Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Mike Miller/B1G Ten Hockey
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans’ Season Ends in OT Heartbreaker
3/15/2021 9:36:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
For 55 minutes, Michigan State had not given up a goal and was on the verge of pulling off the biggest upset in the history of the Big Ten Hockey Tournament.
The Spartans were nursing a 1-0 lead over No. 4/5-ranked Minnesota in the late stages of the third period, thanks to a power-play goal in the first period and a spectacular goaltending performance by MSU freshman Pierce Charleson.
But the Gophers kept battling and pressuring and they were finally rewarded as they tied the game with 4:59 left.
Then, they spoiled MSU's upset bid as junior forward Sampo Ranta scored at 10:35 of overtime to give Minnesota a 2-1 victory in a Big Ten quarterfinal on Sunday afternoon at Compton Family Arena in Notre Dame, Indiana.
So close to victory, but the Spartans' season ends with a tough, heartbreaking loss despite a gritty, workman-like effort against the highly skilled and highly favored Gophers.
"I just told our guys, that was a hell of an effort. I'm proud of the bunch and how they played, and put a pretty good hockey team to a pretty good test,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said.
"The guys played well, generated some things and were just a little short. We did some good things. We just couldn't get to the next goal and, unfortunately, they got one to go before us.''
For sure, Michigan State had Minnesota, the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 3.74 goals-per-game, sweating a little as the game advanced into the late stages of the third period.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead at 10:39 of the first period on defenseman Dennis Cesana's power-play goal that went in off the stick of Gopher defenseman Ben Brinkman.
Cesana was centering the puck for Josh Nodler, at the edge of the crease. Nodler reached out with his stick but the puck glanced off Brinkman's stick and slid past goalie Jack LaFontaine. Mitchell Lewandowski and Charlie Combs assisted on the goal.
But MSU couldn't get the all-important second goal despite having several good chances in second period, all the while Charleson was making big save after big save. Charleson ended up with 48 saves, a career high after making stopping 47 shots in last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Wisconsin.
"We had at least three good chances,'' Cole said of his team's opportunities to go up 2-0 and really put the pressure on the Gophers. "Charlie (Combs) was in and got off a good shot and we had a 2-on-1 and Haskins got a off a good shot. And then (Nico Mueller), right at the end of the second period, had a good chance and their goalie made a great save.''
On Haskins' shot, LaFontaine made the save but the rebound bounced to his right. MSU's Adam Goodsir was driving to the net, but with the net-wide open, the puck bounced over Goodsir's stick, nullifying a great scoring chance.
In the last minute of the first period, with MSU starting a power play, defenseman Nash Nienhuis' shot from the point caromed off the boards behind the net on the right and ended up in front of the net.
Nodler was right there and had an open net for a second, turned and fired, but LaFontaine made one of his biggest saves of the game.
The Gophers took advantage of MSU's missed opportunities and came out flying in the third period. But it took a while to solve Charleson and the Spartan defense, which worked hard to keep Minnesota's forwards on the perimeter and blocked tons of shots.
In all, MSU blocked 28 shots, led by Tommy Miller with five, and three each by Lewandowski, Brody Stevens, Cole Krygier and Aiden Gallacher.
Finally, the Gophers found some space and time and Brodzinski made an excellent play from the right boards into the right circle to tie it with a perfect shot to the top left corner with 4:59 left in regulation.
"I didn't have anything coming out of the rush and I sort of wheeled out a little and looked to hit a late guy,'' Brodzinski said. "Their wings stayed up with our defensemen so I took the open ice and pulled to the middle and there was a lot open on the far side of the net. I threw it over there and luckily it went in.''
In the overtime, Minnesota outshot the Spartans, 13-3. And the 13th shot was unlucky for the Spartans and turned out the lights on their season.
Ranta took a pass from Jaxon Nelson in the slot and Ranta, after fanning on his first shot attempt, regained possession and fired the puck past a Spartan defender and Charleson and into the left corner at 10:25 to win it for the Gophers.
"We played two really good teams the last two games and both were 2-1 games,'' Cole said of the close losses against Wisconsin last week and Minnesota on Sunday. "We pushed both of them pretty hard and to the limit.
"I want it to stick in (our guys') heads a little negatively in how close it was and how we battled to get the ship right toward the end (of the season) and how we played good hockey. And on the positive side, it's not that far away.
