When Cornell head coach Mike Schafer started his coaching career, his first game was against Michigan State University. The Big Red lost that game, marking the beginning of Schafer's 30-year coaching journey.
Schafer wasn’t about to end his career the way it started.
With 1:39 left on the power play, the Big Red capitalized with 10 seconds remaining, as Sullivan Mack scored to upset the Spartans 4-3.
"A tough finish to a great season," head coach Adam Nightingale said. "Only one team gets to finish with a win, not us this year. I told the guys I couldn't be more proud of our group. They've done everything we asked them to do. This is a little bit the reality of a single elimination."
Both teams entered the game coming off tournament championships: MSU with back-to-back regular season and tournament titles, and Cornell with back-to-back tournament titles. MSU was fresh off a double-overtime win over Ohio State, while Cornell carried momentum from a dominant 3-1 victory over Clarkson.
Cornell earned its NCAA tournament spot by winning the ECAC Tournament, while MSU was a lock for the tournament and had its sights set on claiming the No. 1 overall seed in Toledo, benefiting from the city’s proximity to Michigan.
MSU came into the first period focused on playing its style of hockey, and they executed. The Spartans made smart passes, generated offensive chances, and their defense stepped up, with senior David Gucciardi blocking back-to-back shots to keep Cornell off the board.
MSU opened the scoring, but the goal wouldn’t have happened without the assist from junior Joey Larson. Larson skated past Cornell netminder Ian Shane and slid the puck to sophomore Gavin O’Connell, who fired it into the net, igniting the Green and White crowd.
The Big Red quickly answered when top scorer Ryan Walsh beat sophomore netminder Trey Augustine with a wrist shot to the glove side. As MSU had done all season, they responded quickly.
On the power play, the Spartans’ special teams capitalized. Junior Charlie Stramel made an incredible pass behind him to junior Daniel Russell, who scored. The goal was Russell’s first since late January against Ohio State.
