Spartans look to build on success from Notre Dame weekend

The Spartans celebrate Tanner Sorenson's goal in the opening minutes of their Saturday night game with Notre Dame. (Michael Caples/MiHockey)

By Stefan Kubus –

EAST LANSING – “When you get a taste of something good, you want more.”

That’s how Michigan State freshman defenseman Travis Walsh (Haslett) described his team’s 4-1 victory over No. 2/3 Notre Dame Saturday night, an impressive feat and even rarer accomplishment considering the Spartans’ struggles.

Although the two teams split in the weekend series, the Spartans kept pace with the Irish both Friday and Saturday. And for the first time since Dec. 30, the Spartans were able to find the back of the net.

Four times, in fact.

“I thought we probably put our best six periods of hockey together from a compete level and I think that’s important,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. “That needs to be a signature of our team if our team, at this stage of the game, is going to have any success. And I think our players understand that.

“I thought Notre Dame was one of the best teams we’ve seen so far this year. I thought they played a real good game on Saturday night, in particular, so it was nice to see the pucks go in the net. I think that was a confidence boost for our team for sure and something to build on.”

A major part of the team’s success came as a result of freshman Jake Hildebrand’s goaltending. Hildebrand, now 4-8-2 on the season, stopped 65 shots over the weekend and now sports the fourth-best save percentage (.943) and eighth-best goals-against average (1.81) in the nation. Additionally, he was named the CCHA Warrior Goaltender of the Week on Monday.

Hildebrand said he was flattered to receive the honor, but gave the credit to the team in front of him.

“I think any award a goaltender wins isn’t just reflective upon the goaltender,” Hildebrand said. “I think it’s the team around him, with the forwards blocking shots, defensemen covering guys in front of the net, making it hard to play in front of the net.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s home-and-home CCHA series with Ferris State, Michigan State will certainly look to carry over the momentum built with the Notre Dame win. MSU is 0-6-1 in the first game of a two-game series this season, but has been 4-3-0 in the second game.

“Now, we go into this stretch where we’re home-and-home with Ferris,” Anastos said. “We’ve got a lot of home games coming up between now and the end of the season. I think the only overnight trip we have is Alaska so the teams we play are good. Hopefully, we can continue to grow some confidence.”