Michigan State University
Michigan Tech
MSU Hockey Advances To GLI Championship
12/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 28, 2001
DETROIT, Mich. - Michigan State scored four unanswered goals, including three in a decisive second period, as the Spartans (13-3-2 overall, 9-3-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) posted a 4-1 win over Michigan Tech in the first round of the 37th annual Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena Friday. State advances to Saturday's GLI championship game where they'll face North Dakota, a 5-4 overtime winner over Michigan in the day's other first-round contest.
The Spartans evened the score 6:23 into the second period on defenseman John-Michael Liles' (Zionsville, Ind.) sixth goal of the year. Partner Andrew Hutchinson (Hudson, Ohio) kept play in the MSU zone by pinching at the far half-boards. He carried the puck into the far corner and fired a centering attempt into the goalmouth. Tech netminder Cam Ellsworth tipped the feed into the slot, where Liles picked it up and shoveled a backhand shot over the opposing goaltender's left shoulder.
"Finally, we broke the ice and got a goal," said MSU head coach Ron Mason. "We kept playing our game and generated a lot of opportunities. We got our forecheck going tonight and we were able to get the puck into their zone and maintain a cycle."
Ash Goldie (London, Ont.) gave the Spartans their first lead with a power-play goal at the 11:13 mark. The freshman pivot pounced on a rebound from an Adam Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich.) shot and beat Ellsworth for his third goal of the year.
MSU got its third goal of the second period on a goal by freshman Kevin Estrada (Surrey, B.C.). Linemate Troy Ferguson (Kitchener, Ont.) walked into the zone on the near wing, got Ellsworth to commit, slid the puck toward the goal mouth, with Estrada finishing the play for his fourth goal of the season.
Hall scored the lone goal of the third period with 3:55 left in the game on a backhand shot from the slot. Brian Maloney (Bassano, Alta.) and Goldie earned assists.
The Huskies (5-10-2, 1-7-2 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) opened the scoring just 4:22 into the game on a goal by Paul Cabana. Tech got an odd-man rush when Spartan defenseman Joe Markusen (Park River, N.D.) broke his stick on a shot attempt from the point. Brad Patterson found Cabana streaking up the right wing and fed his linemate, who unleashed a blast from inside the far faceoff circle. MSU netminder Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) got a piece of the puck, but not enough, as it caromed off his glove and into the back of the net.
Miller made 22 saves on the night, including a couple on Husky breakaways, en route to his fourth straight win in GLI play. Ellsworth turned aside 40 shots for Michigan Tech.
