Neil’s Notebook: Freshmen Shine, But Spartans Can’t Get Past LSSU
12/31/2018 8:07:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
DETROIT – All season long, Michigan State has been looking for secondary scoring to take some pressure off its highly productive KHL line of Patrick Khodorenko, Taro Hirose and Mitchell Lewandowski.
On Sunday, the Spartans got it – three goals by players not named Khodorenko, Hirose and Lewandowski.
Freshman left wing Wojciech Stachowiak scored two goals – the first of his collegiate his career – and freshman defenseman Dennis Cesana had a goal and two assists.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to outduel Lake Superior State in the second semifinal of the 54th Great Lakes Invitational at Little Caesars Arena.
MSU built a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the game, fell behind 3-2 in the second period, rallied to tie it in the third but failed to convert on a late power play and lost to the Lakers 4-3 at 3:05 of overtime.
It was an extremely disappointing and frustrating finish to a game in which the Spartans were at their best in the third period and had a good chance to earn a spot in the GLI title game for the first time since 2014.
But LSSU senior center and captain Diego Cuglietta spoiled MSU's night. He tapped in a loose puck in front of the net for his second goal of the game to give the Lakers the victory with less than two minutes remaining in the OT.
The goal came after an MSU icing and a faceoff in the right circle. The Lakers won the faceoff and a pass from the right boards made its way to the goal crease. It came loose, there was a shot and the red light blinked.
"They did win it back, got it on the wall and put it out front where there was a bunch of bodies and it found sticks,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "It was a nice pass, the guy went forehand, the light comes on and that's the way she goes.
"It was unfortunate, but that's hockey.''
So, for the third straight GLI, and fourth time in six tournaments, the Spartans (6-10-2 overall, 2-5-1-1 Big Ten) are matched up against Michigan (6-7-5, 2-4-4) in the third-place game – at 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
The Wolverines tied Michigan Tech, 2-2, in Sunday's first semifinal, but the Huskies (10-7-2) earned the berth in the title game with a 2-1 win in the shootout. Michigan Tech is in the final – against LSSU (10-6-1) at 2:30 p.m. Monday - for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in the last seven years. The Huskies won it 2012 and lost in the championship game in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Cole said he would describe his team's play as "uneven.'' And "not bad but we still have to be better and be better for 60 minutes.''
"I think uneven – that's what all four coaches would tell you, coming of the (holiday) break,'' he said. "We were OK early, but we're up 2-0 and I don't think we were playing spectacular, like it was lopsided and we were all over them.
"We got a couple of goals (in the first 10 minutes) and then they had the jump for a while, and then we just played harder and played simple and let the game work out. About the middle of the second period through the end of the game, we had a pretty good push and were playing well.
"We had a chance on the power play late in the game and a few seconds into the overtime. And so you don't get one, it goes back and forth. And that's the hard part of overtime. The puck goes in and you can't come back. It's over.''
Ten minutes into the first period, Michigan State led 2-0 on goals by Cesana, his second of the season, at 2:31 and Stachowiak at 10:13.
Cesana beat LSSU goalie Nick Kossoff (29 saves) from the goal line deep in the right corner, a wide-angle shot that deflected in off Kossoff. Stachowiak made it 2-0 after defenseman Jerad Rosburg's shot from the left point was stopped by Kossoff, but the rebound bounced out front, and Stachowiak fired the puck into the top left corner, ending his 13-game goal and point drought.
But LSSU rebounded quickly, scoring 56 seconds later on a power play as Anthony Nellis scored unassisted with a wrister from the slot that beat MSU goalie John Lethemon (26 saves) at 11:09. Less than five minutes later, the Lakers tied it 2-2 on Cuglietta's first goal, a redirection of Nellis' perfect pass from the right circle into the goal crease at 15:42.
Lake Superior State scored the only goal of the second period, taking a 3-2 lead on Max Humitz's wrap-around play at 7:29.
Stachowiak tied it 3-3 at 7:55 of the third period, capping a 3-on-1 rush after a turnover in the neutral zone. With Cesana assisting, Stachowiak beat Kossoff with a with a wrister from the slot.
With 7:12 left in the third period, MSU survived a Lakers' flurry when Lewandowski stopped a sliding puck from crossing the goal line behind Lethemon and flipped it out of danger, with the puck about three-quarters over the line, but not entirely. The play was reviewed and officials ruled no goal.
The Spartans outshot the Lakers 14-8 in the third period, but had only one shot on goal on their power play and several wide and over the net with 1:35 left in the final period and 25 seconds into overtime.
