Photo by: Rey Del Rio
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans’ Edged By No. 4/5 Cornell in Tight Game
11/2/2019 9:12:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – It was about as close as a game can get.
Michigan State held a 51-50 edge in attempted shots, Cornell was a bit better in shots on goal at 30-28. Each team scored two power-play goals.
The Big Red won the faceoff battle by a slim margin, 33-31. The Spartans blocked 11 shots; Cornell blocked 8.
The difference in the game?
The Big Red had a 1-0 edge in even-strength goals.
In the hard-fought series opener, which had a few chippy segments and a stream of penalties in the first two periods, No. 4/5 Cornell overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, scored two goals in less than six minutes in the second period and held on for a 3-2 victory Friday night in front of a Munn Arena crowd of 5,203.
Max Andreev's power-play goal – on a shot from the right faceoff circle that glanced off the right post – at 14:31 of the second period broke a 2-2 tie, and Cornell held off MSU's comeback bid in the third period.
"I definitely think we could have put a better 60 minutes together. At times we looked good and at times we looked kind of sloppy with too many turnovers,'' said Spartans sophomore defenseman Dennis Cesana, who scored a power-play early in the first period and assisted on Patrick Khodorenko's power-play goal early in the second.
"We have to stay out of the penalty box. That kind of shot us in the foot a couple times, especially when we were rolling in the first period.
"It's not the 60 we wanted but I think we'll bounce back tomorrow.''
The Spartans (2-3) will try to salvage their third series split of the season when they face Cornell (1-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena.
"It was a pretty good hockey game. They're a good team and there's a reason they're rated in the top five in the country,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "It was a good battle but I thought there's some things we can do better.
"I didn't think we battled long and hard enough. We started well and finished well, but in between there was a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully, we can get our heads around that tomorrow because it's going to be another tough one.''
Michigan State went up 1-0 on Cesana's power-play goal at 7:11 of the first period as his shot from the blue line in the middle of the ice eluded goalie Matthew Galajda.
But the Spartans halted their own momentum by taking penalties at 7:38, 8:54, 12:43, 15:23 and 17:07 of the opening period. Cornell clicked on its fourth power play as Jack Malone scored on a rebound from the slot at 15:51.
Each team took three penalties in the second period and scored one power-play goal.
Khodorenko gave MSU a 2-1 lead at 1:50 with a 4-on-3 power play, when he took a pass from Mitchell Lewandowski low in the right circle and snapped the puck past Galajda.
Seven minutes and 25 seconds later, Cornell senior defenseman Yanni Kaldis scored the only even-strength goal of the game. He tapped the puck past MSU goalie John Lethemon from the slot, after a wild scramble in front, and the puck dribbled over the goal line for a 3-2 Big Red lead.
Time spent in the penalty box was a big talking point for the Spartans after the game.
"Discipline is a big part of the game and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot and we were riding the rails and we're able to get it right for a while, but they're a very good team with a lot of talent and experience,'' Cole said. "You get the lead and you want to build on that.
"The next shift after a power play is important. If you score you want to follow up on it and if you don't, you want to get some forecheck going and get some energy back.
"To go out and take a penalty and give it right back to them … that was a discipline thing. I don't want to lose intensity. I'm all right with that but you can't take those penalties. You should be working and drawing penalties and frustrating the other team and not the other way around.''
The Spartans had two power-play opportunities in the third period and five shots on goal during the manpower advantages but they were from the perimeter, and Galajda didn't give up rebounds. In fact, MSU had nine shots on goal in the period but few from the dangerous scoring areas.
"When it's a tight game and you're playing a certain style of hockey, there's kind of a field-position element to it,'' Cole said. "And you have to understand that once you start to play 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 through the neutral zone, usually nothing very good happens. If it doesn't, there's no support.
"Schaf's teams are good defensively and they're not going to give you that free lane,'' Cole said, referring to Cornell coach Mike Schafer. "We shot ourselves in the foot at times trying to make something when there was nothing there.''
MSU penalty killers were busy Friday. They skated off six of eight Cornell power plays, although one was only for two seconds. The Spartans were 2-for-5 on the power play and they also a power play that lasted two seconds.
Khodorenko said his team didn't create as many 5-on-5 scoring chances "as we could have.''
"When we were playing well, I thought we had lot of 5-on-5 chances, but it came in spurts,'' he said. "We were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot in taking penalties and not getting pucks out at our own blue line. That cost us a couple goals.''
For the second straight week, Michigan State faces the challenge of rebounding in the series finale to salvage a split.
"We have to have the same mindset we had for the first five minutes tonight. We came out pretty hot,'' Khodorenko said. "We can't retaliate. When we do, we get off our game and they gain momentum.
"We can't retaliate and we have to play with the same energy and pace as we did early tonight.''
HOME ICE NO HELP: In the last four games between MSU and Cornell, the road team has come out on top.
