Michigan State hockey's season ends with loss to U-M in NCAA Tourney
Michigan State's remarkable, championship-winning second season under head coach Adam Nightingale has come to an end. On Sunday, the Spartans were defeated, 5-2, by in-state rival Michigan in the NCAA Tournament's Maryland Heights regional final.
The 343rd meeting all-time between these two rivals on the ice, this was the first time in this series' history that the Spartans and Wolverines squared off in the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State came into the game having won four consecutive games against Michigan, including an overtime victory in the Big Ten Tournament final.
This outing went the other way however, as the Wolverines took control with two goals in a 12-second span with seven minutes left to turn a tie game into a two-goal U-M lead. Five minutes later, Michigan put the final touches on its victory when Dylan Duke redirected a shot from Gavin Brindley into the back of the net for the game's final goal.
Michigan State got an early power play opportunity less than five minutes into the action when Brindley was hit with a hooking penalty for the Wolverines. The Spartans took advantage of the extra skater, taking a 1-0 lead at the 13:40 mark of the first period when Gavin O'Connell redirected a shot from Matt Basgall to the back of the net past Wolverine goaltender Jake Barczewski.
Just under six minutes into the second period, Michigan would find the equalizer. The Wolverines found themselves on a 3-on-2 opportunity in transition, with T.J. Hughes crossing the blue line, passing left to Duke, who found Ethan Edwards for a one-timer in front of the net to beat MSU goaltender Trey Augustine.
The Spartans found themselves trailing for the first time at the 13:31 mark of the third period, after Michigan's Garrett Schifsky dropped a pass to Jacob Truscott, who found Marshall Warren on the backside of the net to beat Augustine and give the Wolverines a 2-1 advantage.
Needing a response, Michigan State got an opportunity when U-M's Philippe Lapointe was hit with a two-minute boarding penalty. The Spartans got their second power-play goal of the day with 9:34 left in the game, when Nicolas Muller found a wide open Joey Larson away from the pack who beat Barczewski with a one-timer to make it 2-2.
The Spartans' relief was short-lived, however, as the Wolverines hit MSU with back-to-back goals at the 7:18 and 7:06 marks in the third. The first came when Duke received a pass from Hughes at center ice, using his speed to skate past two Spartan defensemen, cross in front of the goal and beat Augustine on a wrap-around goal. Suddenly trailing again, Michigan State had no time to gather its wits. Michigan won the subsequent faceoff with the puck finding its way to Ethan Edwards, who passed ahead to U-M's Frank Nazar, who dropped a between his legs pass across the ice to Brindley for a back-breaking goal.
Trailing by two, Michigan State pulled Augustine with roughly three and a half minutes remaining in a desperate attempt to get back in the game, but that strategy was short-lived when MSU's Muller was hit with a two-minute slashing penalty. Duke scored his second goal of the game for the Wolverines just nine seconds into the following power-play to put the game out of reach.
With this defeat, Michigan State was denied its first trip to the Frozen Four since 2007, a disappointing end to what has been an outstanding season for the Spartans. MSU won the Big Ten regular season championship for the first time since hockey became a league sport for the conference in 2013-14. It was the Spartans first regular season conference title since 2001, and they followed that up by winning the Big Ten Tournament title as well (first league tournament title since 2007). Nightingale's current team is bristling with young talent, and Michigan State continues to recruit at a high level, indicating the Spartans will continue to compete for championships in the immediate future.
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