Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Photo by Casey B. Gibson
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Seeking Split After Loss at CC on Friday
10/26/2019 10:35:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
COLOADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was not a night for many positives.
In fact, probably the best thing about Michigan State's non-conference series opener against Colorado College here Friday was that the Spartans did not get shut out.
But it took MSU almost 59 minutes to put the puck in the net, and it was way too late as Colorado College built a 2-0 lead in the first period en route a 3-1 victory in front of 3,430 fans at The Broadmoor World Arena.
The Spartans (1-2 overall) had a tough first period. They took three consecutive penalties, including one major for interference, were shorthanded for nine minutes, and gave up one power-play goal with 15 seconds left in the period to go down 2-0.
MSU played better in the second and third periods and carried the play for a fair amount of time, but couldn't solve freshman goaltender Matt Vernon, who made 26 saves in his first collegiate start.
The Tigers (2-1) pretty much wrapped things up when Bailey Conger scored his second goal of the game just 74 seconds into the third period, boosting CC's lead to 3-0.
Michigan State's spoiled Vernon's shutout bid when Mitchell Lewandowski, set up by a pass from freshman Nicolas Müller, scored a power-play goal from the left circle at 18:57 of the final period. For Müller, it was his first collegiate point.
"I think the nine penalty minutes in first period really hurt, especially the five-minute (major to freshman Jagger Joshua) for interference,'' Lewandowski said. "(Going down 2-0) put our backs against the wall. After the first period, I thought we had control of the game for most part. We outshot them but they played a good game tonight.''
Vernon, the son of former Red Wings and Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Vernon, was sharp and calm, made three or four solid saves and didn't have to be spectacular. He stopped 26 shots.
"He did well. His save on (MSU defenseman Jerad) Rosburg (in the third period) was one that stuck out and he was good on a few others,'' Lewandowski said. "In the third period, it was offense rather than defense for us, which wasn't the case in the first period. We were in our zone and ended up chasing.
"In the second and third periods, we forechecked harder and were winning those pucks. We got more done but we just couldn't score.''
Michigan State will try to salvage a series split when it faces the Tigers in the series finale at 8 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at The Broadmoor World Arena. It'll be the Spartans' fourth straight game on the road and all on an Olympic-size sheet – 200 feet in length and 100 feet wide.
"We got behind and I thought in the second and third periods, we pushed pretty well and we had time of possession and offensive zone time,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "But we have to funnel more pucks at the net.
"I thought our (defensemen) did a horrible job of . . . just not getting it there, just standing and there were way too many shots blocked and not enough positive plays. They have to be way better.
"There were certain areas where we weren't bad. But in the first period (with all the penalties), well you have to deal with that.''
The Spartans outshot the Tigers 27-24 and held a 36-24 edge in faceoffs. Goalie Drew DeRidder, who played a solid game and made big saves, was again a victim of a lack of goal support. He was in goal for MSU's 2-0 loss at Northern Michigan two weeks ago.
"There were some things we did decent and we did some things all right - things were like 80 percent right,'' Cole said. "We'd make a great play coming out of our zone and then turn the puck over at the offensive blue line, or we wouldn't play it hard enough and turn it over at our blue line.
"We have to be intense right from the start. That's the kind of team we have to be. We're not a team that can go out and see what happens and then try to make things happen.
"Some of (our forward lines) were all right . . . in spurts. At times, they were decent but I didn't like our forwards' turnovers coming out of our zone, and we had too many going into their zone. We slowed the game down.''
Conger, a transfer from Providence College, scored his first goal as a Tiger at 12:57 of the first period. It came as a delayed penalty for tripping was being assessed on MSU's Adam Goodsir.
After skating off Joshua's major penalty for 3 minutes and 5 seconds, the Tigers capitalized as Grant Cruikshank gave the Tigers 2-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, Conger made it 3-0 off a scramble in front of the net at 1:14 of the third period.
The Spartans' first power play didn't come until 2:50 of the third period and they had two shots on goal. MSU went on the PP for the second time with 1:47 left in the game.