Last season, the Spartans played two strong, gritty games at Cornell and came away with a pair of victories – 5-2 in the series opener and 4-3 in the second game.
Cornell, playing its first game of this season on Friday, got a bit of revenge with a solid effort in its 3-2 victory at Munn Arena.
The streak started 14 years ago when Michigan State won a non-conference series finale in Ithaca, N.Y. – 4-3 on Oct. 29, 2005. The last time the home team won was Cornell's 4-2 victory in the 2005 series opener on Oct. 28.
"It's snake bit being on home ice,'' MSU defenseman Dennis Cesana said. "Hopefully, it won't be the case tomorrow. We're going to come back and play better. I'm looking forward to it.''
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 12 (USCHO poll), No. 12 (USA Hockey) Penn State completed a sweep of No. 7/8 Wisconsin with a 4-2 victory on Friday in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions (5-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) broke a 2-2 tie in the third period on Sam Sternschein's goal at 11:50. Nate Sucese scored into an empty net from the left faceoff circle in the PSU zone with 1:32 left to seal the win over the Badgers (4-4, 0-2).
No. 5/4 Notre Dame and unranked Minnesota played to a 2-2 tie in Minneapolis with the Gophers gaining the extra point in Big Ten play with a victory in the 3-on-3 overtime – after the teams failed to score in the regulation 5-on-5, 5-minute overtime. Sammy Walker scored for the Gophers (3-3-1, 0-0-1-1) at 1:37 of the second overtime.
The Irish (4-0-1, 0-0-1-0) held a 1-0 lead entering the third period.
No. 13/13 Ohio State rallied from a 2-1 deficit after two periods and scored two goals early in the third period and held on for a 3-2 victory over Michigan in Columbus.
Quinn Preston tied it at 1:23 and Austin Pooley put the Buckeyes (5-1-1, 1-0-0-0) ahead at 3:52. The Wolverines (3-3-1 overall, 0-1-0-0) led 2-0 until OSU finally scored with 3:25 left in the second period to cut its deficit to 2-1.
Notre Dame and Minnesota and Michigan and Ohio State complete their Big Ten series on Saturday.
Next weekend, Michigan State opens its Big Ten season at Penn State, Ohio State plays at Notre Dame, Michigan plays host to Minnesota, and in a non-conference series, Wisconsin is at Omaha.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – It was about as close as a game can get.
Michigan State held a 51-50 edge in attempted shots, Cornell was a bit better in shots on goal at 30-28. Each team scored two power-play goals.
The Big Red won the faceoff battle by a slim margin, 33-31. The Spartans blocked 11 shots; Cornell blocked 8.
The difference in the game?
The Big Red had a 1-0 edge in even-strength goals.
In the hard-fought series opener, which had a few chippy segments and a stream of penalties in the first two periods, No. 4/5 Cornell overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, scored two goals in less than six minutes in the second period and held on for a 3-2 victory Friday night in front of a Munn Arena crowd of 5,203.
Max Andreev's power-play goal – on a shot from the right faceoff circle that glanced off the right post – at 14:31 of the second period broke a 2-2 tie, and Cornell held off MSU's comeback bid in the third period.
"I definitely think we could have put a better 60 minutes together. At times we looked good and at times we looked kind of sloppy with too many turnovers,'' said Spartans sophomore defenseman Dennis Cesana, who scored a power-play early in the first period and assisted on Patrick Khodorenko's power-play goal early in the second.
"We have to stay out of the penalty box. That kind of shot us in the foot a couple times, especially when we were rolling in the first period.
"It's not the 60 we wanted but I think we'll bounce back tomorrow.''
The Spartans (2-3) will try to salvage their third series split of the season when they face Cornell (1-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena.
"It was a pretty good hockey game. They're a good team and there's a reason they're rated in the top five in the country,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "It was a good battle but I thought there's some things we can do better.
"I didn't think we battled long and hard enough. We started well and finished well, but in between there was a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully, we can get our heads around that tomorrow because it's going to be another tough one.''
Michigan State went up 1-0 on Cesana's power-play goal at 7:11 of the first period as his shot from the blue line in the middle of the ice eluded goalie Matthew Galajda.
But the Spartans halted their own momentum by taking penalties at 7:38, 8:54, 12:43, 15:23 and 17:07 of the opening period. Cornell clicked on its fourth power play as Jack Malone scored on a rebound from the slot at 15:51.
Each team took three penalties in the second period and scored one power-play goal.
Khodorenko gave MSU a 2-1 lead at 1:50 with a 4-on-3 power play, when he took a pass from Mitchell Lewandowski low in the right circle and snapped the puck past Galajda.
Seven minutes and 25 seconds later, Cornell senior defenseman Yanni Kaldis scored the only even-strength goal of the game. He tapped the puck past MSU goalie John Lethemon from the slot, after a wild scramble in front, and the puck dribbled over the goal line for a 3-2 Big Red lead.
