Detroit - MSU’s oldest player, junior left wing Brian Maloney, was not quite 14 months old the last time the Spartans beat North Dakota.
Things didn’t change in the 37th annual Great Lakes Invitational championship game Saturday night.
The underdog Sioux (9-9-1) raced to a three-goal first-period lead and then held on to beat No. 4 MSU, 5-4, in overtime in front of 18,819 at Joe Louis Arena.
Sioux right wing Brandon Bochenski found a loose puck in front of the net and fired a shot between MSU junior goaltender Ryan Miller’s legs for the game-winner 7:09 into overtime.
The tally nullified a furious comeback by MSU, which erased a 4-1 deficit to send the game to overtime.
The loss prevented MSU (13-4-2 overall, 10-3-1 CCHA) from winning its fifth straight GLI title, which the Spartans have never accomplished. It also marked the 11th straight time MSU has fallen to the Sioux, dating back to 1980.
“(North Dakota) probably would like to play against us every night,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said. “The first period, we really dug ourselves a hole and I’m disgusted with myself and with the whole team with the way we played.
“Our team will be a better team because of this game.”
Adding to the Spartans’ heartache, they failed to get revenge for their 2-0 loss to North Dakota in the NCAA Frozen Four in April.
“I don’t know what it is - they’re a good team,” junior defenseman John-Michael Liles said. “I don’t know if there’s a secret behind it. They just played hard for a whole 60 minutes.”
North Dakota scored 6:51 into the game on a goal by right wing James Massen, but MSU answered with a power play tally by freshman forward Brock Radunske a little more than a minute later.
The tides turned in North Dakota’s favor soon after, as the Sioux posted three goals in an eight-minute span to close the period with a 4-1 lead.
Mason admitted the Spartans were a little shell-shocked after the first 20 minutes of play, during which they were outshot 21-13.
“I think there’s a reason for it,” Mason said. “We came off a game where we had a lot more time to make decisions coming out of our own zone against Michigan Tech and tonight we had no time.”
MSU beat Michigan Tech, 4-1, Friday to advance to the championship game.
Liles put MSU on the comeback trail 4:23 into the second with a power play blast from the point. The shot was knocked down in front and trickled past Sioux goaltender Josh Siembida.
Siembida, who had been recruited heavily by MSU, made 30 saves for the Sioux.
North Dakota head coach Dean Blais added Siembida to the roster before the tournament and Saturday’s start was the goalie’s first ever collegiate action. Siembida hasn’t even had his name stitched on the back of his jersey yet.
Miller, who looked uncharacteristically awkward in the first period, stopped 39 shots for the Spartans.
Liles sliced the Sioux lead to 4-3 with his second goal of the game, and third of the tournament, with 7:51 to play in regulation. Freshman left wing Kevin Estrada, battling behind the net, muscled the puck to Liles in the slot and the defenseman wristed it into the upper right corner for his eighth goal of the season.
MSU continued to apply pressure to Siembida and eventually cracked him for the game-tying goal with 1:36 to play. Junior defenseman Brad Fast ignited the partisan crowd by wristing a shot between the goalie’s legs from the high slot for his sixth goal of the year.
“We never even thought about losing - it just blindsides you when it does happen,” Fast said. “We were pretty much just disappointed with the way we came out to handle North Dakota. They had skilled forwards and skilled forwards are going to create chances.
“That’s basically it.”
In the GLI consolation game, No. 9 U-M lit up tournament host Michigan Tech 7-4 to avoid a second consecutive fourth-place GLI finish.
U-M left wing Michael Woodford recorded his first three goals of the season to lead the Wolverines (11-6-3, 8-3-2) back from a 3-1 second-period deficit.
The Huskies, MSU’s first-round victim, are 5-11-2.
