Spartans Fall, 2-1, to Gophers

Nov. 28, 2009

East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State suffered its second loss of the weekend on Saturday, a frustrating 2-1 defeat at the hands of Minnesota in the closing game of the 2009 College Hockey Showcase. Michigan State drops its third straight game to fall to 9-5-2, and Minnesota improves to 5-8-1 with the victory.

Box Score
Postgame Audio: MSU Head Coach Rick Comley | MSU goalie Drew Palmisano | UM goalie Kent Patterson

The game was scoreless after the opening period, but Minnesota got on the board at the 3:32 mark of the second frame. Jordan Schroeder took a pass from Nico Sacchetti and streaked up the right side. He eluded an MSU defender sliding to block the shot, held the puck, and drove to the net. On the doorstep, he faked then went high glove-side on Palmisano, giving the Gophers their first goal of the weekend.

Michigan State got the tying tally at 16:35 to put some life back in their game, when Andrew Rowe corralled a puck behind the net and put it into the net at the left post for his seventh of the season. The deadlock was short lived, as the Gophers answered at 17:14, when Mike Carman's wrister from the left side of the high slot found its way through traffic for a 2-1 lead.

The Spartans pulled Palmisano with 1:28 remaining, and were aided by a David Fischer tripping call with 20 seconds remaining to have a 6-on-4, but despite the manpower advantage, MSU could not gain an equalizer.

Michigan State returns to CCHA action next weekend with a series at Northern Michigan.

NOTES: Michigan State surpassed its previous season high with 38 shots on net ... Drew Palmisano rebounded from a tough Friday outing to make 40 saves, a season high. His previous season high was 35, set in a 3-2 overtime win over Miami in Oxford ... MSU has not won a Showcase game since 2000, going 0-13-7 in that span ...