Michigan State University
Boston College
Spartans Come Up Short Against No. 8 Boston College
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The eighth-ranked Boston College Eagles scored a pair of first-period goals and never trailed as they went on to top the Michigan State hockey team, 3-2, on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans outshot the Eagles over the final two periods and pulled within a goal on two occasions, but could never net the tying tally.
"It was kind of a frustrating game for us tonight. We just gave up goals too easy, which isn't typical of our team. To our credit, I thought we kept fighting back in spite of spotting them the early goals," MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. "We just couldn't get over the hump to get that third one to tie it."
BC's early goal came off the stick of Zach Sanford just 39 seconds into the game. Sanford took a short pass in the slot and put a shot on MSU goalie Jake Hildebrand that snuck through and into the net.
"I thought we were a little hesitant in our zone on that goal," Anastos said.
The Eagles (5-5) made it 2-0 when a long dump in into the Spartan zone skipped away from Hildebrand, leaving the puck for Matthew Gaudreau to tap into the net. Ian McCoshen sent the puck in from near the red line where it bounced and trickled toward Hildebrand and then spun off of him and sat in the crease where Gaudreau poked it in for a two-goal lead.
The Spartans (3-6) pushed back as the period continued and were rewarded when Michael Ferrantino put home his fifth goal of the season to cut the MSU deficit to 2-1. The play started when Joe Cox collected the puck near the top of the right circle and rifled a perfect cross-ice pass to Ferrantino, who one-timed it into a nearly open net.
"I give our team credit for the way we bounced back because those are frustrating goals that we gave up," Anastos said. "It took us some time to settle down and I thought we kept fighting back."
The Eagles killed a pair of Spartan power plays in the first half of the second period and then reclaimed a two-goal advantage at the 11:54 mark. Pressure by BC deep in the Spartan end resulted in a chance in front by Michael Sit that Hildebrand stopped, but Quinn Smith was on the spot and put home the rebound, making it 3-1.
Michigan State created a more offensive chances in the third stanza and again pulled within a goal when Matt DeBlouw beat BC goaltender Thatcher Demko with a high shot with just over 10 minutes to play. From behind the net, Ryan Keller hit DeBlouw in front, to Demko's left, and he ripped the puck over Demko.
The Spartans pulled Hildebrand in the final two minutes and buzzed the Eagle zone with the extra attacker, but couldn't come up with the tying goal.
MSU finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play, while BC was 0-for-1.
Michigan State will start Big Ten play on Thursday when it travels to Ohio State for a two-game series on Nov. 20-21.