That set the stage for Cuglietta's 11th goal of the season – at 3:05 of overtime.
The Lakers did a solid job of containing MSU's KHL line, which had some good looks in the third period but never got the puck past Kossoff. Hirose had an assist on Cesana's first goal of the game, but the unit had only one shot through the first two periods and four in the third and none in overtime. The line finished with five shots on goal – three by Khodorenko and two by Hirose.
"They defended well and took away time and space. Their defense is big and they had nice gaps tonight,'' Cole said of the Lakers. "That's a good forechecking line and sometimes they want to carry everything in (the offensive zone), and sometimes you have to take what the game gives you.
"Maybe break down the game that way – play it where you forecheck and jump on it when you get the chances. Our guys are dangerous but we were just off the puck a couple times.''
Said Hirose, "When we got off to the 2-0 lead, I thought we were playing well and moving our feet and playing with some pace. Then we sort of let up a little and you can't do that against a good team like that.
"We came back after they scored three straight goals and got contributions from the freshmen. But as a top line, we seemed to play better at the end and on the power play.''
But the late MSU power play came up short and the Lakers cashed in on their opportunity in overtime and earned their way into the 2018 GLI championship game. And sent the Spartans into another third-place game meeting against Michigan.
STACHOWIAK FINDS THE NET: Freshman left wing Wojciech Stachowiak scored a goal in his first "game" as a Spartan, but it was in the Green and White game in early October, and, course, those statistics don't count. But when the regular season started, the 6-foot, 197-pounder from Gdansk, Poland, struggled to find the back of the net or to assist on goals.
Stachowiak went 13 games without a goal or assist and battled through frustration and confidence issues. On Sunday, he ended his drought with two goals, including a clutch third-period goal to tie the game 3-3.
"I'm definitely not going to forget this. It's definitely been a hard time for me,'' said Stachowiak, who last season had nine goals and 19 points in 38 games for the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the U.S. Hockey League. "I'd say 2018 was not a good year for me. In the USHL, I started good and got injured and didn't score much after that.
"After going seven months without scoring, it feels good. You get that first goal, it makes you feel more comfortable with the puck, and comfortable with decisions. And the second one makes you feel even better. That's probably the best game I've played since the USHL.''
Stachowiak said his first goal – at 10:13 of the first period to give MSU a 2-0 lead – was a simple reaction to a rebound.
"I didn't know where I was shooting, to be honest,'' he said with a laugh. "I just shot it and it was a quick shot for the goaltender. The second one, (on a 3-on-1 rush), I was looking at David Keefer (in the left circle), but I realized I had an open lane and went to the net and took the shot.''
His hard wrist shot caught the top left corner to lift MSU into a 3-3 tie at 7:29 of the third period. Stachowiak led the Spartans with four shots on goal – one in the first period and three in the third.
"I don't think anyone on our team is surprised,'' junior left wing Taro Hirose said about Stachowiak. "He's got a lot of skills and has stuff on the offensive side that he can use in his game, and it was just a matter of time that he had a game like that.''
Stachowiak played on a line with junior center Sam Saliba and sophomore right wing Keefer. Both of his linemates were on the ice when he scored his two goals, even though they didn't pick up assists.
"It's hard to get that first goal, and as more games go on, psychologically it's tough. I've been through that,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "You keep saying to him 'backcheck hard and keep putting pucks on net and at some point you'll get one and feel like a goal-scorer.'
"That's good for him. I hope it carries over. He's been doing some good things lately and we he was rewarded for it tonight.''
TECH, U-M TIE: Michigan Tech never trailed it its 2-2 tie against Michigan in the first GLI semifinal on Sunday. Each team scored in the first period as the Huskies took a 1-0 lead on Alex Broetzman's power-play goal at 1:55, and U-M tied it on Nolan Moyle's goal at 6:02.
Michigan Tech went up 2-1 when Brian Halonen scored at 7:11, but the Wolverines tied it 10 minutes later on Adam Winborg's deflection of defenseman Nick Blankenburg's shot from the left point.
After a scoreless third period and overtime, the Huskies won the shootout 2-1 on Tommy Parrottino's goal in the fifth round, lifting Tech into the title game and sending U-M to the third-place contest.
MTU goalie Robbie Beydoun made 36 saves, including 14 in the third period and two in overtime, while U-M's Strauss Mann stopped 33 shots, eight in the third period and four in OT.
MSU-MICHIGAN, ROUND 3: The Spartans are facing the Wolverines for the third time this season in Sunday's third-place game. A month ago, MSU edged U-M, 4-3, at Munn Arena and the two teams played to a 1-1 tie the next night in Ann Arbor, with the Spartans winning the shootout in Big Ten play 1-0.