"Scoring the last goal is something to build on, and we have to bring it harder on Saturday,'' Lewandowski said. "If we play like we did in the second and third periods, we'll be better. We'll watch some video and sharpen things up.
"We've been on the road for all our games and on the big ice, and that's not easy to do. But now it's time win the game and get the split.''
IN THE BIG TEN: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame won and Wisconsin and Minnesota lost in the first games of non-conference series on Friday night.
The No. 15 (USCHO and USA Today-USA Hockey) Buckeyes (3-1-1) rolled past Mercyhurst 7-2 in Erie, Pa. OSU defenseman Wyatt Ege scored three goals, two on power plays, and Gustaf Westlund added two goals and an assist as the Buckeyes scored four goals in the second period and added three in the third. OSU went 4-for-7 on the power play.
The Wolverines (3-1-1) shut out No. 18 Western Michigan 4-0 in Ann Arbor as goalie Strauss Mann made 36 saves. The teams play Saturday in Kalamazoo.
No. 12/9 Penn State (4-1) broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period and held on for a 2-1 home victory over Robert Morris. The teams were scheduled for only one game this weekend. They'll meet again on Jan. 11 at Robert Morris.
Notre Dame (3-0), ranked No. 5/4, defeated Lake Superior State, 5-2, at home. The Irish led 2-1 after the first period, 3-1 after two and added two goals in the third period.
Meanwhile, it was not a good night for the Badgers and Gophers.
No. 6/6 Wisconsin (3-1) was blanked 4-0 by No. 13/12 Clarkson 3-1-1) in Madison. No. 20 Minnesota (3-2) lost at home against defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth, 5-2.
The No. 8/8 Bulldogs (2-3) built a 3-0 at 14:53 of the second period, but the Gophers scored with 11 seconds left in the middle period and again eight minutes into the third period to cut their deficit to 3-2. But UMD scored at 9:45 and 15:11 to spoil Minnesota's hopes for a comeback.
The Bulldogs and Gophers switch venues for Saturday's series finale with Game 2 in Duluth.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
COLOADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was not a night for many positives.
In fact, probably the best thing about Michigan State's non-conference series opener against Colorado College here Friday was that the Spartans did not get shut out.
But it took MSU almost 59 minutes to put the puck in the net, and it was way too late as Colorado College built a 2-0 lead in the first period en route a 3-1 victory in front of 3,430 fans at The Broadmoor World Arena.
The Spartans (1-2 overall) had a tough first period. They took three consecutive penalties, including one major for interference, were shorthanded for nine minutes, and gave up one power-play goal with 15 seconds left in the period to go down 2-0.
MSU played better in the second and third periods and carried the play for a fair amount of time, but couldn't solve freshman goaltender Matt Vernon, who made 26 saves in his first collegiate start.
The Tigers (2-1) pretty much wrapped things up when Bailey Conger scored his second goal of the game just 74 seconds into the third period, boosting CC's lead to 3-0.
Michigan State's spoiled Vernon's shutout bid when Mitchell Lewandowski, set up by a pass from freshman Nicolas Müller, scored a power-play goal from the left circle at 18:57 of the final period. For Müller, it was his first collegiate point.
"I think the nine penalty minutes in first period really hurt, especially the five-minute (major to freshman Jagger Joshua) for interference,'' Lewandowski said. "(Going down 2-0) put our backs against the wall. After the first period, I thought we had control of the game for most part. We outshot them but they played a good game tonight.''
Vernon, the son of former Red Wings and Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Vernon, was sharp and calm, made three or four solid saves and didn't have to be spectacular. He stopped 26 shots.
"He did well. His save on (MSU defenseman Jerad) Rosburg (in the third period) was one that stuck out and he was good on a few others,'' Lewandowski said. "In the third period, it was offense rather than defense for us, which wasn't the case in the first period. We were in our zone and ended up chasing.
"In the second and third periods, we forechecked harder and were winning those pucks. We got more done but we just couldn't score.''
