Michigan State University
Michigan
Spartans Fall Short in GLI Title Game
12/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
DETROIT - The Michigan State hockey team came up short in its bid for a Great Lakes Invitational title, falling to Michigan, 2-1, on Monday night in front of a crowd of 17,779 at Joe Louis Arena. Trailing 2-0, the Spartans pulled within one when Rhett Holland scored his first-career goal at the 4:07 mark of the third period. But U-M goaltender Steve Racine turned away every MSU shot the rest of the way to preserve the win for Michigan.
Michigan State outshot the Wolverines, 32-29, including by a 25-18 margin over the final two periods.
"I thought we played hard the entire 60 minutes, but played uptight in the first part of the game," MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. "We didn't make easy plays that were available to us. I thought as the game went on, especially after their second goal, we began pressing like we had two score two goals in one shot."
Michigan's Andrew Copp scored the only goal of a back-and-forth first period. Alex Kile got the puck to Copp on the left side in the neutral zone, starting a 2-on-1. Copp snapped shot from the left circle that just squeezed through the arm and body of Hildebrand at the 9:17 mark.
The Spartans' best scoring chances in the first period came off creating traffic in front of Racine, none better than Joe Cox's redirection from the side of the net that sailed across the crease in the opening minutes of the period.
MSU put 14 shots on goal in the second period and nearly tied it when Mackenzie MacEachern, Matt DeBlouw and Tanner Sorenson generated a pair of quality opportunities by outnumbering the Wolverines deep in their own zone midway through the frame.
Outside the handful of odd-man opportunities, a majority of the Spartans' chances came from the perimeter.
"We just couldn't get to creating many second or third chances tonight," Anastos said.
The Wolverines bounced back minutes later to take a 2-0 lead when Zach Hyman scored on a backhand just off the crease. Hyman took a feed in front of the net from Michael Downing at the point and lifted the puck into the net, high over Hildebrand's shoulder.
The Spartans cut the deficit to 2-1 just four minutes into the third period on a shot from the point by Holland. Holland took the puck inside the blue line on the right side and flung it toward Racine. The puck found its way through a screen by Ryan Keller and into the upper left corner of the net.
"I definitely thought the goal gave our team a little bit of a spark, but we still came up short," Holland said.
Hildebrand was quickly called on after the Spartan goal and made two great stops in a matter of minutes to keep it a one-goal game. He first stopped Hyman from the right side and later a point-blank shot off a 2-on-1 in front.
The Wolverines kept the pressure on with a power play, but it was MSU that had the best chance during the penalty in the later stages of the period when Cox blocked a shot a shot from the point and raced the other way. Cox fought through a trip and raced in on goal only to have his backhand attempt stopped by Racine.
The Spartans threatened a as the game wound down but couldn't get the equalizer.
"It's definitely disappointing because we had a good shot," Anastos said. "I thought we did a lot of good things on the weekend."
Holland, who also had an assist in the semifinal win over Ferris State, was named to the all-tournament team.
Michigan State will be back in action on Jan. 9 when it hosts the U.S. National Team Development Program at 7 p.m.
