Hockey Season Ends With Last-Second Loss To Cornell, 4-3

Toledo, Ohio -- A power play goal by Mack Sullivan with 10 seconds remaining in regulation propelled fourth-seeded Cornell to an upset win over Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Toledo.

Michigan State's season comes to an abrupt conclusion after spending 14 of the last 16 weeks at either No. 1 or No. 2 in the national polls. The Spartans, the first team to ever win the regular-season and tournament titles in back-to-back seasons in Big Ten history, complete their year with a 26-7-4 overall record.

The teams traded goals throughout the game, with MSU striking first and Cornell finding ways to answer. MSU led 2-1 after one period on a late power play goal by Daniel Russell, and then after the Big Red tied it up late in the second period on a Charlie Major score, Karsen Dorwart scored his 13^th of the season for a 3-2 second-intermission lead.

Cornell came out and was able to generate the offense it could not find in the opening 40 minutes in the final period – the Big Red had the first six shots on net and outshot MSU 12-7 overall in the period after the Spartans held a 30-9 edge in the first two frames.

Ryan Welch scored his second goal of the night with 7:22 minutes remaining in regulation, and the teams increased their urgency as the minutes ticked off the clock. MSU's first penalty of the night was called with 1:39 remaining on the clock, giving the Big Red their first opportunity on the power play. Sullivan scored the game-winner with just 10 ticks remaining for the Big Red (19-10-6).

Russell, Dorwart and sophomore Gavin O'Connell had the goals for the Spartans, and Trey Augustine finished with 17 saves.

Cornell advances to take on regional No. 2 seed Boston University, which defeated Ohio State in today's early game, 8-3.That game will be played on Saturday in Toledo.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

MSU is making its 29^th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and second consecutive after an absence from 2013-2023. The Spartans are a No. 1 seed for the second straight season as well.
Karsen Dorwart had a goal and an assist on the night and now has 13-18-31. He is three points shy of his 34 points a year ago, and he now has nine points in his last six games.
Isaac Howard's first-period assist gave him a point in nine of the last 10 games (6-7-13). He concludes his season with 52 points (26 goals, 26 assists).
Gavin O'Connell opened MSU's scoring with his sixth goal of the season seven minutes into the game, and had an assist on Dorwart's go-ahead goal in the second period. .
Daniel Russell's 13^th goal of the season – scored in the final minute of the period on the power play – was his 13^th of the year. It ties his sophomore-year total for goals (13) and points (25). His career best in points is 30, established as a freshman.
Joey Larson's first-period assist was his 24^th point of the season (14^th assist). He finished two assists shy of his career best of 16 in 2023-24.
Charlie Stramel had the primary assist on Russell's opening-period power play goal, a nifty spinning behind-the-back dish across the top of the goalmouth. It was his second assist in as many games and his 18^th of the season.
Maxim Štrbák had his 16^th assist of the season on Dorwart's goal late in the second period.

Team Stats

Karsen Dorwart

Gavin O'Connell

Daniel Russell

Isaac Howard

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Karsen Dorwart

Isaac Howard

Joey Larson

Gavin O'Connell

Daniel Russell

Charlie Stramel