Thursday, October 12
USAF Academy, CO
9 pm ET/ 7 pm MT
Michigan State University
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Air Force
2-1-0
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#8 Michigan St.
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Photo by: TakeYourShotPhotography
Comeback Falls Short In Loss at Air Force, 6-5
10/13/2023 1:45:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Michigan State's valiant push to rally back from a 5-1 deficit fell just short, falling 6-5 to Air Force on the road on Thursday night.
Air Force (2-1-0) was adept at blocking shooting lanes and frustrating the Spartans early, holding a 8-0 edge in blocked shots through the first 20 minutes while building a 3-0 lead. In all, the Falcons blocked 27 shots to MSU's 10, outshooting the Spartans 32-29 on the night.
MSU outscored their hosts 3-2 in the second period and pulled within a goal in the third after a Reed Lebster power-play goal made it 5-4. Air Force scored an empty-net tally with 90 seconds remaining, but the Spartans pushed until the final buzzer, as Daniel Russell scored his first of the year with four seconds left on the clock for the final margin.
Red Savage had his second multiple-point game for MSU with a goal and an assist; Karsen Dorwart had a pair of assists and Lebster, Russell, Nicolas Müller, and freshman Gavin O'Connell scored for MSU (2-1-0). O'Connell's goal was the first of his collegiate career, while classmate Austin Oravetz earned his first collegiate point with an assist on the play.
MSU played both freshman netminders – Trey Augustine made 13 saves in the first period and Luca Di Pasquo made 13 over the balance of the game in his first collegiate action.
Freshman Owen DuBois had a pair of goals and an assist for Air Force, while goaltender Guy Blessing stopped 24 shots in picking up the win.
The teams meet again on Friday in a 7 pm puck drop at Cadet Ice Arena.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
First Period: MSU trailed for the first time this season as Air Force freshman Owen Dubois took the puck off the left half wall, skated in, and backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Augustine for his first collegiate goal 3:10 into the game. Dubois got another at the 8:49 mark, when Brendan Gibbons fed a crashing Dubois from behind the net, and the freshman finished it off to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead. MSU gave up a backbreaker with just 16 seconds remaining in the period, as a save on a Sam Brennan shot rebounded out into the low slot, and Parker Brown pounced on it and sent it into the back of the net to give Air Force a 3-0 lead heading into the dressing room. While the home team outshot the Spartans 15-10 in the period, the Falcon defense also piled up eight blocks in front of goaltender Guy Blessing, disrupting shooting lanes and keeping MSU to the outside.
Second Period: MSU made a goalie change between periods, as Luca DiPasquo came on in relief for his collegiate debut. Through the first seven minutes of the period, the shots were just 2-0 in favor of the home team. MSU finally broke through with a goal at the 9:41 mark, as Red Savage picked up a puck jostled loose by Jeremy Davidson in the neutral zone, carried it in all alone, and sniped his third of the season past the glove hand of Blessing. The Falcons answered with a pair of goals three minutes apart to boost their lead to 5-1. Brendan Gibbons picked up the fourth marker when he finished a cross-slot pass, and then an odd-man rush was finished off by Clayton Cosentino. MSU battled back with a pair of goals over the balance of the period, however – Nicolas Müller scored his second of the season on the power play, finishing off a nice cross-slot feed from Joey Larson on the power play with 3:24 remaining in the period, and then a pair of freshmen pulled MSU within a pair when Austin Oravetz (making his collegiate debut) fed classmate Gavin O'Connell in the neutral zone; O'Connell skated over the blue line, into the left circle, and wristed home the third goal of the period for the Spartans. MSU held a 7-6 edge in shots and matched the Falcons with six blocked shots for each team.
Third Period: MSU picked up a pair of penalties just over a minute apart early in the third, giving the home team 44 seconds of five-on-three. MSU stayed perfect on the PK by extinguishing both penalties, and then went on the PP as the Falcons were whistled for a cross-check. The Spartans went back on the power play at 8:36, and Reed Lebster took just 10 seconds to finish off a pass from Karsen Dorwart to score the second power-play goal of the night and pull MSU within a goal at 5-4. With 5:26 remaining, Will Gavin was whistled for hooking, giving MSU a sixth power play chance; the Falcons kept the Spartans off the board, and then picked up a power play of their own with 2:12 to play when Štrbák was sent off for holding. Di Pasquo – who held the Falcons off the board for the first 18 minutes of the period – headed to the bench in an effort to gain an equalizer, and the Falcons took advantage, with Holt Oliphant depositing the puck into an empty net for a 6-4 lead. MSU kept pushing, however, and Daniel Russell potted his first goal of the season with just four seconds remaining for the final 6-5 score. The Spartans outshot Air Force 12-10 in the final frame.
Air Force (2-1-0) was adept at blocking shooting lanes and frustrating the Spartans early, holding a 8-0 edge in blocked shots through the first 20 minutes while building a 3-0 lead. In all, the Falcons blocked 27 shots to MSU's 10, outshooting the Spartans 32-29 on the night.
MSU outscored their hosts 3-2 in the second period and pulled within a goal in the third after a Reed Lebster power-play goal made it 5-4. Air Force scored an empty-net tally with 90 seconds remaining, but the Spartans pushed until the final buzzer, as Daniel Russell scored his first of the year with four seconds left on the clock for the final margin.
