No. 5 Michigan State Stunned in Overtime, Falls 3-2 to Notre Dame

It took 60:21, but a winner was finally decided in the matchup between the No. 5 Michigan State Spartans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Unfortunately for the Spartans, it was the home team stealing an upset in overtime.

Michigan State entered the game riding a 10-game winning streak against the Fighting Irish in a rare Thursday night road matchup and its first conference game of the season. Despite two goals from Shane Vansaghi, the Spartans' slow start once again proved costly. For the third time in four two-game series, Michigan State dropped the opening game.

Here's how it happened.

The first period opened with Notre Dame applying the pressure. In a fast-paced period, quality scoring chances were few and far between, but the best opportunities belonged to the Fighting Irish.

Spartans goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen, the first goalie selected in the first round since 2019, used his size to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard.

Michigan State appeared to catch a break when Chase Reid fired a shot from the blue line that was redirected by Shane Vansaghi. For a moment, the Spartans led 1-0. However, after an official review, the goal was overturned because of a high stick by Vansaghi.

With four and a half minutes remaining, Ravensbergen came up big again, stopping a Notre Dame breakaway by taking away the shooting lane.

On the ensuing Michigan State possession, the Fighting Irish took the first penalty of the game, giving the Spartans their first power-play opportunity. Tommy Bleyl was the only Spartan to get a clean shot, but the opportunity amounted to little.

The period ended scoreless, with Notre Dame holding a 10-6 advantage in shots and looking like the better team through the opening 20 minutes.

Vansaghi finally got the goal that was taken away from him in the first period.

Vansaghi drove toward the glove side as the Notre Dame defenseman got crossed up, leaving him with a clear path to the net. He got behind the goaltender and slipped the puck through, sending it across the goal line to give Michigan State a 1-0 lead.

It didn't take long for the Nelson brothers to connect for the Fighting Irish. Danny Nelson sent a hard pass across the ice to his brother, Sammy Nelson, who knocked it home to tie the game at 1-1.

Shortly afterward, Cayden Lindstrom was called for a penalty, giving Notre Dame its first power play of the game.

The Spartans successfully killed off the penalty and nearly made the most of a shorthanded opportunity, with Anthony Romani leading a 2-on-1 rush. However, the chance came up empty.

Michigan State began generating an onslaught of shots midway through the period, with Mason West flying around the ice and creating multiple scoring opportunities. Despite the increased pressure, nothing found the back of the net.

The Spartans controlled the puck and carried the momentum through the end of the period, but neither team could break the tie. The game remained 1-1 heading into the third.

It became the Shane Vansaghi show.

With the teams still deadlocked seven minutes into the third period and Notre Dame carrying much of the momentum, Vansaghi found a loose puck and took advantage. He fired a shot on target that slipped right through the goaltender's pads, giving Michigan State a 2-1 lead.

It was Vansaghi's second goal of the night and the second multi-goal game of his collegiate career.

Michigan State nearly added a third goal when Tommi Mannisto hit the iron. That missed opportunity could have made all the difference.

Instead, Notre Dame continued piling on the scoring chances and finally found the equalizer with nine minutes remaining. Ravensbergen was beaten, and the game was tied once again at 2-2.

Both teams had opportunities to find the go-ahead goal, but neither could capitalize. After 60 minutes, the Spartans and Fighting Irish were headed to overtime.

It took just 21 seconds.

Notre Dame controlled the opening possession of overtime and wasted little time finding the game-winner. Sammy Nelson scored his second goal of the night, stunning Michigan State on the road and handing the Spartans a 3-2 overtime loss.

The defeat snapped Michigan State's 10-game winning streak against Notre Dame and gave the Fighting Irish a massive conference victory.

Despite two goals from Vansaghi and another strong effort from Ravensbergen, the Spartans once again found themselves on the wrong end of a game after struggling to get going early.

Michigan State will now look to bounce back and even the series in the next matchup against Notre Dame.