"We have a lot of young guys coming back, and I like the group we have coming in, with a few older guys. I think we'll be a dangerous team next year.''
The Spartans actually won the special teams matchup. They were 1-for-2 on the power play with Cesana's goal, and their penalty killing was excellent, skating off three Gopher power plays, including two in the first half of the third period to hold on to their lead.
With the victory, Minnesota (21-6-0) advances to the Big Ten semifinals against Michigan, which blanked Ohio State, 4-0, in Sunday's third quarter-final game. The teams meet at 8:30 p.m. on Monday.
Michigan State ends its season at 7-18-2 overall.
"It was a tough year in a lot of ways, but the one way it wasn't was in how hard the guys worked and how they stuck together,'' Cole said.
"Tonight, they battled and gave us everything they had. That's all you can ask.''
CHARLESON EXCELS: Pierce Charleson had his second-straight outstanding game and the MSU freshman goaltender from Aurora, Ontario, almost led his team to a stunning upset of Minnesota in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
Charleson had the Gophers a bit frustrated for 55 minutes with many quality saves among his 48 stops in 60 minutes and 35 seconds of play.
The 6-foot-2, 186-pound rookie saw a lot of pucks come his way – 13 in the first period, 12 in the second, 12 in the third and 13 in overtime. He stopped everyone but two – one on a shot by Bryce Brodzinski at 15:01 of the third period and Sampo Ranta at 10:35 of overtime.
"He was outstanding,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said.
Minnesota coach Bob Motzko agreed.
"He looked calm and cool and big. And everything was hitting him,'' Motzko said. "He got in a groove. That young man had an outstanding game tonight.''
For sure, Brodzinski and the Gophers, were impressed with Charleson, making only his third start of the season.
"He was really good. It's a hard place to be, and we've had a pretty good season and being a freshman goalie coming into the playoffs is hard,'' Brodzinski said. "For him to play like that, it's a credit to him. He played a real good game.''
Charleson's most memorable save came with 9:29 left in the second period. First, he stopped a hard shot from the top of the right circle by Brodzinski with the rebound bouncing into the left circle.
Blake McLaughlin was right there to fire the puck toward the top left corner of the net. But Charleson stretched to his right and the puck hit his stick just above his blocker, knocking the stick out of his hand.
Cole said the decision to start Charleson instead of junior Drew DeRidder, who started 24 of MSU's 26 regular-season games, came down to Charleson's recent high-level play and what the coaches saw in practice last week.
"Pierce was outstanding. The bottom line down the road was that he's been playing a little more consistently over 60 minutes,'' Cole said. "He got in several games and had a couple of starts and coach (Joe) Exter and coach (Chris) Luongo and I discussed it and that's the way we saw it right now.
"It was nothing against Drew. I was hoping that we could get Drew to start a game this weekend as a fresh goalie. Drew has been a horse for us and he's been unbelievable, but you make the same decisions on the back end as you do with defense and forwards.''
Charleson, disappointed by the outcome, wasn't up for talking about his excellent play and what he liked about his game.
"This was a big game for us and we worked all season for that. We have a tight group in there and it's tough that was the result,'' he said. "It was exciting and we had a good feeling in the locker room. It's too bad that one bounce put us on the other side of it.
"We'll go into the summer remembering how close we were and how much we have to be ready for next season and keep building forward.''
THE GOPHERS' VIEW: Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said he expected Michigan State to play well and give his team a tough test, but he also like the way his team played, except for a few open shots that missed the Spartan net.
"I felt we deserved to win but they were going to make it hard on us. Tonight was the night we got a little lesson thrown at us and I liked how we responded,'' he said. "I liked how we stuck with it.
"If the puck had ended up going in our net (in overtime), I'm not sure what I'd be saying right now. I don't know if we could have done any more. I felt we played that well.''
Motzko credited the Spartans for playing a strong game and putting themselves in position to pull off an upset and advance into the Big Ten semifinals.
"They came in here with hope. This was a new life for them and you could tell in warmups that they had a good spirit about them,'' the Gophers' third-year coach said. "They scored first and it was game on.
"They got their 1-0 lead early, their goaltender was outstanding and they played a smart hockey game.''
