Senior forward Matt Berry scored the last hat trick for MSU hockey on Nov. 10, 2012 against U-M. On Saturday, spectators at Munn Ice Arena were treated to another three-goal performance as sophomore forward Mackenzie MacEachern scored a goal in each period to lead MSU (12-12-2, 6-4-2-2 to a 3-2 victory over No. 19 Penn State.
“My line mates set me up perfect,” MacEachern said after scoring his team-leading 10th goal. “It was definitely cool to get the hat trick, but it’s definitely not about me. I wouldn’t have been able to get those three goals if it wasn’t for the team, like [sophomore forward] Joe Cox blocking those shots gave me some energy out there to go there and do everything I could to help the team win.”
Those shot blocks by Cox came at the beginning of the game after junior forwards Ryan Keller and Matt DeBlouw took two penalties in the opening ten minutes. Cox had two key shot blocks on each penalty, and finished the game with five total. The selfless and painful plays set the tone for the Spartans right away.
“That got us all going,” junior captain Michael Ferrantino said. “He does that and everyone’s looking around ‘Hey, what can I do?’… He’s always that kind of guy, he’s a team-first guy.”
Head coach Tom Anastos summed up the health of Cox following his gutty performance.
“He was sore, but he was great,” Anastos said. “Winning heals a lot of wounds.”
The forward line of Berry, DeBlouw and MacEachern stayed hot as they registered six points on the night and 11 overall in the weekend sweep. Berry picked up two more assists, giving him a team-high 13 assists and 21 points.
“We’ve been getting pucks down low,” Berry said of their recent scoring touch. “Me and [MacEachern] have been doing a lot of cycling and just trying to find [DeBlouw] in the slot, or we’ve just been working really hard down low I think, and it’s helped us create chances going to the net.”
Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand turned in another good performance for the Spartans as he turned away 40 shots on the night. Coming off a 28-save shutout, Hildebrand was tested often on Saturday and was key to maintaining a lead late in the game.
“Excellent,” Anastos said of his goaltender’s performance. “There was more pressure on him tonight than there was [Friday night]…In both cases, Hildy stood up when we need him to make the big saves.”
MSU finished 2-for-7 on the power play while killing off 3-of-4 Nittany Lion power plays. When PSU’s Connor Varley scoring 7:31 into the second period, it ended a streak of 164:45 that MSU had not allowed a goal at Munn.
With the weekend sweep of PSU, the Spartans climbed even with the Nittany Lions. Each team sits with 22 points in the Big Ten, good for third place behind Minnesota and U-M. MSU will travel to last-place Wisconsin for two games next weekend.
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