Icers Fall to Irish, 4-1

Nov. 22, 2009

Fort Wayne, Ind. - Michigan State saw its eight-game unbeaten streak come to an end in a 4-1 loss to Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Spartans lone goal came from sophomore Daultan Leveille in the first period, as the MSU offense fell victim for the second straight game to a disruptive Notre Dame defense. The Spartans fall to 9-3-2 overall and 6-2-2-0 in conference play. Notre Dame is 6-5-3, 3-2-3-2 in conference play.

The Spartans outshot the Irish by a 26-16 margin, but watched the Irish tie up bodies in front for loose pucks and block passing lanes, preventing MSU from getting much of anything going all afternoon.

Notre Dame, which has struggled offensively in the early part of the season, wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Kevin Deeth carried the puck into the Irish offensive zone, and dished off to Calle Ridderwall just above the left circle. Ridderwall's shot eluded the glove hand of Palmisano for the winger's seventh goal of the season just 4:24 into the game.

The Irish took a 2-0 lead at 13:22, a second after a man advantage expired. Dan Kissel's shot was saved by Palmisano, and the rebound came off the back wall and into the left circle. The MSU defenseman could not corral the loose puck, and Kyle Palmieri was just inside the dot in the left circle to collect it and send it back netward; his shot went into the upper right corner.

The Spartans jumped right back to cut the lead in half 38 seconds later with a Daultan Leveille tally at the 14-minute mark. Zach Josepher did a nice job of keeping the puck in the zone and sent it netward; the shot was saved, and pushed out into the left circle. Leveille jumped on it at the bottom of the circle and sent a sharp-angle shot into the upper right corner to pull MSU within 2-1.

Notre Dame went back up by a pair midway through the second - after a pair of shots were saved by Palmisano, and Kyle Lawson finally gathered the puck in the left circle, held it, then dished it to Riley Sheahan in the high slot. Sheahan's blast went blocker-side on Palmisano, giving the hosts a 3-1 lead they would bring into the second intermission.

The Spartans limited the Irish to just five shots in the third period, but were forced to pull Palmisano with more than a minute remaining to try to pull closer; Notre Dame got an empty-net tally from Kevin Deeth with 55 seconds remaining for the final 4-1 margin.

Michigan State will take a break from conference action next weekend, hosting Wisconsin and Minnesota in the annual College Hockey Showcase games.