MSU is 0-3-1 in its last four games this season while Michigan is winless in eight games at 0-3-5.
In last season's GLI third-place game, MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead but U-M outscored the Spartans, 3-1, in each of the second and third periods to hang on for a 6-4 victory. In the 2016 third-place game, Michigan defeated MSU, 5-4, in overtime.
GLI NOTES: Lake Superior State is seeking its first GLI title and is in the championship game for the second time in four tournament appearances. The Lakers lost to Michigan, 5-4, in the 1996 title game at Joe Louis Arena. LSSU played in the 1977 GLI at Olympia Stadium, losing to Michigan, 4-3 in overtime in the semifinals and beating Western Michigan, 6-4, in the third-place game.
The Lakers lost to Michigan, 4-3 in overtime in the 1999 semifinals and lost to Michigan Tech, 5-4 in the third-place game. LSSU is now 3-4 in seven GLI appearances.
After losing to Michigan State, 3-2 in overtime, in the 2000 GLI championship game, Michigan Tech played in the final only one time (2007) over the next 11 seasons. In 2012, the Huskies won their first GLI since 1979 with a 4-0 win over Western Michigan.
The at-large team in the next season's GLI is Ferris State. The Bulldogs will play Michigan, while MSU plays Michigan Tech. In 2020, Northern Michigan is back in the GLI, facing the Spartans in the first round.
IN THE BIG TEN: Other than MSU and Michigan, no other conference teams played on Sunday. But Ohio State and Minnesota were in action on Saturday, concluding non-conference series.
The No. 5/7 Buckeyes (11-4-3 overall, 4-2-2-2 Big Ten) completed a sweep of Mercyhurst with a 5-4 victory in Columbus. OSU won the series opener 3-1, on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Gophers (6-7-4, 3-2-3-0) were upset by Ferris State, 3-2, on Saturday in Minneapolis. Minnesota won the series opener, 5-3, on Friday.
No. 6 Notre Dame (11-5-1, 5-3-0) was idle on Saturday and Sunday but plays host to Boston College in a single non-conference game on Monday in Notre Dame, Ind.
Both No. 9/10 Penn State (11-5-2, 3-4-1-1) and Wisconsin (8-7-3, 4-3-3-1) had the weekend off.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
DETROIT – All season long, Michigan State has been looking for secondary scoring to take some pressure off its highly productive KHL line of Patrick Khodorenko, Taro Hirose and Mitchell Lewandowski.
On Sunday, the Spartans got it – three goals by players not named Khodorenko, Hirose and Lewandowski.
Freshman left wing Wojciech Stachowiak scored two goals – the first of his collegiate his career – and freshman defenseman Dennis Cesana had a goal and two assists.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to outduel Lake Superior State in the second semifinal of the 54th Great Lakes Invitational at Little Caesars Arena.
MSU built a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the game, fell behind 3-2 in the second period, rallied to tie it in the third but failed to convert on a late power play and lost to the Lakers 4-3 at 3:05 of overtime.
It was an extremely disappointing and frustrating finish to a game in which the Spartans were at their best in the third period and had a good chance to earn a spot in the GLI title game for the first time since 2014.
But LSSU senior center and captain Diego Cuglietta spoiled MSU's night. He tapped in a loose puck in front of the net for his second goal of the game to give the Lakers the victory with less than two minutes remaining in the OT.
The goal came after an MSU icing and a faceoff in the right circle. The Lakers won the faceoff and a pass from the right boards made its way to the goal crease. It came loose, there was a shot and the red light blinked.
"They did win it back, got it on the wall and put it out front where there was a bunch of bodies and it found sticks,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "It was a nice pass, the guy went forehand, the light comes on and that's the way she goes.
"It was unfortunate, but that's hockey.''
So, for the third straight GLI, and fourth time in six tournaments, the Spartans (6-10-2 overall, 2-5-1-1 Big Ten) are matched up against Michigan (6-7-5, 2-4-4) in the third-place game – at 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
The Wolverines tied Michigan Tech, 2-2, in Sunday's first semifinal, but the Huskies (10-7-2) earned the berth in the title game with a 2-1 win in the shootout. Michigan Tech is in the final – against LSSU (10-6-1) at 2:30 p.m. Monday - for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in the last seven years. The Huskies won it 2012 and lost in the championship game in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Cole said he would describe his team's play as "uneven.'' And "not bad but we still have to be better and be better for 60 minutes.''
