Michigan State University
Miami (Ohio)
No. 14 Spartans Fall to No. 11 Miami
1/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 30, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 14 Michigan State men's ice hockey team dropped its first game in a two-game set to No. 11 Miami, 2-1 on Friday night (Jan 30). Although the Spartans jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, they could not hold off the RedHawks attack in the third period. Lansing, Mich., native and Miami freshman forward Marty Guerin had a hand in both of MU's goals.
"I think we played a pretty good game," said head coach Rick Comley. "Miami is a good team; they made some plays, and things went their way towards the end of the game. (Brandon) Crawford-West gave up several rebounds and we were around the net. We just couldn't get our stick on them. We also missed a few critical chances, where it's just a matter of hitting the open net. I have to give them credit, they were a very good defensive team."
In the first 10 minutes of the game, MSU netminder Dominic Vicari (Fr., Clinton Township, Mich.) and MU goalie Brandon Crawford-West made several key saves on the opposing teams power plays keeping the game scoreless. Vicari stopped 17 shots in the game, his counterpart Crawford-West stopped 27.
With 7:05 remaining in the first stanza, the Spartans struck first when Chris Snavely (Fr., Lancaster, Pa.) fed the puck to a streaking winger Adam Nightingale (Jr., Cheboygan, Mich.). Nightingale went hard down the right side of the ice towards the net making a move and colliding with Crawford-West, but the puck managed to squeeze through in the collision, giving State a 1-0 advantage.
The second period proved to be filled with penalties, and at one point the RedHawks gained a two-man advantage. The Spartans held strong a successfully killed off the penalties. Freshman Drew Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) played a large role in the penalty kill, deflecting a RedHawk attacker's pass out of the defensive zone and down the ice to run the clock out on Miami's five-on-three opportunity.
In the opening minute of the third period, Miami forward Marty Guerin slammed a pass from teammate Matt Christie behind Vicari as the RedHawks knotted the game at one.
Miami took a 2-1 lead when Christie beat Vicari on a breakaway opportunity. Guerin was credited with the assist. Both players earned their second point of the game with one goal and one assist each.
"He came down and made a real nice move on me," said Vicari. "I though he was going wide and when I slid he came back and stuffed it five hole. I thought we had our chances tonight. The crowd was really into and we got into it, it just didn't go our way. We just need to focus on coming back strong tomorrow night."
With Vicari on the bench and six men on the ice, despite several scoring chances MSU failed to score the game-tying goal. Miami held their lead and took the game, 2-1.
"Overall, we had our opportunities," said Adam Nightingale. "We just didn't do it. We have to find a way to finish and bury our chances. Staying out the penalty box is going to be key."
Michigan State is now in third place in the CCHA two points behind Michigan and three points behind Miami. As the CCHA season draws to a close, tomorrow's rematch against the RedHawks at 4:05 p.m. EDT becomes more crucial to the Spartans position in the CCHA regular season championship race.