Motzko said he liked his team's focus and attitude on the bench as the game wound down with the Gophers still without a goal.
"We didn't fall down many games this season, but when we did, we had a really uneasy look about us. I've used the word panic, and it wasn't true panic, but we were uncomfortable and we were pressing," he said. "We didn't do that tonight at all. Our guys stayed focused.
"They had good demeanor and there was just a good feel on the bench. We just needed to make a play to get back in the game and it came late in the third."
Bryce Brodzinski's tying goal with 4:59 left was his eighth of the season and third in his last three games.
Sampo Ranta's overtime winner at 10:35 was his team-leading 17th of the season. Ranta, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior from Naantali, Finland, leads the Gophers in scoring with 17 goals and 10 assists for 27 points in 27 games.
BIG TEN REVIEW: Penn State, Michigan and Minnesota posted quarter-final victories Sunday to move on to Monday's semifinals.
The No. 5-seeded Nittany Lions opened the conference tournament with a come-from-behind 6-3 victory over No. 4 Notre Dame. After falling behind 2-0 early in the first period, Penn State scored five unanswered goals – one late in the opening period, three in the second and one in the third.
The Irish cut their deficit to 5-3 but the Nittany Lions scored into an empty net to seal the win, and hurt Notre Dame's hopes for a NCAA Tournament bit.
Penn State advances to play Big Ten regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Wisconsin in Monday's first semifinal at 4:30 p.m.
The Badgers, who earned a first-round bye, held a 3-1 edge over PSU in regular-season play.
The No. 3-seeded Wolverines cruised into the semifinals with a 4-0 victory over Ohio State in Sunday's last quarterfinal.
Michigan plays Minnesota in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. on Monday. The Gophers went 3-1 against the Wolverines this season.
The two teams last played March 5-6 with each team winning one game. U-M won the series opener, 5-2, but the Gophers bounced back with a 4-2 victory in the season finale.
Monday's winners meet for the Big Ten Tournament championship at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The semifinals and final will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are considered locks to make the NCAA Tournament. Penn State can make it by winning the tournament title and earning the conference's automatic bid.
The 16-team NCAA Tournament field, seedings and matchups will be announced on the NCAA Hockey Selection Show at 7 p.m. next Sunday on ESPNU.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
For 55 minutes, Michigan State had not given up a goal and was on the verge of pulling off the biggest upset in the history of the Big Ten Hockey Tournament.
The Spartans were nursing a 1-0 lead over No. 4/5-ranked Minnesota in the late stages of the third period, thanks to a power-play goal in the first period and a spectacular goaltending performance by MSU freshman Pierce Charleson.
But the Gophers kept battling and pressuring and they were finally rewarded as they tied the game with 4:59 left.
Then, they spoiled MSU's upset bid as junior forward Sampo Ranta scored at 10:35 of overtime to give Minnesota a 2-1 victory in a Big Ten quarterfinal on Sunday afternoon at Compton Family Arena in Notre Dame, Indiana.
So close to victory, but the Spartans' season ends with a tough, heartbreaking loss despite a gritty, workman-like effort against the highly skilled and highly favored Gophers.
"I just told our guys, that was a hell of an effort. I'm proud of the bunch and how they played, and put a pretty good hockey team to a pretty good test,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said.
"The guys played well, generated some things and were just a little short. We did some good things. We just couldn't get to the next goal and, unfortunately, they got one to go before us.''
For sure, Michigan State had Minnesota, the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 3.74 goals-per-game, sweating a little as the game advanced into the late stages of the third period.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead at 10:39 of the first period on defenseman Dennis Cesana's power-play goal that went in off the stick of Gopher defenseman Ben Brinkman.
Cesana was centering the puck for Josh Nodler, at the edge of the crease. Nodler reached out with his stick but the puck glanced off Brinkman's stick and slid past goalie Jack LaFontaine. Mitchell Lewandowski and Charlie Combs assisted on the goal.
But MSU couldn't get the all-important second goal despite having several good chances in second period, all the while Charleson was making big save after big save. Charleson ended up with 48 saves, a career high after making stopping 47 shots in last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Wisconsin.
"We had at least three good chances,'' Cole said of his team's opportunities to go up 2-0 and really put the pressure on the Gophers. "Charlie (Combs) was in and got off a good shot and we had a 2-on-1 and Haskins got a off a good shot. And then (Nico Mueller), right at the end of the second period, had a good chance and their goalie made a great save.''