Red Savage had his second multiple-point game for MSU with a goal and an assist; Karsen Dorwart had a pair of assists and Lebster, Russell, Nicolas Müller, and freshman Gavin O'Connell scored for MSU (2-1-0). O'Connell's goal was the first of his collegiate career, while classmate Austin Oravetz earned his first collegiate point with an assist on the play.
MSU played both freshman netminders – Trey Augustine made 13 saves in the first period and Luca Di Pasquo made 13 over the balance of the game in his first collegiate action.
Freshman Owen DuBois had a pair of goals and an assist for Air Force, while goaltender Guy Blessing stopped 24 shots in picking up the win.
The teams meet again on Friday in a 7 pm puck drop at Cadet Ice Arena.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Red Savage scored his third of the season midway through the second period, giving him a goal in every Spartan game this season. He added an assist for his second multiple-point game in the first three in a Green & White uniform.
- Nicolas Müller scored a second-period goal, giving him a three-game point scoring streak.
- Luca Di Pasquo made his collegiate debut, coming on in relief at the start of the second period. Trey Augustine made 13 saves in the first period, and Di Pasquo matched that number in the second and third, allowing two goals.
- Freshman Austin Oravetz made his collegiate debut and picked up an assist on Gavin O'Connell's second-period goal. Orvitz is the sixth player this season to record a point in his first game at MSU. It was O'Connell's first collegiate goal as well after earning an assist in the season-opener against Lake State.
- MSU scored the first power play goal of the season surrendered by the Falcons, who entered the game a perfect 5-for-5 on the kill. The Spartans finished 2-for-6 with a man advantage on the night. The Spartan penalty kill was 6-of-7 on the evening, with the power-play goal surrendered the empty-netter for Air Force, and it was also the first power-play goal given up by the Spartans.
- Matt Basgall picked up his first point of the season on the Lebster power play goal, giving MSU a total of 19 skaters with at least a point this season through three games.
- Joey Larson and Jeremy Davidson join Savage and Müller as the Spartans to earn a point in every game this season. Both of them had an assist in each of MSU's three games.
First Period: MSU trailed for the first time this season as Air Force freshman Owen Dubois took the puck off the left half wall, skated in, and backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Augustine for his first collegiate goal 3:10 into the game. Dubois got another at the 8:49 mark, when Brendan Gibbons fed a crashing Dubois from behind the net, and the freshman finished it off to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead. MSU gave up a backbreaker with just 16 seconds remaining in the period, as a save on a Sam Brennan shot rebounded out into the low slot, and Parker Brown pounced on it and sent it into the back of the net to give Air Force a 3-0 lead heading into the dressing room. While the home team outshot the Spartans 15-10 in the period, the Falcon defense also piled up eight blocks in front of goaltender Guy Blessing, disrupting shooting lanes and keeping MSU to the outside.
Second Period: MSU made a goalie change between periods, as Luca DiPasquo came on in relief for his collegiate debut. Through the first seven minutes of the period, the shots were just 2-0 in favor of the home team. MSU finally broke through with a goal at the 9:41 mark, as Red Savage picked up a puck jostled loose by Jeremy Davidson in the neutral zone, carried it in all alone, and sniped his third of the season past the glove hand of Blessing. The Falcons answered with a pair of goals three minutes apart to boost their lead to 5-1. Brendan Gibbons picked up the fourth marker when he finished a cross-slot pass, and then an odd-man rush was finished off by Clayton Cosentino. MSU battled back with a pair of goals over the balance of the period, however – Nicolas Müller scored his second of the season on the power play, finishing off a nice cross-slot feed from Joey Larson on the power play with 3:24 remaining in the period, and then a pair of freshmen pulled MSU within a pair when Austin Oravetz (making his collegiate debut) fed classmate Gavin O'Connell in the neutral zone; O'Connell skated over the blue line, into the left circle, and wristed home the third goal of the period for the Spartans. MSU held a 7-6 edge in shots and matched the Falcons with six blocked shots for each team.
Third Period: MSU picked up a pair of penalties just over a minute apart early in the third, giving the home team 44 seconds of five-on-three. MSU stayed perfect on the PK by extinguishing both penalties, and then went on the PP as the Falcons were whistled for a cross-check. The Spartans went back on the power play at 8:36, and Reed Lebster took just 10 seconds to finish off a pass from Karsen Dorwart to score the second power-play goal of the night and pull MSU within a goal at 5-4. With 5:26 remaining, Will Gavin was whistled for hooking, giving MSU a sixth power play chance; the Falcons kept the Spartans off the board, and then picked up a power play of their own with 2:12 to play when Štrbák was sent off for holding. Di Pasquo – who held the Falcons off the board for the first 18 minutes of the period – headed to the bench in an effort to gain an equalizer, and the Falcons took advantage, with Holt Oliphant depositing the puck into an empty net for a 6-4 lead. MSU kept pushing, however, and Daniel Russell potted his first goal of the season with just four seconds remaining for the final 6-5 score. The Spartans outshot Air Force 12-10 in the final frame.
Team Stats
MSU
AF
Shots
29
32
PPG
2
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
7
6
Penalty Mins
14
12
Faceoffs Won
31
42
Game Leaders
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
2
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
Players Mentioned
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