Time spent in the penalty box was a big talking point for the Spartans after the game.
"Discipline is a big part of the game and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot and we were riding the rails and we're able to get it right for a while, but they're a very good team with a lot of talent and experience,'' Cole said. "You get the lead and you want to build on that.
"The next shift after a power play is important. If you score you want to follow up on it and if you don't, you want to get some forecheck going and get some energy back.
"To go out and take a penalty and give it right back to them … that was a discipline thing. I don't want to lose intensity. I'm all right with that but you can't take those penalties. You should be working and drawing penalties and frustrating the other team and not the other way around.''
The Spartans had two power-play opportunities in the third period and five shots on goal during the manpower advantages but they were from the perimeter, and Galajda didn't give up rebounds. In fact, MSU had nine shots on goal in the period but few from the dangerous scoring areas.
"When it's a tight game and you're playing a certain style of hockey, there's kind of a field-position element to it,'' Cole said. "And you have to understand that once you start to play 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 through the neutral zone, usually nothing very good happens. If it doesn't, there's no support.
"Schaf's teams are good defensively and they're not going to give you that free lane,'' Cole said, referring to Cornell coach Mike Schafer. "We shot ourselves in the foot at times trying to make something when there was nothing there.''
MSU penalty killers were busy Friday. They skated off six of eight Cornell power plays, although one was only for two seconds. The Spartans were 2-for-5 on the power play and they also a power play that lasted two seconds.
Khodorenko said his team didn't create as many 5-on-5 scoring chances "as we could have.''
"When we were playing well, I thought we had lot of 5-on-5 chances, but it came in spurts,'' he said. "We were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot in taking penalties and not getting pucks out at our own blue line. That cost us a couple goals.''
For the second straight week, Michigan State faces the challenge of rebounding in the series finale to salvage a split.
"We have to have the same mindset we had for the first five minutes tonight. We came out pretty hot,'' Khodorenko said. "We can't retaliate. When we do, we get off our game and they gain momentum.
"We can't retaliate and we have to play with the same energy and pace as we did early tonight.''
HOME ICE NO HELP: In the last four games between MSU and Cornell, the road team has come out on top.
Last season, the Spartans played two strong, gritty games at Cornell and came away with a pair of victories – 5-2 in the series opener and 4-3 in the second game.
Cornell, playing its first game of this season on Friday, got a bit of revenge with a solid effort in its 3-2 victory at Munn Arena.
The streak started 14 years ago when Michigan State won a non-conference series finale in Ithaca, N.Y. – 4-3 on Oct. 29, 2005. The last time the home team won was Cornell's 4-2 victory in the 2005 series opener on Oct. 28.
"It's snake bit being on home ice,'' MSU defenseman Dennis Cesana said. "Hopefully, it won't be the case tomorrow. We're going to come back and play better. I'm looking forward to it.''
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 12 (USCHO poll), No. 12 (USA Hockey) Penn State completed a sweep of No. 7/8 Wisconsin with a 4-2 victory on Friday in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions (5-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) broke a 2-2 tie in the third period on Sam Sternschein's goal at 11:50. Nate Sucese scored into an empty net from the left faceoff circle in the PSU zone with 1:32 left to seal the win over the Badgers (4-4, 0-2).
No. 5/4 Notre Dame and unranked Minnesota played to a 2-2 tie in Minneapolis with the Gophers gaining the extra point in Big Ten play with a victory in the 3-on-3 overtime – after the teams failed to score in the regulation 5-on-5, 5-minute overtime. Sammy Walker scored for the Gophers (3-3-1, 0-0-1-1) at 1:37 of the second overtime.
The Irish (4-0-1, 0-0-1-0) held a 1-0 lead entering the third period.
No. 13/13 Ohio State rallied from a 2-1 deficit after two periods and scored two goals early in the third period and held on for a 3-2 victory over Michigan in Columbus.
Quinn Preston tied it at 1:23 and Austin Pooley put the Buckeyes (5-1-1, 1-0-0-0) ahead at 3:52. The Wolverines (3-3-1 overall, 0-1-0-0) led 2-0 until OSU finally scored with 3:25 left in the second period to cut its deficit to 2-1.
Notre Dame and Minnesota and Michigan and Ohio State complete their Big Ten series on Saturday.
Next weekend, Michigan State opens its Big Ten season at Penn State, Ohio State plays at Notre Dame, Michigan plays host to Minnesota, and in a non-conference series, Wisconsin is at Omaha.
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyAdam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Michigan | December 6, 2025
Saturday, December 06
Adam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Michigan | December 5, 2025
Friday, December 05
Adam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Colgate | November 26, 2025
Wednesday, November 26
Adam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Wisconsin | November 22, 2025
Saturday, November 22