Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Falls to New Hampshire, 5-3
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
April 1, 1999
Postgame Audio
· Coach Mason, Mike York, Joe Blackburn
· More Coach Mason Audio
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - In the end, Michigan State's acclaimed defense was no match for national scoring leader Jason Krog and New Hampshire teammate Mike Souza.
Krog scored twice and had an assist, and Souza one-upped him with two goals and two assists as the Wildcats overpowered the Spartans 5-3 Thursday night to make it to the NCAA championship game for the first time.
New Hampshire will play Maine, a 2-1 overtime winner over Boston College, in Saturday's title matchup of Hockey East rivals. The Wildcats were the regular-season champs, with Maine finishing three points back in second.
After Michigan State battled back from one-goal deficits to tie the game three times, the Wildcats went up 4-3 on Jason Shipulski's goal with 9:08 left, then sealed it on Krog's score with 5:20 left.
"I think our focus tonight was to wear them down with forechecking," Shipulski said.
Said Michigan State coach Ron Mason: "I thought the Krog line played pretty great and they did what they had to do to win the game."
The Spartans' success this season was based on their defense and the play of goaltender Joe Blackburn, who had a 1.39 goals-against average and whose .933 save percentage was the highest by a collegian since Ken Dryden was at Cornell in the late 1960s.
But Michigan State's defenders made some costly mistakes, including giving up a couple of goals by failing to clear the puck.
"Our defense made some poor decisions with the puck and they capitalized on them," Mason said. "That's the sign of an excellent team."
Coach Richard Umile, whose Wildcats lost 4-0 to Michigan in last year's semis, was impressed by his team's consistency.
"The guys played a solid, 60-minute game. They came out in the third and played a solid 20 to finish the game," he said.
Shipulski he broke free behind the defense, took a perfect feed from Krog and beat the sprawling Blackburn for the go-ahead goal.
Krog, a Hobey Baker Award finalist who leads the nation with 84 points on 34 goals and 50 assists, then added an insurance goal.
Adam Hall's goal had drawn Michigan State even at 3-3 early in the final period.
Souza put the Wildcats up 3-2 with 1:43 remaining in the second period, knocking in a rebound of his own shot for his 21st goal.
He had scored early in the second period for a 2-1 lead, but the Spartans came back to tie it four minutes later on Sean Patchell's goal.
Krog opened the scoring late in the first period, and the Spartans' Rustyn Dolyny scored 38 seconds later to even it.
