No. 1 Minnesota State ends Notre Dame hockey's tourney run
Notre Dame couldn’t cool off the hottest team in NCAA hockey.
Nick Smith, who played for Team USA at the Beijing Olympics and ranks second in Division I in points per game, scored on a rebound with 16 seconds left in the first period and Dryden McKay finished with 23 saves to make that lead hold up as Minnesota State beat the Fighting Irish 1-0 Saturday to advance to the Frozen Four.
The Mavericks (37-5) extended their school-record winning streak to 17 games and notched their 26th win in their last 27 games to advance to the Frozen Four for the second straight year. Last season was the first time in school history Minnesota State advanced to the Frozen Four, losing to St. Cloud 5-4 in the semifinals.
The third-seeded Irish (28-12) fell to 4-3 all-time in NCAA regional final games.
Irish coach Jeff Jackson said Minnesota State had the Irish playing on their heels.
“We didn’t play on our toes enough at times," he said. "When we defend well, we need to transition from that, and I don’t think we necessarily did that as well as we have in the past. Part of that is due to them, how hard they play and their structure.”
Notre Dame had to fight for every scoring opportunity, and those chances were few and far between as the Mavericks, the No. 2 overall seed in the 16-team field and ranked No. 1 in both national polls the past two months, held the Irish to few odd-man rushes and forced them to shoot from outside repeatedly.
“They’re a tough team to play against,” Jackson said. “They defend well. A lot of it is with puck possession. It’s not just about defending. They do a good job possessing the puck.”
The Irish pulled goalie Matthew Galajda with 2:14 left, but couldn’t generate many strong scoring chances. The best chance came on a slap shot from the left point by Nick Leivermann with 75 seconds left, but McKay made a pad save.
The Irish had a chance to tie the game with 6:25 left, when a weak shot by Leivermann from the left point trickled in and hit the left post. There was a scrum of bodies out front, but the Irish couldn’t get off a shot. Leivermann had a slap shot off a faceoff 10 seconds later but it never made it to the net.
Jackson said the Irish needed to create chaos in front of McKay more frequently.
The Irish began gathering momentum, so Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings called timeout with 12:08 left in regulation.
“We knew it was going to be an absolute battle, and it was,” Hastings said.
The Irish fell to 13-4 in one-goal games as they held opponents to two goals or fewer in 10 of their last 11 games.
Defenseman Adam Karashik said the message Jackson gave the team heading into the third period was to stick to the game plan.
“We had belief that we could get one there, get two there. It was just unfortunate it didn’t happen for us,” he said.
Neither team had many good scoring opportunities in the first period until the final two minutes, with the Irish going 10 minutes without a shot on net. That is until play picked up after Karashik leveled Minnesota State's Sam Morton with a hit along the boards with just under three minutes left in the period.
The Irish had their best chance when Landon Slaggert slammed on the brakes at the top of the right circle and slid a pass across the slot to his brother, Graham Slaggert, who fired a wrist shot that McKay made a glove save on. Jake Pivonka then had a backhanded shot just outside the crease with 48 seconds left and McKay made a kick save.
Minnesota State got the game’s only goal off a faceoff in the Notre Dame end with 20 seconds left in the first period. Brendan Furry won the faceoff and fired a shot from the left faceoff dot and Galajda made a kick save with his left leg.
The rebound bounced into the slot, and Smith pounced on it and fired the puck into the top right corner for his 19th goal and 50th point of the season.
McKay, one of three finalists for the Mike Richter Award, that goes to the nation’s top goaltender, and a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, extended his NCAA-record for wins in a season to 37 and career shutouts with 34.
McKay also shut out Minnesota 4-0 in last year’s regional final.
“I’ve been a big fan of No. 29 here for four years and plus,” Hastings said. “For him to be in this game twice and throw up two goose eggs is pretty outstanding.”
Galajda, a graduate transfer from Cornell making his 11th straight start for the Irish, had the more impressive saves, finishing with 32 overall, but gave up the lone goal.
Karashik said Galajda gave the Irish confidence.
“It’s a great feeling to know the guy behind you has your back. It’s just been like that all year with him in net,” he said.
Both goalies entered the game with .931 save percentages.
Minnesota State will play the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 1 seed Western Michigan and Minnesota, on April 7 in Boston.
Jackson said he is proud of the way the Irish played through injuries and illness down the stretch.
“That’s how you win," he said. "You win with character. You win with gutsiness. This group exemplified this. I’m extremely proud of what they accomplished. I would have liked one more step.”
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