Dame 36-21 for the game, but couldn’t net the equalizer. 

“No time to dwell on it now,” said first-year Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale. “It was a prototypical playoff game. I thought we did a lot of good stuff. I thought we were really good in the first and third period. I thought in the second, they were better team. So we have to find a way to do it for three periods now.”

Michigan State, coming off a bye weekend, outshot the Irish 6-0 in the opening minutes of the game, but was never able to crack the scoreboard.

“We had a ton of jump,” Nightingale said. “I just thought we were on it. We played super hungry. I thought we were really good on the forecheck. I thought that’s who we are, and we saw it again in the third. It’s a really good sign. You want to win a playoff series, you have to earn it. That’s the plan going forward.”

What needs to be done on Saturday to tie the series?

“More of the same,” Nightingale said. “We hit three posts there in the third. We had a breakaway. Those are all opportunities you have to take advantage of. We have to make sure we make it hard on them and create traffic.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

The Spartans had a great chance to tie the game with 18:12 left in the third period. 

Michigan State defenseman Nash Nienhuis (5-10, Jr., Sarnia Ont.) fed center Tiernan Shoudy (5-9, Fr., St. Clair, Mich.) with a stretch pass behind the Irish defense, creating a breakaway. 

Shoudy closed in on Notre Dame goalie Ryan Bischel and beat him with a move to his forehand. But the puck rolled off of Shoudy’s stick and wide of Bischel. 

With 14:15 remaining, Michigan State senior defenseman Christian Krygier hit the post when he flipped a shot toward Bischel from the left point.

With less than three minutes to play, senior forward Jagger Joshua fed freshman Daniel Russell in front of the goal. Russell’s backhand shot hit the crossbar.

With :57 left, a Shoudy backhand shot dribbled past Bischel but rolled wide of the post.

TURNING POINT

Silianoff’s goal came when Notre Dame’s Trevor Janicke somewhat whiffed on a shot from the left point. Michigan State defenseman Michael Underwood (6-2, 205, Bloomfield Hills) stood in front of Janicke’s path to block what he expected to be a hard shot.

Instead, Janicke didn’t get all of the shot and sent a knuckle ball toward the goal. A hard shot likely would have been blocked by Underwood. Instead, Janicke’s fluttering shot floated high toward Underwood, glanced off his shoulder, and floated toward the left post. 

Silianoff had position in front of the goal and wildly batted it out of the air and into the goal.

“I saw the opportunity to get in front of the net and the puck just went there,” Silianoff said, “and I was whacking away at it. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”

Michigan State senior goalie Dylan St. Cyr (5-8, 167, Northville) stopped 20 of Notre Dame’s 21 shots.

“I think the big part of the game right now is to try to get in front to St. Cyr,” Silianoff said of his former Notre Dame teammate. “we’re just trying to compete hard. We know we can play with anybody.”

But before Notre Dame (16-15-4) can advance further, the Irish need to deal another loss to the Spartans.

“The hardest thing in hockey is ending a team’s season,” Silianoff said. “So we have to come in and play even better tomorrow.”

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