Michigan State University Athletics
Ron Mason Era Comes To An End
3/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 22, 2002
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The end of the season also meant the end of an era for the Michigan State hockey program.
Coach Ron Mason's 23rd season behind the Spartan bench and 36th year of coaching overall drew to a close with a 2-0 loss to Colorado College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday (March 22).
Mason, who will take over as MSU's 16th athletics director July 1, closed his career with a 924-380-83 overall record and 635-270-69 mark at Michigan State. He's the winningest coach in college hockey history, posting mind-boggling victory totals that no mentor in the near future will come close to approaching.
"Unless you win the national championship, you lose your last game," Mason said. "We would have liked to advance but it didn't happen.
"I really felt we deserved at least one goal. If we would have gotten that goal it would have meant a lot. Fortunately for me, I have been to the top of the mountain and haven't been down very often. I thought our kids played hard and didn't give up and battled right to the end."
"Coach is a great inspiration," said junior goaltender Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.), who proved his Hobey Baker Award and All-American mettle by making 27 saves for the Spartans. "He knows the game so well. He is always prepared and always gets us prepared. You're not going to find too many holes.
"The players appreciate him as a coach and he's been real supportive of us. He's made Michigan State a great place to play."
While the majority of the focus following the game was on the end of Mason's career, the loss also brought to a close the careers of four Spartans seniors - forwards Adam Hall and Joe Goodenow and defensemen Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana.
"It's an empty feeling knowing you don't have a chance," said Insana. "I'm sure coach Mason's feeling that as well.
(Mason) has made all the difference. He's made the difference in my career. He's made me a better player and a better person."
MSU (27-9-5 overall, 18-6-4 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) dominated the first five minutes of the opening period before Colorado College took the power play at 7:50 with Duncan Keith was in the box for holding. The Spartans, who had six shots on goal in the game's first four minutes, would not manage another chance the rest of the first period.
Colorado College took a 1-0 lead at 10:05 of the opening period. The Tigers' Trent Clark tipped a Richard Petiot shot past Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) just inside the far post. Petiot took control of the puck after senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson (Hudson, Ohio) couldn't get the puck out of the defensive zone.
The Spartans outshot the Tigers 9-6 in a scoreless second period, including a blast launched by junior defenseman John-Michael Liles (Zionsville, Ind.) during a 4-on-3 power-play opportunity from between the faceoff circles that trickled through Colorado College goaltender Jeff Sanger's pads and hit the post and a wrister by freshman forward Mike Lalonde (Chetwynd, B.C.) that caromed off Sanger's head and the crossbar shortly after a MSU man advantage had expired.
CC took a 2-0 lead at 5:43 of the third with a goal from Alex Kim. Noah Clarke slipped a pass to Kim, who was stopped on his first shot by Miller, but swept the rebound past the Spartan goalie.
"I guess you kind of get hit that with disappointment," said Miller. "You come into the (tournament) with high hopes. I tried to rally our boys and tried to set the table for going all the way. I guess I was wrong. The worst I could have been was wrong, and it doesn't feel too good."
