Thursday, December 28
7 PM
Michigan State University
13-4-2
4
vs
1
Ferris State
5-12-1
1
2
3
F
Michigan St.
2
2
0
4
Ferris St.
0
1
0
1
Michigan Natives Power MSU to GLI Final
12/28/2023 11:32:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
East Lansing, Mich. – No 7/7 Michigan State earned a spot in the Great Lakes Invitational final with a 4-1 win over Ferris State on Thursday night at Van Andel Arena.
MSU, the owner of 12 Great Lakes Invitational titles all-time, will make its first GLI finals appearance since 2014 and will be in search of its first crown since 2009. This will be the seventh all-time finals matchup between MSU and Michigan Tech, and the first meeting in the GLI championship game since 2000. Tech earned a 3-2 overtime win over Alaska in the earlier semifinal.
MSU was led statistically by a trio of Michigan natives: senior Jeremy Davidson (Kalamazoo) scored twice, Daniel Russell (Traverse City) had a pair of assists and freshman netminder Luca Di Pasquo (Livonia) made 26 saves for the Spartans.
Travis Shoudy had the lone goal for Ferris State (5-12-1), while Logan Stein made 35 stops in the Bulldog crease. Shoudy is the twin brother of MSU's Tiernan Shoudy, who had an assist in the game.
The Spartans (13-4-2 overall) scored twice in each the first and second periods, and Di Pasquo had to turn away 11 shots in the third period after the Bulldogs had just 16 in the first two periods combined. MSU got goals from Tanner Kelly and Karsen Dorwart in addition to the pair from Davidson.
The GLI championship game will be a 7 pm affair at Van Andel Arena in Detroit on Friday.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Senior Jeremy Davidson had a pair of goals, his first two-goal effort since Dec. 3, 2022 against Minnesota. He now owns a 5-6-11 scoring line.
- Daniel Russell had a pair of assists to record his fourth multiple-point game of the season.
- Karsen Dorwart is tied for second on the team in goals after backhanding home his eighth of the year in the second period.
- Tanner Kelly's first-period marker was his fourth of the season, tying his career best for goals in a season. It was his third game-winner of the year, tying him for the team lead with Nash Nienhuis and Gavin O'Connell.
- Griffin Jurecki earned an assist on the first Spartan goal for his first career point.
- Seniordefenseman Nash Nienhuis picked up an assist on the Tanner Kelly goal, his ninth of the season. Nienhuis finished the game a +4 and is second on the team with a +16.
- Artyom Levshunov earned his 14th assist of the season to maintain a point-per-game average.
- Goaltender Luca Di Pasquo made his second career start and turned away 26 shots in earning his second career victory. The first came in a 30-save effort against Canisius on Oct. 20.
- Michigan State was without the services of four players who are at the World Junior Championships: Goalie Trey Augustine and forward Isaac Howard (Team USA), Tommi Männistö (Team Finland) and Maxim Štrbák (Slovakia).
First Period: Jeremy Davidson put Michigan State on the board 7:38 into the game. MSU already had a successful penalty kill under its belt and was buzzing in the offensive zone. Jurecki had an earlier centering pass from below the goalline that just missed Shoudy earlier in the shift, but the next feed to his centerman was redirected by Shoudy to Davidson in the high slot. Davidson one-timed it from above the left hash marks for the early MSU lead. Tanner Kelly doubled the lead at 14:13, when he popped home his fourth of the season from the left side, with assists going to Daniel Russell and Nash Niehuis. Di Pasquo made nine saves in the opening frame, while MSU forced Logan Stein to make 17 in his end for the Bulldogs.
Second Period: Karsen Dorwart picked up his eighth goal of the season to inflate the Spartan lead just over five minutes into the second period. Goalie Logan Stein made the save on an Artyom Levshunov shot, but the rebound fell right at the top of the crease for an easy backhanded tap-in by Dorwart for his eighth of the year. Davidson scored his second of the game at 13:40 when David Gucciardi sent a long lead pass out of the defensive zone to the winger, who carried the puck up into the right circle with a defender on his hip. He stopped sharply, spun, and put a backhander on net that beat Stein for his second of the night. Travis Shoudy broke up the shutout with just over three minutes remaining in the period, beating Di Pasquo from the right side through traffic for his second goal of the season. Di Pasquo made six saves in the frame, while Stein was challenged again, and made 14 stops.
Third Period: Neither team got on the scoreboard in the third period, but the Bulldogs were certainly aggressive in trying to solve Di Pasquo. In all, the Spartan freshman faced 11 shots in the period and turned away each one, while dealing with increasingly chippy play around him as Ferris State tried to pull the game closer. With just over three minutes remaining, Russell was sent off for holding – giving Ferris State the opportunity to put Stein on the bench in favor of an extra skater to make it a 6-on-4. MSU withstood the pressure, and held on for the 4-1 victory.
Team Stats
MSU
FSU
Shots
39
27
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
2
2
Penalty Mins
4
4
Faceoffs Won
38
32
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
4
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
0
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
G
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