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Hockey team faces stiff competition in Ohio State

January 23, 2015

“Last year, we had a lot of close games with them,” junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand said. “Even this year, the first series we had with them we split and I thought we could’ve played a little better and had better faith there. But we’re definitely going to try and come here and get us six points.”

MSU hasn’t been able to come away with six points in any of their weekend series this season, and are coming off a disappointing performance at Penn State where the Spartans only came away with two points per game.

“We’ve got to rebound,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “It wasn’t a frustrating performance, it was a poor performance on Saturday. I thought we responded (Monday) in the manner in which I was looking for in practice. We have a chance to refocus now on Ohio State. It’s an important series for us if we want to try to make some noise and create a race here in the Big Ten.”

With MSU and OSU sitting at fourth place and fifth place, respectively, in the Big Ten, coming away with six points would put either team right back in the thick of the Big Ten race. Penn State leads Big Ten play with 16 points, but will remain idle in the conference this weekend as they take on Northern Michigan. Two regulation wins this weekend would place the Spartans just three points behind the Nittany Lions.

“It’s huge,” sophomore forward Villiam Haag said. “First of all, it’s always exciting to play against Ohio. It’s a big a big school, as is Michigan State, and some kind of rivalry. ...With only one point between us, it’s very important for the rest of the season and getting in the top (of the Big Ten) for the tournament.”

Haag is coming off a breakout weekend against PSU, netting two goals and adding an assist over the two-game span. After collecting 13 points and eight goals in his freshman campaign, Anastos hopes his performance is a sign of things to come for the rest of the season.

“We’ve been looking for a bit of a breakout weekend for him,” Anastos said of his Swedish forward. “And also to see how that line (Haag - Michael Ferrantino - Joe Cox) kind of comes together. I thought, overall, their line had a pretty decent weekend and in his case, he got on the scoreboard. The puck went in the net and that starts to make you feel a little bit better and helps your confidence.”

Confidence has become one of the main talking points for Anastos throughout the season. Be it an unnecessary loss of confidence after a hard-fought loss to a tough opponent, or having too much of it after a shootout win where the Spartans might have been outplayed. The end result has been maddening amounts of inconsistency and an inability to compile the points necessary to contend in the Big Ten.

“I know last weekend we only got two points, and I don’t think anybody was happy or satisfied with two points,” Hildebrand said. “We feel like we have to come out with six points this weekend.”

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