MSU/ND Put on Classic Big Ten Playoff Effort, Augustine Stands Tall

**Munn Arena- East Lansing MI**

Trey Augustine stopped all 18 shots faced and made a 3rd period power-play goal stand tall by Isaac Howard to elevate MSU to the Big Ten hockey championship game next weekend vs OSU, in a 1-0 win over Notre Dame.

This was MSU’s first shutout in a post season game since 2013 of the old CCHA quarter final (3-0 vs Miami). They heavily outshot ND 46-18 and had twice as many power plays and dominated the faceoff circle winning 33 of 46 (71.7%). The goal gave Howard his 100th NCAA point in his career as well. It was assisted by Karsen Dorwart (5 shots) and Matt Basgall (3 shots). Tiernan Shoudy led all Spartans with 6 shots.

That carryover PP time was a big deal – Isaac Howard makes one flutter past the glove hand of Say for a 1-0 MSU lead . pic.twitter.com/vJnpnqVMRM

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 15, 2025

The Spartans move to 25-6-4 and ensures a 1-seed is locked up for the NCAA Frozen Tournament. Now they will prepare to host OSU at Munn in attempt to capture a sweep of titles for the first time in school history.

The buzz of the crowd was early-and-often as MSU came out with high tempo and lots of shots early, putting ND on their heels in a hostile environment. A cross-checking penalty to Joey Larson only fueled the crowd to another level as they killed it off allowing only 1 shot on net. Second period was all MSU with 3 power plays and overwhelming 19-5 shot advantage but was stymied on two of those power plays, also limited to one shot on two of them. However, the third carried over into the 3rd period which proved to be the game-winner by Howard (24th goal). After then, they played strict defense as they owned only a 10-4 shot margin in the final frame. In addition to the Mark Richter award, Augustine is also a finalist among 5 for the AAU Sullivan Award, annually given since1930, highlighting the nation’s best athletes at the NCAA or Olympic level.

Good morning ☀️ to everyone who appreciates good goaltending. #inTreyWeTrust pic.twitter.com/0PiQD85Ylj

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 16, 2025

Augustine current season statistics would be the best for an MSU goaltender over the last 20 seasons.  Augustine’s .925 save percentage is the highest since Jake Hildebrand’s .930 in 2014-15, the year he was the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year.  His 2.09 is the lowest goals against average since Jeff Lerg posted a 1.94 in his freshman season, (2005-06). His impressive numbers between the pipes have come against some of the most lethal scorers in the country.  The goalie has faced 12 of the nation’s point-per-game scorers in a combined 17 games this season (of Augustine’s 27 played) and has allowed 13 goals (and 28 points) to those players.  In fact, two-thirds (17 of 27) of Augustine’s starts this season have come against offenses that average 3.0 goals per game or better.  In those 17 games, Augustine has a .920 save percentage and 2.32 GAA.  Four of those squads hail from the Big Ten, accounting for 15 of those contests.