Omaha, Neb. - Amid the cheering for the victorious Denver Pioneers, one could almost hear the sigh of relief from MSU fans at the Omaha Civic Auditorium this weekend.
Very rarely do Spartan fans take any solace from a one win, one loss weekend.
But MSU’s biggest question mark coming into the season - goaltending - was its biggest strength at the Maverick Stampede tournament.
Freshman Justin Tobe made 30 saves against the Pioneers’ blitzing attack Friday, and sophomore Matt Migliaccio equaled that number against Colgate on Saturday.
“We leave here very encouraged,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “They both played very well and goaltending may be the least of our concerns as we try to pull this thing together.”
Although Tobe’s stat line didn’t look very impressive - he allowed five goals to Denver - it could have been worse.
“It could have been 20-0 if he wasn’t in there,” sophomore center Jim Slater said. “He was unbelievable.”
About nine minutes into the game, Tobe stopped Denver left wing Matt Weber’s breakaway shot with his blocker.
Later in the period, Tobe made a diving stick save on Pioneer right wing Kevin Ulanski’s one-timer that was as good as any stop ever shown on SportsCenter.
Such was the case all day. Because of the overmatched Spartan defense, Tobe had to twist, turn and dive all over his crease to keep Denver at bay as much as possible.
And all this in his first start as a collegian.
“It’s tough playing a team that good in your first start,” Tobe said. “But there were some stops I made that I wouldn’t normally expect to make. Tough shots, I was happy with those overall.”
Tobe’s biggest problem was controlling rebounds. Denver often got second, third and fourth opportunities in front of the net because Tobe couldn’t smother the shots.
“I’ve got to work on those a little bit,” Tobe said. “The third goal was on the third shot, so I’ve got to control those a little better to keep the team in the game.”
Comley said he sought advice from Joe Blackburn, MSU’s volunteer goalie coach, when deciding which netminder to play in the consolation game against Colgate. Blackburn recommended Migliaccio despite Tobe’s solid performance the night before.
“Like Joe said very simply, ‘Five is five,’” Comley said. “A goaltender’s challenge is two or less.”
Migliaccio responded to the starting nod by playing the best game of his career. He looked cool and confident throughout the contest - a far cry from his body language during the Green and White scrimmage and the exhibition against Western Ontario last week.
“I felt good,” Migliaccio said. “The guys in front of me did a good job of letting me see the shots. Everything was sticking to me, nothing was bouncing off, and if there was a rebound, the defense was there to clear it.
“Justin played great last night, so we established some good goaltending this weekend. Hopefully we can keep it on a roll going into Northern (Michigan) this weekend.”
Spelling bee
It seems that Migliaccio is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Spartan hockey team - he don’t get no respect.
The slighted sophomore goaltender’s surname was misspelled on his jersey at the Maverick Stampede this weekend. The third “i” was missing, making the name on his back “Migliacco.”
“I didn’t even notice,” Migliaccio said. “My dad noticed it when I played last game.”
Many of his MSU teammates didn’t recognize the mix-up either.
“Really?” junior center Tim Hearon asked. “That’s pretty crappy.”
Apparently, Migliaccio’s name was spelled incorrectly on the roster that was sent to the jersey-maker.
MSU wants to get him a new jersey - with the correct spelling - in time for the Northern Michigan series this weekend.
But will he take it?
“I don’t know, I played pretty good with it,” Migliaccio said with a laugh.
