Hockey Falls 3-2 At Bowling Green

Jan. 17, 2004

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Michigan State hockey team dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision at Bowling Green on Saturday night. The Spartans held a 42-to-19 edge in total shots for the game as BGSU netminder Jordan Sigalet stopped 40 shots en route to No. 1 star of the game honors.

"We've had games where we had poor effort in the second game in the series," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "There was no poor effort tonight. I thought our kids played their hearts out tonight. They did everything they could, but (Jordan) Sigalet was outstanding."

Unlike last night when the first goal wasn't scored until the third period, Bowling Green jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Ryan Minnabarriet at the 2:31 mark of the first period. The Falcons made it 2-0 after two on a goal by Erik Eaton at the 17:56 mark of the middle stanza.

The Spartans had plenty of opportunities in the opening 40 minutes as State held a 19-to-11 edge in total shots. Junior forward Ash Goldie (London, Ont.) and sophomore forward David Booth (Washington, Mich.) each had several excellent scoring opportunities in the second period, but couldn't get the puck past Sigalet.

MSU finally got on the scoreboard as Goldie converted on a 5-on-3 power play to close the gap to 2-1. Goldie took a feed from freshman defenseman Chris Snavely (Lancaster, Pa.) at the point and blasted a shot that beat Sigalet.

"I just kept shooting," said Goldie. "You are not going to score unless you shoot. Eventually, one is going to go in. We had plenty of chances to win the game, but they just got one more in than us."

Michigan State continued to pepper Sigalet, holding a 12-to-1 edge in shots with 10:39 to play. Unfortunately, it was the Falcons' Minnabarriet who picked up his second goal of the game off a Spartan turnover to give BGSU the 3-1 lead.

The Spartans would fight back as Goldie picked up his second goal of the game at 12:24 to bring MSU back within one, 3-2. Goldie fired a shot from the slot on a feed from senior defenseman Joe Markusen (Park River, N.D.).

Michigan State (13-12-1 overall, 9-6-1 CCHA) couldn't find the equalizer despite holding a 23-to-2 edge in total shots in the third period.

"That is one of the better efforts we have had in the third period all year," continued Comley. "Everybody played their hearts out. We did everything we could, but tie the game. We hit a couple of goal posts, but we just couldn't get it in."

Michigan State continues its road swing with a pair of games at Ohio State next weekend (Jan. 23-24). Friday's game begins at 8:05 p.m. and will be broadcast by CSTV, while on Saturday face-off is set for 7:05 p.m.

Spartan Notebook
* Junior forward Ash Goldie equaled his career best with a pair of goals. All told, he had eight total shots on night, including four in the second period and three in the third period.

* Michigan State is 2-10 when the opponent scores the first goal of the game. However, State is 11-3-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.

* The Spartans are 5-6-1 in games following a win. MSU posted a 1-0 victory at BGSU last night.