Michigan State University
Northern Mich
Hall's OT Goal Lifts Hockey To 3-2 Win
2/11/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 11, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State needed a goal in its biggest must-win game of the season, and it came from a familiar source, as Adam Hall's backhand found its way into the net and gave the Spartans a 3-2 overtime win over Northern Michigan Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.
"I batted it, it went over the top of his blocker, hit the post and went in," said Hall, who leads the team with 18 goals on the season. "I saw it hit the post, and then it took another couple of weeks to get inside the net."
Perhaps not weeks, but the goal did help ease what has been five weeks of frustrating hockey for Michigan State, a stretch in which goals have been hard to come by and CCHA regular-season title hopes have dimmed. This win over second-place Northern Michigan, however, keeps MSU in the title hunt, just one point behind the Wildcats and four behind first-place Michigan entering tomorrow night's rematch with NMU.
Michigan State is now 19-9-2 overall (14-7-1 in the CCHA), while NMU is 19-8-2 (14-5-2 CCHA). The two teams face each other Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. on FOX Sports Net (WVFN-AM 730, www.foxsports.com, www.broadcast.com/sports/ncaa/MichiganState).
The Spartans posted their first overtime win of the year (1-2-2) and just their third come-from-behind victory of the season.
Hall's goal started with a nice hit by freshman left wing Brian Maloney which got the crowd excited and helped senior defenseman Mike Weaver keep the puck in the zone. He flipped it forward and senior center Shawn Horcoff picked it up. Horcoff slipped between two Wildcats, made a move behind the goal, then flipped a quick pass to Hall's backhand at the bottom of the right wing circle. Hall flipped it high and it eventually went in the top far corner.
"Maloney made a great hit behind the net," Hall recalled. "That got the crowd into it, and you could feel the electricity on the ice. Weave did a nice job to keep it in, and Shawn fought off two guys in the corner and put it right on the tape."
Michigan State held a 28-21 shot advatange entering the overtime and had let a 2-1 lead slip away in the final four minutes of regulation.
"I came to the bench before the overtime and said to the guys that we deserved this game," said junior wing Sean Patchell, who assisted on both of MSU's regulation goals and earned the third star of the game. "We had worked hard for it, we just needed to get the goal. We just had to keep working the way we were working."
After a scoreless first period, Northern Michigan took a 1-0 lead on a power play. Roger Trudeau scored his 17th of the year on assists from Sean Connolly and Bryce Cockburn at the 7:37 mark of the second.
The Spartans answered on a power play of their own just over three minutes later, however. A Brad Hodgins shot from the point found its way through a crowd in front for the senior defenseman's sixth goal of the season.
MSU took a 2-1 lead at the 18:27 mark of the second period, as junior center Andrew Bogle scored his fourth of the year. Excellent forechecking caused a Northern turnover, and Patchell centered the puck to Bogle in the right wing circle. He fired a quick shot which beat NMU goaltender Dan Ragusett to the far side.
Northern Michigan carried the play in the third period, as MSU clung to its one-goal lead. A shot from the right point by Tyler Barabonoff found its way past MSU goaltender Joe Blackburn, however, with 3:35 remaining to send the game into overtime.
That's where Hall ended it on just his second shot of the night, and the only shot in overtime.
"A tie really wasn't going to do us any good," head coach Ron Mason said. "We needed a win. And to have a dramatic win like that can sometimes turn things around for you.
"Maloney made a great play, then Horcoff got the puck and made a nice pass to Hall. If you are going to score in overtime, those are the guys you want to have the puck."
