Michigan State University
Ohio State
Michigan State Hockey Falls To Ohio State, 4-1
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 16, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Michigan State hockey team dropped a 4-1 decision to Ohio State on Saturday night (Nov. 16) at Value City Arena. With the loss, MSU falls to 5-5 overall, 3-3 in the CCHA; while Ohio State improves to 8-2-1 overall, 5-0-1 in the CCHA.
"I thought we fought hard," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "We started slow. It's tough when you are giving up a lot of early goals. It puts you on your heels. I thought we had some kids who worked very hard. We had two semi-breakaways when it was 2-1 and if one of those goes in, then the game is tied."
For a second consecutive night, Ohio State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by Doug Andress and Daymen Bencharski. Andress fired a shot that beat Spartan goalie Justin Tobe (Northville, Mich.), under his leg pads at the 2:59 mark of the first period, while Bencharski converted a Spartan turnover into a goal at the 15:19 mark.
The Spartans jumped right out of the gates to start the second period. Sophomore forward Mike Lalonde (Chetwynd, B.C.) finally scored his first goal of the season, at the 0:14 mark. Lalonde's goal, which was assisted by Jim Slater (Lapeer, Mich.) and John-Michael Liles (Zionsville, Ind.), came just one second after the Spartan power play ended.
"We had a really good second period," remarked Comely. "It was by far our best period of the weekend."
Ohio State jumped out to a 3-1 advantage on a power play marker by Andress. Andress shot the puck past Toby, who was screened on the play. The Buckeyes closed out the scoring with a shorthanded marker by Paul Caponigri at the 17:40 mark of the third period.
The two-game sweep by Ohio State marked the first time since Oct. 26-27, 2001 that the Spartans have been swept on the road.
Freshman Justin Tobe took the loss in goal, stopping 30-of-34 shots. OSU's Mike Betz earned the victory with 19 saves.
"I thought that Tobe played pretty well," said Comley. "He made a lot of tough saves. I thought that was his best game so far. He held us in there."
Michigan State continues its road stand, heading to Bowling Green next Friday (Nov. 22). Face-off at BGSU Ice Arena is set for 7:05 p.m.
