Michigan State University
Ohio State
Michigan State Hockey Falls To Ohio State, 5-2
11/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 15, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Michigan State ice hockey team (5-4 overall, 3-2 CCHA) dropped a 5-2 decision to Ohio State at Value City Arena on Friday night (Nov. 15). With the win, the Buckeyes extended their win streak to four games.
"I thought Ohio State played very well," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "All we did was hang around for a while and tried to find a way to fight back a couple of times. Ohio State skated very well and worked very hard. Their size and maturity showed very much. They gave us fits all night long in our own end."
The Buckeyes (7-2-1 overall, 4-0-1 CCHA) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by Dave Steckel and Paul Caponigri. Steckel's power play tally at the 8:51 mark of the first period found his way past Matt Migliaccio (Wyandotte, Mich.) after the Spartan goalie had made the initial save. OSU's second goal came right off the face-off to the right of Migliaccio. Scott May won the face-off and drew the puck back to Caponigri, who fired a quick shot over the left shoulder of the Spartan netminder at the 11:24 mark.
Michigan State came out strong to start the second period, cutting the OSU lead to 2-1. Senior forward Troy Ferguson (Kitchener, Ont.) tallied his first goal of the year at the 2:56 mark. The Buckeye goalie, Mike Betz, went down early and Ferguson put the puck into the empty net. Sophomore forward Kevin Estrada (Surrey, B.C.) and sophomore defenseman Duncan Keith (Penticton, B.C.) drew the assists on the Spartan tally.
The Buckeyes would answer just 1:20 later to take a 3-1 lead. Freshman Ryan Kesler took a shot from the right face-off circle dot and put the puck over Migliaccio's shoulder.
State would fight right back and cut the lead to one, 3-2 at the 15:21 mark of the second stanza. Sophomore forward Jim Slater (Lapeer, Mich.) recorded his fourth tally of the season banking the puck in off a Buckeye defender from behind the net. Freshman forward David Booth (Washington, Mich.) and sophomore forward Mike Lalonde (Chetwynd, B.C.) drew the assists on Slater's marker.
"We cut it to 3-2 and then they go the fourth goal, and I think that really took the wind out of our sails," said Slater. "There was still a lot of time left, but I think that two-goal lead right off the bat really helped them."
Ohio State would answer right back with a goal by Caponigri to take a 4-2 advantage into the locker room at the break. Caponigri slid the puck under Migliaccio for his second goal of the game.
Michigan State had several opportunities in the third period, but OSU goaltender Mike Betz made several key stops. Betz stopped Estrada point break and also stopped Ferguson. Lalonde had a goal waved off after the referee said the puck was gloved in.
Migliaccio stopped 32-of-37 shots in taking the loss. Betz finished with 18 saves.
"They jumped all over us and we didn't respond very well," Migliaccio said. "We had a chance to come back, but things didn't go our way."
"We have a lot of youth right now," said Comley. "We need some people to step up. Speed and size hurt us tonight. We just got beat by a better team tonight."
Michigan State and Ohio State will face-off tomorrow night (Nov. 16), at 7:05 p.m., in the second game of the two-game set.
Spartan Notebook
* Spartan forwards have scored 13 of MSU's last 18 goals.
* Senior forward Troy Ferguson scored his first goal of the season in the second period vs. Ohio State.
* Sophomore forward Kevin Estrada picked up his first point of the season - an assist - in the second period.
* Ohio State outshot the Spartans, 37-20 for the game.
* State finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while Ohio State was 2-of-3.