On Haskins' shot, LaFontaine made the save but the rebound bounced to his right. MSU's Adam Goodsir was driving to the net, but with the net-wide open, the puck bounced over Goodsir's stick, nullifying a great scoring chance.
In the last minute of the first period, with MSU starting a power play, defenseman Nash Nienhuis' shot from the point caromed off the boards behind the net on the right and ended up in front of the net.
Nodler was right there and had an open net for a second, turned and fired, but LaFontaine made one of his biggest saves of the game.
The Gophers took advantage of MSU's missed opportunities and came out flying in the third period. But it took a while to solve Charleson and the Spartan defense, which worked hard to keep Minnesota's forwards on the perimeter and blocked tons of shots.
In all, MSU blocked 28 shots, led by Tommy Miller with five, and three each by Lewandowski, Brody Stevens, Cole Krygier and Aiden Gallacher.
Finally, the Gophers found some space and time and Brodzinski made an excellent play from the right boards into the right circle to tie it with a perfect shot to the top left corner with 4:59 left in regulation.
"I didn't have anything coming out of the rush and I sort of wheeled out a little and looked to hit a late guy,'' Brodzinski said. "Their wings stayed up with our defensemen so I took the open ice and pulled to the middle and there was a lot open on the far side of the net. I threw it over there and luckily it went in.''
In the overtime, Minnesota outshot the Spartans, 13-3. And the 13th shot was unlucky for the Spartans and turned out the lights on their season.
Ranta took a pass from Jaxon Nelson in the slot and Ranta, after fanning on his first shot attempt, regained possession and fired the puck past a Spartan defender and Charleson and into the left corner at 10:25 to win it for the Gophers.
"We played two really good teams the last two games and both were 2-1 games,'' Cole said of the close losses against Wisconsin last week and Minnesota on Sunday. "We pushed both of them pretty hard and to the limit.
"I want it to stick in (our guys') heads a little negatively in how close it was and how we battled to get the ship right toward the end (of the season) and how we played good hockey. And on the positive side, it's not that far away.
"We have a lot of young guys coming back, and I like the group we have coming in, with a few older guys. I think we'll be a dangerous team next year.''
The Spartans actually won the special teams matchup. They were 1-for-2 on the power play with Cesana's goal, and their penalty killing was excellent, skating off three Gopher power plays, including two in the first half of the third period to hold on to their lead.
With the victory, Minnesota (21-6-0) advances to the Big Ten semifinals against Michigan, which blanked Ohio State, 4-0, in Sunday's third quarter-final game. The teams meet at 8:30 p.m. on Monday.
Michigan State ends its season at 7-18-2 overall.
"It was a tough year in a lot of ways, but the one way it wasn't was in how hard the guys worked and how they stuck together,'' Cole said.
"Tonight, they battled and gave us everything they had. That's all you can ask.''
CHARLESON EXCELS: Pierce Charleson had his second-straight outstanding game and the MSU freshman goaltender from Aurora, Ontario, almost led his team to a stunning upset of Minnesota in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
Charleson had the Gophers a bit frustrated for 55 minutes with many quality saves among his 48 stops in 60 minutes and 35 seconds of play.
The 6-foot-2, 186-pound rookie saw a lot of pucks come his way – 13 in the first period, 12 in the second, 12 in the third and 13 in overtime. He stopped everyone but two – one on a shot by Bryce Brodzinski at 15:01 of the third period and Sampo Ranta at 10:35 of overtime.
"He was outstanding,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said.
Minnesota coach Bob Motzko agreed.
"He looked calm and cool and big. And everything was hitting him,'' Motzko said. "He got in a groove. That young man had an outstanding game tonight.''
For sure, Brodzinski and the Gophers, were impressed with Charleson, making only his third start of the season.
"He was really good. It's a hard place to be, and we've had a pretty good season and being a freshman goalie coming into the playoffs is hard,'' Brodzinski said. "For him to play like that, it's a credit to him. He played a real good game.''
Charleson's most memorable save came with 9:29 left in the second period. First, he stopped a hard shot from the top of the right circle by Brodzinski with the rebound bouncing into the left circle.
