Although the Irish might have only come away with one point in their weekend road series against Michigan State, they might have discovered a new offensive threat for their team.
Sophomore forward Mike Walsh, who missed nearly all of his freshman season last year with an injury and mononucleosis, scored a goal in each of the team's games. Walsh now has four goals on the season, tying him for second on the team with forward Cory McLean.
Forward Rob Globke leads the team with five goals.
Walsh's contribution wasn't quite enough, however, as Notre Dame lost to Michigan State 3-1 Friday, but the team came back to salvage a 3-3 tie against the Spartans Saturday.
The loss Friday snapped a four-game winning streak for the Irish. Notre Dame currently now sits at 5-3-0 overall and 4-3-0 in the CCHA.
Goaltender David Brown's shutout streak was also snapped Saturday, as Michigan State's Jim Slater beat him just 7:12 into the game. Brown's streak ended at 193 minutes, 27 seconds, a Notre Dame record.
Friday, the two teams started with a scoreless first period before Michigan State jumped on the scoreboard first with just 41 seconds left in the second period.
Defenseman A.J. Thelen, just a 17-year-old freshman, one-timed a shot past Irish goalie Morgan Cey's left shoulder for his third goal of the season.
Down 1-0, Notre Dame had an excellent shot to get back in the game with a power play about halfway through the final period. A shorthanded goal by Adam Nightingale, however, all but killed the potential Irish momentum.
"The short-handed goal was a critical point of the game," Irish head coach Dave Poulin said.
Notre Dame would shake off the mistake 31 seconds later, as Matt Amado slid a pass toward the net which Walsh was able to deflect past Spartan goaltender Dominic Vicari. The Irish tried to get the tying goal late in the third, pulling Cey for an extra attacker, but an empty-net goal by Mike Lalonde killed any hope of an Irish comeback.
Cey made 35 saves in the loss, while Vicari made 23 stops.
"I thought it was a well-played, well-officiated game," Poulin said. "The goaltending was great at both ends of the ice. We have to capitalize offensively when we get the chances.
"Michigan State doesn't give up many chances, and when they do, you have to take advantage."
Saturday's game looked like it would be a similar win for the Spartans, with Michigan State taking a 3-1 lead before two Irish power play goals in the third came back to tie it. Notre Dame then saw a potential game-winning goal waved off with just seven seconds left in the game.
With Irish defenseman Wes O'Neill off for high-sticking, defenseman Tom Galvin took a long saucer pass to Globke, who then slapped a shot from the right-wing circle past Michigan State goaltender Matt Migliaccio for the apparent game-winner.
Referees convened and ruled that Globke had closed his hand around the puck as he tried to knock down Galvin's pass, and the goal was disallowed.
"That call was very disappointing," Poulin said. "To come back the way they did to give themselves a chance to win and then have the goal waved off was tough.
"I thought we played well the entire game, but the third period really stood out. They owe it to each other to play that way every night."
After Slater's early goal that snapped Brown's shutout streak, the Spartans capitalized on a Notre Dame turnover with 59 seconds left in the first to take a 2-0 lead.
The Irish came back to make it 2-1 about nine minutes into the second period as Walsh scored a rebound goal past Migliaccio. The Spartans would regain their two-goal lead on the power play nine minutes later, with another goal by Slater.
Notre Dame came back in the third with power play goals by defenseman Neil Komadowski and forward Aaron Gill before Globke's disallowed goal. Gill, the Irish captain, also assisted on the two other Notre Dame goals for a three-point night.
Brown made 25 saves for the Irish, and Migliaccio made 30 for the Spartans. Notre Dame now returns home to face the United States National Developmental Program's Under-18 team on Friday. Game time for this exhibition is 7:35 p.m.