Michigan State will try to salvage a series split when it faces the Tigers in the series finale at 8 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at The Broadmoor World Arena. It'll be the Spartans' fourth straight game on the road and all on an Olympic-size sheet – 200 feet in length and 100 feet wide.
"We got behind and I thought in the second and third periods, we pushed pretty well and we had time of possession and offensive zone time,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "But we have to funnel more pucks at the net.
"I thought our (defensemen) did a horrible job of . . . just not getting it there, just standing and there were way too many shots blocked and not enough positive plays. They have to be way better.
"There were certain areas where we weren't bad. But in the first period (with all the penalties), well you have to deal with that.''
The Spartans outshot the Tigers 27-24 and held a 36-24 edge in faceoffs. Goalie Drew DeRidder, who played a solid game and made big saves, was again a victim of a lack of goal support. He was in goal for MSU's 2-0 loss at Northern Michigan two weeks ago.
"There were some things we did decent and we did some things all right - things were like 80 percent right,'' Cole said. "We'd make a great play coming out of our zone and then turn the puck over at the offensive blue line, or we wouldn't play it hard enough and turn it over at our blue line.
"We have to be intense right from the start. That's the kind of team we have to be. We're not a team that can go out and see what happens and then try to make things happen.
"Some of (our forward lines) were all right . . . in spurts. At times, they were decent but I didn't like our forwards' turnovers coming out of our zone, and we had too many going into their zone. We slowed the game down.''
Conger, a transfer from Providence College, scored his first goal as a Tiger at 12:57 of the first period. It came as a delayed penalty for tripping was being assessed on MSU's Adam Goodsir.
After skating off Joshua's major penalty for 3 minutes and 5 seconds, the Tigers capitalized as Grant Cruikshank gave the Tigers 2-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, Conger made it 3-0 off a scramble in front of the net at 1:14 of the third period.
The Spartans' first power play didn't come until 2:50 of the third period and they had two shots on goal. MSU went on the PP for the second time with 1:47 left in the game.
"Scoring the last goal is something to build on, and we have to bring it harder on Saturday,'' Lewandowski said. "If we play like we did in the second and third periods, we'll be better. We'll watch some video and sharpen things up.
"We've been on the road for all our games and on the big ice, and that's not easy to do. But now it's time win the game and get the split.''
IN THE BIG TEN: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame won and Wisconsin and Minnesota lost in the first games of non-conference series on Friday night.
The No. 15 (USCHO and USA Today-USA Hockey) Buckeyes (3-1-1) rolled past Mercyhurst 7-2 in Erie, Pa. OSU defenseman Wyatt Ege scored three goals, two on power plays, and Gustaf Westlund added two goals and an assist as the Buckeyes scored four goals in the second period and added three in the third. OSU went 4-for-7 on the power play.
The Wolverines (3-1-1) shut out No. 18 Western Michigan 4-0 in Ann Arbor as goalie Strauss Mann made 36 saves. The teams play Saturday in Kalamazoo.
No. 12/9 Penn State (4-1) broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period and held on for a 2-1 home victory over Robert Morris. The teams were scheduled for only one game this weekend. They'll meet again on Jan. 11 at Robert Morris.
Notre Dame (3-0), ranked No. 5/4, defeated Lake Superior State, 5-2, at home. The Irish led 2-1 after the first period, 3-1 after two and added two goals in the third period.
Meanwhile, it was not a good night for the Badgers and Gophers.
No. 6/6 Wisconsin (3-1) was blanked 4-0 by No. 13/12 Clarkson 3-1-1) in Madison. No. 20 Minnesota (3-2) lost at home against defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth, 5-2.
The No. 8/8 Bulldogs (2-3) built a 3-0 at 14:53 of the second period, but the Gophers scored with 11 seconds left in the middle period and again eight minutes into the third period to cut their deficit to 3-2. But UMD scored at 9:45 and 15:11 to spoil Minnesota's hopes for a comeback.
The Bulldogs and Gophers switch venues for Saturday's series finale with Game 2 in Duluth.
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