Blake McLaughlin was right there to fire the puck toward the top left corner of the net. But Charleson stretched to his right and the puck hit his stick just above his blocker, knocking the stick out of his hand.
Cole said the decision to start Charleson instead of junior Drew DeRidder, who started 24 of MSU's 26 regular-season games, came down to Charleson's recent high-level play and what the coaches saw in practice last week.
"Pierce was outstanding. The bottom line down the road was that he's been playing a little more consistently over 60 minutes,'' Cole said. "He got in several games and had a couple of starts and coach (Joe) Exter and coach (Chris) Luongo and I discussed it and that's the way we saw it right now.
"It was nothing against Drew. I was hoping that we could get Drew to start a game this weekend as a fresh goalie. Drew has been a horse for us and he's been unbelievable, but you make the same decisions on the back end as you do with defense and forwards.''
Charleson, disappointed by the outcome, wasn't up for talking about his excellent play and what he liked about his game.
"This was a big game for us and we worked all season for that. We have a tight group in there and it's tough that was the result,'' he said. "It was exciting and we had a good feeling in the locker room. It's too bad that one bounce put us on the other side of it.
"We'll go into the summer remembering how close we were and how much we have to be ready for next season and keep building forward.''
THE GOPHERS' VIEW: Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said he expected Michigan State to play well and give his team a tough test, but he also like the way his team played, except for a few open shots that missed the Spartan net.
"I felt we deserved to win but they were going to make it hard on us. Tonight was the night we got a little lesson thrown at us and I liked how we responded,'' he said. "I liked how we stuck with it.
"If the puck had ended up going in our net (in overtime), I'm not sure what I'd be saying right now. I don't know if we could have done any more. I felt we played that well.''
Motzko credited the Spartans for playing a strong game and putting themselves in position to pull off an upset and advance into the Big Ten semifinals.
"They came in here with hope. This was a new life for them and you could tell in warmups that they had a good spirit about them,'' the Gophers' third-year coach said. "They scored first and it was game on.
"They got their 1-0 lead early, their goaltender was outstanding and they played a smart hockey game.''
Motzko said he liked his team's focus and attitude on the bench as the game wound down with the Gophers still without a goal.
"We didn't fall down many games this season, but when we did, we had a really uneasy look about us. I've used the word panic, and it wasn't true panic, but we were uncomfortable and we were pressing," he said. "We didn't do that tonight at all. Our guys stayed focused.
"They had good demeanor and there was just a good feel on the bench. We just needed to make a play to get back in the game and it came late in the third."
Bryce Brodzinski's tying goal with 4:59 left was his eighth of the season and third in his last three games.
Sampo Ranta's overtime winner at 10:35 was his team-leading 17th of the season. Ranta, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior from Naantali, Finland, leads the Gophers in scoring with 17 goals and 10 assists for 27 points in 27 games.
BIG TEN REVIEW: Penn State, Michigan and Minnesota posted quarter-final victories Sunday to move on to Monday's semifinals.
The No. 5-seeded Nittany Lions opened the conference tournament with a come-from-behind 6-3 victory over No. 4 Notre Dame. After falling behind 2-0 early in the first period, Penn State scored five unanswered goals – one late in the opening period, three in the second and one in the third.
The Irish cut their deficit to 5-3 but the Nittany Lions scored into an empty net to seal the win, and hurt Notre Dame's hopes for a NCAA Tournament bit.
Penn State advances to play Big Ten regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Wisconsin in Monday's first semifinal at 4:30 p.m.
The Badgers, who earned a first-round bye, held a 3-1 edge over PSU in regular-season play.
The No. 3-seeded Wolverines cruised into the semifinals with a 4-0 victory over Ohio State in Sunday's last quarterfinal.
Michigan plays Minnesota in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. on Monday. The Gophers went 3-1 against the Wolverines this season.
The two teams last played March 5-6 with each team winning one game. U-M won the series opener, 5-2, but the Gophers bounced back with a 4-2 victory in the season finale.
Monday's winners meet for the Big Ten Tournament championship at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The semifinals and final will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are considered locks to make the NCAA Tournament. Penn State can make it by winning the tournament title and earning the conference's automatic bid.
The 16-team NCAA Tournament field, seedings and matchups will be announced on the NCAA Hockey Selection Show at 7 p.m. next Sunday on ESPNU.
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