Friday, March 29
5 pm ET/4 pm CT
Michigan State University
25-9-3
5
vs
4
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Western Michigan
21-16-1
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OT 1
F
Western Mich.
1
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Michigan St.
0
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MSU's Late Rally, OT Heroics Send Spartans to NCAA Regional Final
3/29/2024 11:29:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
East Lansing, Mich.. – No. 4/4 Michigan State rallied from a two-goal deficit at the end of 40 minutes and capped its rally with an overtime game-winner from senior Jeremy Davidson to earn a 5-4 victory over in-state rival Western Michigan in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans improve to 25-9-3 overall, matching its most wins since 2007-08 and advance to the NCAA regional final for the first time since the same season. It is the most wins since the 2007 National Championship team was 26-13-3. Their opponent in the NCAA Regional final will be archrival Michigan, a 4-3 winner over No 2 seed North Dakota.
Davidson – a native of Kalamazoo – played the role of overtime hero. Trey Augustine took advantage of a shift change by the Broncos and sent the puck up to Nash Nienhuis in the left circle, and Nienhuis turned and brought it out of the defensive zone. He banked it off the wall to a waiting Davidson at the offensive blue line – Davidson then carried it up to the half wall and wristed it net past goalie Cameron Rowe to send MSU on into the regional final on Sunday evening.
Karsen Dorwart sent the game to overtime with his goal with 55 seconds remaining. With Augustine on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Artyom Levshunov carried the puck up the right wall, wheeled into the right circle and got Rowe to commit to his left post, then dished it to Dorwart below the hash marks. Dorwart had a wide-open left side of the net to knot the score and send the game to OT.
The Spartan rally from a two-goal deficit began when Nash Nienhuis pulled his team within a goal at 8:15 of the third period, when he converted a Tiernan Shoudy pass for his ninth goal of the season. Western Michigan pushed to try to tack on an insurance goal, outshooting the Spartans by an 11-7 margin – but Augustine was more than up to the task as he stopped all 11 to put the Spartans in a position to win. MSU outshot the Broncos 4-0 in the OT period.
Western Michigan held 1-0 and 4-2 leads in the game. The first Bronco lead came just over seven minutes into the opening period on a Matteo Constantini score. MSU scored twice in the opening 10 minutes of the second period – scores on a breakaway by Daniel Russell and a blast off a faceoff win by,David Gucciardi - to take its first lead of the game. Western Michigan took what looked like a commanding 4-2 advantage by scoring the equalizer on the power play and scored twice more in the next 3:20 to turn a 2-1 deficit into two-goal advantage.
Trey Augustine made 34 saves in his NCAA Tournament debut and picked up his first collegiate assist on the game-winner. Rowe made 27 stops.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
First Period: The Broncos got on the board first at 7:30 of the period, as Matteo Cosantini ripped a shot from above the left circle that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net for the junior's 10th goal of the season. While MSU opened with a 7-2 shot advantage, the Broncos were disruptive and had strong sticks, closing the gap over the remainder of the frame to finish with
Second Period: MSU got the equalizer five minutes into the second, as Matt Basgall sprung Daniel Russell on a breakaway and the sophomore went five-hole to score his 13th goal of the season. Five minutes later, Karsen Dorwrt won the faceoff to come out of the second media break of the period. Isaac Howard took the carom off the wall and got the puck up to Gucciardi over the left circle, and his slapper beat Rowe to give the Spartans their first lead of the day. Western Michigan answered with three goals inside a four--minute span, as Alex Bump, Sam Colangelo, and Zak Galambos turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead with four minutes to play in the period. The Broncos continued to give MSU trouble when it tried to find offensive flow, with both physical play and strong stick work. MSU got its first power play with a minute to play in the period, but could not get a puck past Rowe to get closer on the man advantage. Western Michigan had a 15-9 edge in shots on net in the period.
Third Period: The third line was ferocious on the forecheck, leading to MSU's third goal at the 8:15 mark of the final period. MSU kept it in the zone with Tanner Kelly backhanding it down to the goal line for Tiernan Shoudy, who tried to send it up to Kelly. The puck eluded the junior but got onto the stick of Nienhuis, who waited a beat and went top shelf into the upper right corner for his ninth goal of the season. The Spartans outshot the Broncos by an 11-7 margin over the final frame, with the seventh and final shot being the lethal one – with Trey Augustine on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Levshunov carried the puck up the right side with a defender on his hip. He got below the dot in the right circle and found an unmarked Dorwart below the hash marks, and with Rowe committed to his left post, Dorwart had a yawning left side and deposited his 15th goal of the season to send the game to extra time.
Overtime: MSU came out in the overtime looking more composed on offense than it did in the opening 40 minutes and had a 4-0 lead in shots on net. The Davidson goal gave MSU its second consecutive overtime victory, and came as a result of the first collegiate assist from Augustine and the heads-up feed of Davidson by Nienhuis. MSU had been 0-1-3 in overtime before winning in the extra period against Michigan last Saturday to capture the Big Ten Tournament title and tonight's heroics.
The Spartans improve to 25-9-3 overall, matching its most wins since 2007-08 and advance to the NCAA regional final for the first time since the same season. It is the most wins since the 2007 National Championship team was 26-13-3. Their opponent in the NCAA Regional final will be archrival Michigan, a 4-3 winner over No 2 seed North Dakota.
Davidson – a native of Kalamazoo – played the role of overtime hero. Trey Augustine took advantage of a shift change by the Broncos and sent the puck up to Nash Nienhuis in the left circle, and Nienhuis turned and brought it out of the defensive zone. He banked it off the wall to a waiting Davidson at the offensive blue line – Davidson then carried it up to the half wall and wristed it net past goalie Cameron Rowe to send MSU on into the regional final on Sunday evening.