"I think uneven – that's what all four coaches would tell you, coming of the (holiday) break,'' he said. "We were OK early, but we're up 2-0 and I don't think we were playing spectacular, like it was lopsided and we were all over them.
"We got a couple of goals (in the first 10 minutes) and then they had the jump for a while, and then we just played harder and played simple and let the game work out. About the middle of the second period through the end of the game, we had a pretty good push and were playing well.
"We had a chance on the power play late in the game and a few seconds into the overtime. And so you don't get one, it goes back and forth. And that's the hard part of overtime. The puck goes in and you can't come back. It's over.''
Ten minutes into the first period, Michigan State led 2-0 on goals by Cesana, his second of the season, at 2:31 and Stachowiak at 10:13.
Cesana beat LSSU goalie Nick Kossoff (29 saves) from the goal line deep in the right corner, a wide-angle shot that deflected in off Kossoff. Stachowiak made it 2-0 after defenseman Jerad Rosburg's shot from the left point was stopped by Kossoff, but the rebound bounced out front, and Stachowiak fired the puck into the top left corner, ending his 13-game goal and point drought.
But LSSU rebounded quickly, scoring 56 seconds later on a power play as Anthony Nellis scored unassisted with a wrister from the slot that beat MSU goalie John Lethemon (26 saves) at 11:09. Less than five minutes later, the Lakers tied it 2-2 on Cuglietta's first goal, a redirection of Nellis' perfect pass from the right circle into the goal crease at 15:42.
Lake Superior State scored the only goal of the second period, taking a 3-2 lead on Max Humitz's wrap-around play at 7:29.
Stachowiak tied it 3-3 at 7:55 of the third period, capping a 3-on-1 rush after a turnover in the neutral zone. With Cesana assisting, Stachowiak beat Kossoff with a with a wrister from the slot.
With 7:12 left in the third period, MSU survived a Lakers' flurry when Lewandowski stopped a sliding puck from crossing the goal line behind Lethemon and flipped it out of danger, with the puck about three-quarters over the line, but not entirely. The play was reviewed and officials ruled no goal.
The Spartans outshot the Lakers 14-8 in the third period, but had only one shot on goal on their power play and several wide and over the net with 1:35 left in the final period and 25 seconds into overtime.
That set the stage for Cuglietta's 11th goal of the season – at 3:05 of overtime.
The Lakers did a solid job of containing MSU's KHL line, which had some good looks in the third period but never got the puck past Kossoff. Hirose had an assist on Cesana's first goal of the game, but the unit had only one shot through the first two periods and four in the third and none in overtime. The line finished with five shots on goal – three by Khodorenko and two by Hirose.
"They defended well and took away time and space. Their defense is big and they had nice gaps tonight,'' Cole said of the Lakers. "That's a good forechecking line and sometimes they want to carry everything in (the offensive zone), and sometimes you have to take what the game gives you.
"Maybe break down the game that way – play it where you forecheck and jump on it when you get the chances. Our guys are dangerous but we were just off the puck a couple times.''
Said Hirose, "When we got off to the 2-0 lead, I thought we were playing well and moving our feet and playing with some pace. Then we sort of let up a little and you can't do that against a good team like that.
"We came back after they scored three straight goals and got contributions from the freshmen. But as a top line, we seemed to play better at the end and on the power play.''
But the late MSU power play came up short and the Lakers cashed in on their opportunity in overtime and earned their way into the 2018 GLI championship game. And sent the Spartans into another third-place game meeting against Michigan.
STACHOWIAK FINDS THE NET: Freshman left wing Wojciech Stachowiak scored a goal in his first "game" as a Spartan, but it was in the Green and White game in early October, and, course, those statistics don't count. But when the regular season started, the 6-foot, 197-pounder from Gdansk, Poland, struggled to find the back of the net or to assist on goals.
Stachowiak went 13 games without a goal or assist and battled through frustration and confidence issues. On Sunday, he ended his drought with two goals, including a clutch third-period goal to tie the game 3-3.
"I'm definitely not going to forget this. It's definitely been a hard time for me,'' said Stachowiak, who last season had nine goals and 19 points in 38 games for the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the U.S. Hockey League. "I'd say 2018 was not a good year for me. In the USHL, I started good and got injured and didn't score much after that.
"After going seven months without scoring, it feels good. You get that first goal, it makes you feel more comfortable with the puck, and comfortable with decisions. And the second one makes you feel even better. That's probably the best game I've played since the USHL.''
Stachowiak said his first goal – at 10:13 of the first period to give MSU a 2-0 lead – was a simple reaction to a rebound.
