Late Goal Sinks Spartans, 5-3

Oct. 17, 2009

Orono, Maine - A late power-play goal stood as the game-winner for the homestanding Maine Black Bears on Saturday night in Orono, as the squad snapped a three-game winless streak to start the season with a 5-3 victory over Michigan State. Maine got the game-winner from Gustav Nyquist with 1:39 remaining in regulation to snap a 3-3 tie. MSU got goals from Corey Tropp, Mike Merrifield, and Andrew Rowe on the night, but fall to 3-1-0 on the season.

"I thought that some avoidable penalties hurt us tonight, but it was a hard-fought hockey game on both sides," commented head coach Rick Comley. "This is a tough road venue, and we knew that Maine would come out hard tonight after losing last night. We got the better end of it last night, they got one tonight."

The Spartans took nine penalties in tonight's game, and Maine went 2-for-8 on the power play and added a shorthanded tally for good measure. Scott Darling got the win in net , making 24 saves. Drew Palmisano had 20 saves for MSU.

Tropp continued his torrid scoring with a power-play tally at 9:23 of the opening period. MSU had the puck deep in the zone, and Derek Grant `s pass caromed off the skate of Nick Sucharski and laid loose low in the slot. Tropp collected the puck below the circle, held it for an extra second, and lifted it over the goalie's pad for his fourth goal of the weekend.

David deKastrozza netted a shorthanded tally at 16:11 to knot the game at one. Carrying it into the offensive zone, the centerman's wrister from the top of the left circle eluded Palmisano.

Early in the second, Maine took its first lead of the night with a goal from Spencer Abbot, his first of the season. Abbot took a feed from Adam Shemansky and beat Palmisano with a shot from the hash marks.

Michigan State took little time to knot the game at two, getting an equalizer at 4:04. It was a beautiful tic-tac-toe play, as Tropp carried the puck into the offensive zone and put a perfect pass onto the stick of Jeff Petry, who promptly got it over to Merrifield on the left side. Darling had committed to the right post to protect the Petry shot, and Merrifield had a wide-open left side for his first goal of the season.

Brian Flynn got his first goal of the season at 15:03 to give the home team a 3-2 lead. Skating on the power play, Flynn converted a shot from low in the slot off a pass from Matt Mangene. The Black Bears took that lead into the dressing room at the second intermission, scoring twice in the frame despite taking just five shots.

Michigan State came out determined in the third, and took just 45 seconds to knot the game once again. Daultan Leveille won the faceoff in MSU's zone, and the puck was collected by Dustin Gazely, who raced up the length of the ice into the offensive zone. Gazley had the puck knocked away, but Andrew Rowe was able to bounce it off the back of Darling and into the back of the net for an equalizer.

With Maine pressuring deep in the zone with three minutes remaining, Matt Crandell was whistled for a hook, putting Maine on the power play. The Black Bears buzzed in the zone, but Palmisano came up with a big early save and Chris Forfar had a block to keep the attack at bay. The dangerous Nyquist had the puck in the right circle, held it for an opening, and wristed a laser through traffic past a screened Palmisano for the game-winner. Kevin Swallow added an empty-netter for the 5-3 final.

NOTES: Michigan State was denied its first 4-0 start since the 1994-95 season ... Corey Tropp had a goal and an assist for a five-point weekend ... Sophomore Mike Merrifield netted his first collegiate goal in the second period. It was his first game of the season, and also his first collegiate point. He appeared in just six games last season before returning to juniors last December ... Derek Grant has had a point in each of his four collegiate games. Saturday was the first game that he was held without multiple points ...