ALBANY, N.Y. - It was almost a storybook season.
MSU’s hockey team held the number one spot in the national polls since Nov. 13, won the CCHA regular season and tournament titles, and earned a No. 1-seed for the NCAA Tournament.
But in the first period of its semifinal game against North Dakota on Thursday, MSU finally faltered.
Only 1:15 into play, the team’s top-ranked defense gave away the game-winning goal.
And for the next 18:45, the team played sloppy and heartless - like the game was already over.
“I think they might have caught us off guard,” sophomore defenseman Brad Fast said. “We just didn’t come out strong - we didn’t have our feet moving.”
North Dakota right wing Kevin Spiewak’s very first shot sailed over sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller’s right shoulder and hit the post with the bounce it needed to deflect in.
That quick 1-0 lead and MSU’s deflated spirits led to the Fighting Sioux’s second goal at 15:32, giving them the 2-0 lead they would keep the rest of the game.
The Sioux advanced to Saturday’s championship game to face Boston College.
“We had a terrible first period,” senior right wing Rustyn Dolyny said. “The big thing was, we needed a goal to get some energy in our legs. It’s tough when you’re out there and you know it’s your last game and you’re struggling and nothing’s happening.”
And nothing did happen for MSU all period.
Offensively, the Spartans misread passes and missed key opportunities in front of the net, generating only seven shots on goal. North Dakota, which boasts the third-best offense in the country, played a choking defense, tipping away passes and blocking MSU’s shots.
And MSU’s defense - a unit that has dominated games all year - counted on Miller to save 17 shots virtually by himself. He stopped 15.
The Sioux’s second goal came on a power play, when forward Ryan Bayda grabbed a perfect bounce off the wall and slipped it through Miller’s legs, giving his team the 2-0 lead.
“They got a really fortunate bounce on the second goal,” Miller said. “It came right back at them. After that, I just wanted to keep the team in it.”
MSU did improve its play through the game, getting 15 shots on goal in the third period and shutting down the Sioux’s powerful offense the rest of the way.
But MSU knew it would be tough to come back from an early deficit and win.
This season, the team has only trailed by two goals four times, and have never been able to come back and win. They did manage to climb out of a 2-0 hole against Bowling Green on Dec. 1, but tied 3-3.
“Our offense has been questionable all year,” head coach Ron Mason said. “We have to score on all the great chances we get.”
But in that first detrimental period, the team Mason has consistently said was one of the toughest mentally he’s seen, looked scared.
“They were nervous in the first period,” he said. “And I didn’t see it coming.”