SPARTANS WIN
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 30, 2024
We're watching this game-winning goal from Davidson on repeat 🔁#GoGreen pic.twitter.com/KOgMC2NSbC
Karsen Dorwart sent the game to overtime with his goal with 55 seconds remaining. With Augustine on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Artyom Levshunov carried the puck up the right wall, wheeled into the right circle and got Rowe to commit to his left post, then dished it to Dorwart below the hash marks. Dorwart had a wide-open left side of the net to knot the score and send the game to OT.
The Spartan rally from a two-goal deficit began when Nash Nienhuis pulled his team within a goal at 8:15 of the third period, when he converted a Tiernan Shoudy pass for his ninth goal of the season. Western Michigan pushed to try to tack on an insurance goal, outshooting the Spartans by an 11-7 margin – but Augustine was more than up to the task as he stopped all 11 to put the Spartans in a position to win. MSU outshot the Broncos 4-0 in the OT period.
Western Michigan held 1-0 and 4-2 leads in the game. The first Bronco lead came just over seven minutes into the opening period on a Matteo Constantini score. MSU scored twice in the opening 10 minutes of the second period – scores on a breakaway by Daniel Russell and a blast off a faceoff win by,David Gucciardi - to take its first lead of the game. Western Michigan took what looked like a commanding 4-2 advantage by scoring the equalizer on the power play and scored twice more in the next 3:20 to turn a 2-1 deficit into two-goal advantage.
Trey Augustine made 34 saves in his NCAA Tournament debut and picked up his first collegiate assist on the game-winner. Rowe made 27 stops.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Jeremy Davidson had the game-winner, his career-best 12th goal of the season.
- Karsen Dorwart had the game-tying goal at 18:55 of the third period and also had an assist.
- Nash Nienhuis had a goal and an assist, his fifth multiple-point game of the season and second straight.
- Davidson's goal was his 12th of the season, establishing a new career high.
- Daniel Russell scored his 13th on the season in the opening five minutes of the second period.
- Matt Basgall and Patrick Geary both picked up assists on the Russell goal, their 14th and eighth of the season, respectively.
- David Gucciardi scored his second goal of the season at the midpoint of the second frame. As one of the six remaining players from the last time these two teams met in Dec. 2021, Gucciardi had a goal in that game against the Broncos as well.
- Isaac Howard picked up his 26th and 27th assists of the season in his multiple-point night.
- Trey Augustine had 34 saves in the game, extending his streak of 30+ save games to five consecutive contests. He ranks second in the country with 1083 saves and needs 29 to overtake the national lead.
- MSU was playing its first NCAA Tournament game since 2012 and earned its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2008.. Only one Spartan had previously played NCAA Tournament games – graduate student Reed Lebster, who won a national championship at UMass.
- MSU is now 7-3-0 in one-goal games and have won back-to-back games in overtime.
First Period: The Broncos got on the board first at 7:30 of the period, as Matteo Cosantini ripped a shot from above the left circle that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net for the junior's 10th goal of the season. While MSU opened with a 7-2 shot advantage, the Broncos were disruptive and had strong sticks, closing the gap over the remainder of the frame to finish with
Second Period: MSU got the equalizer five minutes into the second, as Matt Basgall sprung Daniel Russell on a breakaway and the sophomore went five-hole to score his 13th goal of the season. Five minutes later, Karsen Dorwrt won the faceoff to come out of the second media break of the period. Isaac Howard took the carom off the wall and got the puck up to Gucciardi over the left circle, and his slapper beat Rowe to give the Spartans their first lead of the day. Western Michigan answered with three goals inside a four--minute span, as Alex Bump, Sam Colangelo, and Zak Galambos turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead with four minutes to play in the period. The Broncos continued to give MSU trouble when it tried to find offensive flow, with both physical play and strong stick work. MSU got its first power play with a minute to play in the period, but could not get a puck past Rowe to get closer on the man advantage. Western Michigan had a 15-9 edge in shots on net in the period.
Matt Basgall springs Daniel Russell to tie this game up at 1-1.#GoGreen pic.twitter.com/MU60yhonOO
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 29, 2024
Third Period: The third line was ferocious on the forecheck, leading to MSU's third goal at the 8:15 mark of the final period. MSU kept it in the zone with Tanner Kelly backhanding it down to the goal line for Tiernan Shoudy, who tried to send it up to Kelly. The puck eluded the junior but got onto the stick of Nienhuis, who waited a beat and went top shelf into the upper right corner for his ninth goal of the season. The Spartans outshot the Broncos by an 11-7 margin over the final frame, with the seventh and final shot being the lethal one – with Trey Augustine on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Levshunov carried the puck up the right side with a defender on his hip. He got below the dot in the right circle and found an unmarked Dorwart below the hash marks, and with Rowe committed to his left post, Dorwart had a yawning left side and deposited his 15th goal of the season to send the game to extra time.
That's an IZZO-APPROVED game-tying goal by Karsen Dorwart to tie up this game! What a play by Levshunov. pic.twitter.com/Ql2KRGamZf
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 29, 2024
Overtime: MSU came out in the overtime looking more composed on offense than it did in the opening 40 minutes and had a 4-0 lead in shots on net. The Davidson goal gave MSU its second consecutive overtime victory, and came as a result of the first collegiate assist from Augustine and the heads-up feed of Davidson by Nienhuis. MSU had been 0-1-3 in overtime before winning in the extra period against Michigan last Saturday to capture the Big Ten Tournament title and tonight's heroics.
Team Stats
WMU
MSU
Shots
38
32
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
1
1
Penalty Mins
2
2
Faceoffs Won
34
34
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
3
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
2
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
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