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Hockey falls to Minnesota in second game, 3-2

December 7, 2013

MSU (5-8-1, 0-1-0-1 B1G) fell on Saturday to No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-2-2, 3-0-1-0 B1G) 3-2 at Munn Ice Arena, with the Spartans playing catch-up all game. MSU received two points in the Big Ten opening weekend, tying 2-2 on Friday with a shootout victory for the additional point.

Minnesota dominated most of the game on Saturday, scoring the first three goals of the game and outshooting the Spartans 38 to 21.
Minnesota came out hot in the 1st period controlling the tempo of play and dominating the Spartans in nearly all aspects of the game. Junior forward Christian Isackson slipped one past sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand that barely trickled across the goalline with 8:13 left in the period.

Junior forward Seth Ambroz added to the lead, tipping a shot from the point into the back of the net at 1:35 left in the period to increase the Minnesota lead to 2-0 heading into the 1st intermission. Ambroz’s goal came on a power play.

Minnesota outshot the Spartans 17-3 in the period, which was the biggest difference in shot total for a period of the season for the Spartans.

“The start of the game we expected them to come real hard and they did,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “That 1st period we thought we would have to weather a storm and we didn’t weather it well enough and consequently it was difficult for us to recover.”

The Spartans also lost senior forward Lee Reimer in the first period due to an upper body injury. He didn’t return the rest of the game and Anastos is still unsure on his chances of playing next week.

Minnesota would extend its lead to 3-0 off a shot from sophomore forward Mike Reilly that would redirect off a Spartan skater in front of the net.

MSU finally found some life when freshman forward Villiam Haag fired one into the back of the net late in the 2nd period. Senior forward Dean Chelios gave Haag a perfect cross ice pass through a couple Gopher defenders and Haag one-timed it for the power play goal at the 15:15 mark of the 2nd. Senior forward Greg Wolfe also had an assist on the play.

The goal extended Haag’s point streak to four games, with four goals and two assists during the stretch.

“It feels good right now,” Haag said of his recent play. “The goal today was an amazing pass from Dean, we had some eye contact and I just was going to the net. That’s the small things that we have to do in the games.”

MSU would add a goal with less than a second left in play to make the final score 3-2. Sophomore forward Michael Ferranitino scored the goal with assists from Wolfe and senior defenseman Jake Chelios.

While the goal didn’t have much significance on the outcome of the game, Anastos said it was an example of the team’s motto of never quitting.

Regardless of the loss on Saturday night, Wolfe was pleased with the Spartans’ weekend and the confidence the team built off their play. Wolfe said the team never gave up and was able to play with the best team in the country.

“Obviously yesterday was a huge day for us, we battled and got the win and then today we were down early and we could have gave up but we battled really hard,” Wolfe said. “Every single guy on our bench was giving it their all and no one quit. We stayed positive the whole time, and if that game would have been a little longer we probably could of had a chance at coming back so we can take some confidence out of it, we hung with the best team in the country. That’s a great team and we were right there both nights.”

MSU will get back on the ice next Saturday when it welcomes No. 6 Ferris State (12-2-2) to Munn Ice Arena for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The puck will be dropped at 7 p.m. between the two former CCHA foes.

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