"I didn't know where I was shooting, to be honest,'' he said with a laugh. "I just shot it and it was a quick shot for the goaltender. The second one, (on a 3-on-1 rush), I was looking at David Keefer (in the left circle), but I realized I had an open lane and went to the net and took the shot.''
His hard wrist shot caught the top left corner to lift MSU into a 3-3 tie at 7:29 of the third period. Stachowiak led the Spartans with four shots on goal – one in the first period and three in the third.
"I don't think anyone on our team is surprised,'' junior left wing Taro Hirose said about Stachowiak. "He's got a lot of skills and has stuff on the offensive side that he can use in his game, and it was just a matter of time that he had a game like that.''
Stachowiak played on a line with junior center Sam Saliba and sophomore right wing Keefer. Both of his linemates were on the ice when he scored his two goals, even though they didn't pick up assists.
"It's hard to get that first goal, and as more games go on, psychologically it's tough. I've been through that,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "You keep saying to him 'backcheck hard and keep putting pucks on net and at some point you'll get one and feel like a goal-scorer.'
"That's good for him. I hope it carries over. He's been doing some good things lately and we he was rewarded for it tonight.''
TECH, U-M TIE: Michigan Tech never trailed it its 2-2 tie against Michigan in the first GLI semifinal on Sunday. Each team scored in the first period as the Huskies took a 1-0 lead on Alex Broetzman's power-play goal at 1:55, and U-M tied it on Nolan Moyle's goal at 6:02.
Michigan Tech went up 2-1 when Brian Halonen scored at 7:11, but the Wolverines tied it 10 minutes later on Adam Winborg's deflection of defenseman Nick Blankenburg's shot from the left point.
After a scoreless third period and overtime, the Huskies won the shootout 2-1 on Tommy Parrottino's goal in the fifth round, lifting Tech into the title game and sending U-M to the third-place contest.
MTU goalie Robbie Beydoun made 36 saves, including 14 in the third period and two in overtime, while U-M's Strauss Mann stopped 33 shots, eight in the third period and four in OT.
MSU-MICHIGAN, ROUND 3: The Spartans are facing the Wolverines for the third time this season in Sunday's third-place game. A month ago, MSU edged U-M, 4-3, at Munn Arena and the two teams played to a 1-1 tie the next night in Ann Arbor, with the Spartans winning the shootout in Big Ten play 1-0.
MSU is 0-3-1 in its last four games this season while Michigan is winless in eight games at 0-3-5.
In last season's GLI third-place game, MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead but U-M outscored the Spartans, 3-1, in each of the second and third periods to hang on for a 6-4 victory. In the 2016 third-place game, Michigan defeated MSU, 5-4, in overtime.
GLI NOTES: Lake Superior State is seeking its first GLI title and is in the championship game for the second time in four tournament appearances. The Lakers lost to Michigan, 5-4, in the 1996 title game at Joe Louis Arena. LSSU played in the 1977 GLI at Olympia Stadium, losing to Michigan, 4-3 in overtime in the semifinals and beating Western Michigan, 6-4, in the third-place game.
The Lakers lost to Michigan, 4-3 in overtime in the 1999 semifinals and lost to Michigan Tech, 5-4 in the third-place game. LSSU is now 3-4 in seven GLI appearances.
After losing to Michigan State, 3-2 in overtime, in the 2000 GLI championship game, Michigan Tech played in the final only one time (2007) over the next 11 seasons. In 2012, the Huskies won their first GLI since 1979 with a 4-0 win over Western Michigan.
The at-large team in the next season's GLI is Ferris State. The Bulldogs will play Michigan, while MSU plays Michigan Tech. In 2020, Northern Michigan is back in the GLI, facing the Spartans in the first round.
IN THE BIG TEN: Other than MSU and Michigan, no other conference teams played on Sunday. But Ohio State and Minnesota were in action on Saturday, concluding non-conference series.
The No. 5/7 Buckeyes (11-4-3 overall, 4-2-2-2 Big Ten) completed a sweep of Mercyhurst with a 5-4 victory in Columbus. OSU won the series opener 3-1, on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Gophers (6-7-4, 3-2-3-0) were upset by Ferris State, 3-2, on Saturday in Minneapolis. Minnesota won the series opener, 5-3, on Friday.
No. 6 Notre Dame (11-5-1, 5-3-0) was idle on Saturday and Sunday but plays host to Boston College in a single non-conference game on Monday in Notre Dame, Ind.
Both No. 9/10 Penn State (11-5-2, 3-4-1-1) and Wisconsin (8-7-3, 4-3-3-1) had the weekend off.
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