Sunday, December 1
4 PM
Michigan State University
11-1-0
2
vs
0
Lindenwood
3-12-1
1
2
3
F
Lindenwood
0
0
0
0
Michigan State
1
0
1
2
Photo by: Emily Martin
Di Pasquo Blanks Lindenwood for First Career Shutout
12/1/2024 7:54:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
East Lansing, Mich. – No. 1 Michigan State (11-1-0, 4-0 B1G) closed out the 2024 home portion of its schedule with a 2-0 shutout of Lindenwood on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore goaltender Luca Di Pasquo earned his first career shutout, and MSU got goals from Gavin O'Connell and Mikey DeAngelo in the victory.
MSU denied the Lions a goal in either game of the series (4-0 on Friday), the first time since March 6-7, 2015 that the Spartans had shutouts in back-to-back games against the same opponent. MSU had shutouts of LSSU (Oct. 23, 2015) and New Hampshire (Nov. 6, 2015) in consecutive contests the next season.
The Spartan goals, as they did in the first game on Friday, came in the first and third periods. O'Connell finished a cross-slot pass from Isaac Howard for his third goal of the year about five minutes into the game, and DeAngelo's score was in the fourth minute of the third period.
Goalie Owen Barstoszkiewicz, a transfer from Minnesota, was the best player for Lindenwood in both games – he made 35 saves on Sunday after making 52 on Friday.
MSU has back-to-back road weekends ahead to round out the pre-holiday break. The Spartans head to Wisconsin for a two-game set next weekend (Dec. 6-7) in Madison.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
PERIOD RECAPS
First Period: Gavin O'Connell gave the Spartans a lead before the game was five minutes old. Matt Basgall started the sequence by stripping a pair of defenders trying to clear the zone in the right circle; he got the puck at the goal line to Isaac Howard. Howard dished it through the low slot to O'Connell at the left faceoff dot. He whiffed a bit on the initial shot attempt, but it got both the defender and the goaltender's timing off to give him a second opportunity, and he buried it for his third goal of the season. That was the lone score of the frame – but the Spartans spent a solid amount of the time in the offensive zone with a 13-4 edge in shots and the Lions blocking an additional eight Spartan attempts.
Second Period: MSU once again spent a majority of the period in the offensive zone – the Spartans outshot Lindenwood 14-5, but Barstoszkiewicz kept his team in the game by stopping all 14 shots he faced and 27 through two periods.
Third Period: MSU doubled its lead on a Mikey DeAngelo goal at 3:32. Shane Vansaghi carried the puck up the right side and dished across the top of the goalmouth from the bottom of the right circle. The puck hit Tommi Männistö's stick and went directly to DeAngelo, who tucked it home at the left post for his second goal of the season. MSU limited Lindenwood to five shots in the period – after just nine in the first two frames.
MSU denied the Lions a goal in either game of the series (4-0 on Friday), the first time since March 6-7, 2015 that the Spartans had shutouts in back-to-back games against the same opponent. MSU had shutouts of LSSU (Oct. 23, 2015) and New Hampshire (Nov. 6, 2015) in consecutive contests the next season.
The Spartan goals, as they did in the first game on Friday, came in the first and third periods. O'Connell finished a cross-slot pass from Isaac Howard for his third goal of the year about five minutes into the game, and DeAngelo's score was in the fourth minute of the third period.
Goalie Owen Barstoszkiewicz, a transfer from Minnesota, was the best player for Lindenwood in both games – he made 35 saves on Sunday after making 52 on Friday.
MSU has back-to-back road weekends ahead to round out the pre-holiday break. The Spartans head to Wisconsin for a two-game set next weekend (Dec. 6-7) in Madison.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- MSU improved to 11-1-0 on the season This is the fewest combined losses/ties to start a season since the 1988-89 Frozen Four team began 19-1-0 - that group of Spartans opened the year with a 5-2 home loss to Lake Superior State and then proceeded to win their next 19 contests. The 1997-98 team was 16-1-1 through their first 18 games (a 2-2 tie with Western Michigan, and a 6-1 home setback against Notre Dame). The 2000-01 Frozen Four team lost just once in its first 26 contests, going 21-1-4 with the lone loss at home against Nebraska Omaha (2-1) on Oct. 13.
