After splitting last weekend’s home series against the Ohio State Buckeyes, the no. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish hosted the Michigan State Spartans to begin their final series of the Fall semester on Friday. Like the Irish, the Spartans are coming off a Big Ten split of their own, with the Penn State Nittany Lions. Entering the contest, the fourth-place Irish and fifth-place Spartans were separated by just one point in the conference standings.
First Period
It didn’t take long for the Spartans to get on the board, as Danton Cole’s squad jumped out to an early lead with a pair of goals by Tanner Kelly and Dennis Cesana within the first two minutes of play.