Neil's Notebook: MSU looks to be 'One Goal Better' in Rematch

        By Neil Koepke, MSUSpartans.com staff writer

            After sophomore right wing Jeremy Davidson scored a power-play goal with 10:23 left in the third period, it looked like his fourth goal of the season would stand up as the game-winner for Michigan State.

            But a potential hard-earned victory turned into a hard-earned and somewhat disappointing tie.

            UMass Lowell, trailing 2-1, made a clutch give-and-go play in the final two minutes and the Spartans were forced to settle for a 2-2 tie in the non-conference series opener on Friday night in Lowell, Massachusetts.

            Brehdan Engum tied it with 1:38 left in the third period, breaking free off a rush and beating MSU goalie Drew DeRidder from the slot. Each team had good chances to score in the exciting 3-on-3 overtime, but DeRidder and UML goalie Owen Savory made clutch saves, and the game ended in a deadlock.

            DeRidder had an outstanding game with a 37-save effort that gave his team a chance to win and kept it from losing.

            "He did a tremendous job for us. He made some huge saves,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "After we scored with nine and some change left, we did a nice job (defending), and their goal was the only blown assignment the whole time. They snuck away, their guy made a great play with a good burst.

            "It was unfortunate that we couldn't make one more stop at the blue line.''

            The tie ended the Spartans' winning streak at three games but extended their unbeaten stretch to four at 3-0-1.

            MSU and UML meet in the series finale at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Tsongas Center.

            "It's a big tie for us and we have to be one goal better (on Saturday),'' Cole said. "That's a good hockey team we just played and they'll win a lot of games. If we come out with a win and tie, that's going to be a heck of road series for us.''

            Despite being outshot 39-17, Michigan State (3-1-1) never trailed in the home opener for the River Hawks (1-1-1), in front of 4,658 fans.

            Freshman defenseman David Gucciardi gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead with his first collegiate goal and point at 14:32 of the first period. It was set up by a perfect pass into the left circle by junior transfer Griffin Loughran.

            After skating off two straight UML power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:36, the River Hawks tied it 1-1 on Andre Lee's goal at 13:43 of the second period. The goal came seven seconds after MSU defenseman Dennis Cesana left the penalty box.

            Midway through the third period, Michigan State found itself with its own 5-on-3 power play for 43 seconds. The Spartans failed to convert with the two-man advantage but capitalized on the 5-on-4 edge as Davidson's one-timer from the left circle beat Savory with seven seconds left in the power play – at 9:37.

            Davidson, who scored a winning goal and a tying goal in last weekend's sweep of Miami, was set up by perfect pass from MSU fifth-year senior Mitchell Lewandowski.

            The Spartans played tight defense for the next nine minutes, but the River Hawks kept pressing and finally created their best chance of the period.

On a rush into the MSU zone, Engum passed the puck to Brian Chambers at the blue line and got it right back in the middle of the ice. He split the defense and his wrister caught the low right corner to send the game into overtime.

            MSU was 1-for-5 on the power play while UML failed to score on five power plays.

            "They came hard and it was a lot for us to handle, and I think, at times, we did a nice job,'' Cole said. "We went quick with pucks, got it on the other side of them and supported the puck, and that made the game a heck of a lot easier.

            "For the first 10 minutes of the second period, we did a nice job until the penalty fest got going. But we have to do that a little more consistently. Overall, from a possession and control standpoint, they probably had the upper hand.

            "For jumping out on the road here and a big series to get things going, it was a good environment. It was a tough battle and we had to earn every inch of ice. It's good to learn from that.''



            THE STAT PACK: Jeremy Davidson led the Spartans with four shots on goal, while forwards Mitchell Lewandowski and Griffin Loughran and defensemen David Gucciardi and Cole Krygier each had two. UMass Lowell's Reid Stefanson had seven shots on goal and Brehdan Engum had four.

            The Spartans blocked 24 shots to nine for the River Hawks. Gucciardi and Christian Krygier blocked four shots while Dennis Cesana and Cole Krygier blocked three.

            UMass Lowell held a 41-34 edge in the faceoff circles.

            Lewandowski is MSU's top scorer, now with three goals and four assists for seven points in five games. Davidson is the team's leading goal scorer with four and he's second in points with six.



            IN THE BIG TEN: In one of the biggest upsets in all college hockey on Friday, No. 1 Michigan (4-1) was stunned by No. 17 Western Michigan 5-2, in the non-conference series opener at Yost Arena. The Broncos (3-0) took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period and were up 4-1 entering the third period. No. 4 Minnesota (3-2) fell behind 2-0 eight minutes into the first period and never recovered as No. 5 Minnesota Duluth cruised to a 5-3 victory over the Gophers in Minneapolis.

            Michigan and WMU meet again on Saturday in Kalamazoo while Minnesota tries to salvage a split with the series finale set for Duluth on Saturday.

            No. 3 St. Cloud State (5-2) scored two goals in the first period and three more in the second and went on to a 5-1 non-conference victory over Wisconsin (2-3) on Friday in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Badgers and Huskies meet again on Saturday in St. Cloud.

            Meanwhile, two other series involving Big Ten teams wrapped up on Friday. No. 13/12 Notre Dame rebounded from Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to RIT and blanked the Tigers, 5-0, on Friday in South Bend, Indiana. Penn State (5-1) completed its home sweep of Niagara (0-4) with a 6-2 victory. Kevin Wall scored three goals for the Nittany Lions and now has six on the season.

            Ohio State has the weekend off.



NIGHT OF UPSETS: Michigan's first loss of the season to Western Michigan wasn't the only upset on a crazy Friday night in college hockey.

No. 6/6 North Dakota, No. 10/10 Boston College, No. 8/8 Denver and No. 16 Boston University all tasted defeat while Colorado College, Providence, Merrimack and No. 7/7 Quinnipiac posted victories.

Colorado College (1-2-2) edged Boston College, 5-3, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Providence (4-1) rallied to hand visiting Denver (4-1) its first loss, 6-4. The Friars trailed 4-1 after two periods and scored five goals in the third period with the winner coming with 1:01 left.

Merrimack (3-2), playing at home in North Andover, Massachusetts, skated to a 3-2 victory over Boston University (2-3). The Warriors broke a 2-2 tie six minutes into the third period.

In Saturday's top national games, Denver is at Boston College, Colorado College stays in Boston and plays at Northeastern, Merrimack is at Boston University and North Dakota and Quinnipiac meet again in Hamden, Connecticut.

Michigan State University Athletics

Neil's Notebook: MSU looks to be 'One Goal Better' in Rematch

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Players Mentioned

Dennis Cesana

Jeremy Davidson

Drew DeRidder

David Gucciardi

Christian Krygier

Cole Krygier

Mitchell Lewandowski

Griffin Loughran

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