- MSU's nine-game winning streak is its longest since 10 consecutive Spartan victories in the 2000-01 season – The Spartans won ten consecutive games from Dec. 6 to Jan 23, and then won nine consecutive late that season from Feb. 17 through the NCAA regional final, falling to North Dakota in the semis. It is the longest current winning streak in NCAA Division I.
- The Spartans have won six straight home games since a 3-0 setback to No. 2 Boston College in the home opener. MSU is a perfect 4-0 on the road.
- MSU had double-digit blocks (12) for the fifth time in 12 games and had a combined 22 in the two-game series. It was the second time the Spartans had back-to-back double-digit block games this season.
- Lindenwood's 14 shots on goal in the game is the fewest surrendered by MSU in a game this season.
- MSU was perfect on the penalty kill (7-for-7) in the series – its first perfect PK series since the opening series of the year at Lake Superior State. The Spartans allowed one power play goal in every other series, with the exception of Notre Dame - MSU allowed one power play marker in each contest.
- Luca Di Pasquo made his second start of the season (and second in his career at Munn Ice Arena). He made 14 saves – which is his lowest total in a complete game in his career. He improves to 2-0 on the year with one goal allowed over two starts. (0.50 GAA, .970 SvPct.)
- Sophomore Gavin O'Connell scored the first goal of the game, which came in his 50th career game in Green & White. It was his 18th career goal in those 50 games.
- Isaac Howard and Matt Basgall earned assists on the O'Connell goal. It was Howard's team-best ninth of the season and Basgall's seventh, which ties him for second on the team.
- The top scoring line in the series was MSU's fourth – Mikey DeAngelo had a goal tonight and an assist on Tommi Männistö's on Friday, Männistö assisted on DeAngelo's tonight, and Shane Vansaghi had an assist in each game. The only other Spartan forward with multiple points on the weekend was Howard, who had a goal (on a penalty shot on Friday) and an assist in each game.
PERIOD RECAPS
First Period: Gavin O'Connell gave the Spartans a lead before the game was five minutes old. Matt Basgall started the sequence by stripping a pair of defenders trying to clear the zone in the right circle; he got the puck at the goal line to Isaac Howard. Howard dished it through the low slot to O'Connell at the left faceoff dot. He whiffed a bit on the initial shot attempt, but it got both the defender and the goaltender's timing off to give him a second opportunity, and he buried it for his third goal of the season. That was the lone score of the frame – but the Spartans spent a solid amount of the time in the offensive zone with a 13-4 edge in shots and the Lions blocking an additional eight Spartan attempts.
Gavin O'Connell finishes this one off a cross-slot pass from Howard. Great job by Basgall keeping it in the zone. pic.twitter.com/JwNHtlSDep
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) December 1, 2024
Second Period: MSU once again spent a majority of the period in the offensive zone – the Spartans outshot Lindenwood 14-5, but Barstoszkiewicz kept his team in the game by stopping all 14 shots he faced and 27 through two periods.
Third Period: MSU doubled its lead on a Mikey DeAngelo goal at 3:32. Shane Vansaghi carried the puck up the right side and dished across the top of the goalmouth from the bottom of the right circle. The puck hit Tommi Männistö's stick and went directly to DeAngelo, who tucked it home at the left post for his second goal of the season. MSU limited Lindenwood to five shots in the period – after just nine in the first two frames.
Mikey DeAngelo finishes off the fourth-line rush to double the Spartan lead; Männistö and Vansaghi with the apples. pic.twitter.com/fHp8gflIaF
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) December 1, 2024
Team Stats
LIN
MSU
Shots
14
37
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
2
2
Penalty Mins
4
4
Faceoffs Won
35
20
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
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/ Men's Ice Hockey
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