EAST LANSING, Mich. — Lake Superior State scored three goals in the third period but it wasn’t enough to overcome Michigan State’s four-goal lead as the Spartans beat the Lakers, 4-3, to open this nonconference series.
“I thought we were really poor to start the game, really poor,” said Lake Superior State coach Damon Whitten. “Unprepared to play. Just not good enough. Give them credit. They won footraces. They outworked us and they won the 50-50 puck battles. We weren’t good enough, flat-out.”
With contributions from three of their four lines, the Spartans led 4-0 by the 1:19 mark in the third period, but the Lakers found some footing in the third, scoring their first of the night just 46 seconds after Logan Lambdin’s first marker of the season put Michigan State ahead by four. At 1:55, Brayden Gelsinger scored for Lake State to make it a 4-1 game, and power-play goals by Bryan Basilico at 3:49 and Max Humitz at 13:14 brought the Lakers to within one.
“Just weird things started happening,” said Michigan State coach Danton Cole. “One play turns into two goals and it’s a ballgame and then they get a good tip on the power play and all of sudden it’s 4-3.”
Gelsinger’s backhanded the puck past Michigan State goaltender John Lethemon on a nice feed from Humitz, with LSSU goalie Nick Kossoff out of the net on the delayed penalty. Then Gelsinger fed Basilico just before the ensuing power play expired – with Lambdin, the guy who scored the goal that held up to be the game-winner, in the box for tripping.
Cole, who was pleased with the sustained effort of his team tonight, said it was just one of those things.
“We’re playing pretty well, it’s a 4-2 hockey game and things happen and you just kind of deal with it and move on,” said Cole. “I didn’t sense any panic or with a young team [having to] settle them down or change their diapers or anything like that.
“We’re going to find ourselves in situations and I’d rather be battling at the end of the game protecting a lead than trying to tie it up.”
The Spartans opened the scoring at 15:17 when Sam Saliba knocked in Carson Gatt’s rebounded shot during a scramble in front of Kossoff. Patrick Khodorenko made it 2-0 at 9:38 in the second on a drop pass from Taro Hirose, and freshman Jake Smith netted his first collegiate goal at 16:52 in the second to make it 3-0 after two.
The Lakers went 2-for-4 on the power play and held the Spartans to none in three chances. Kossoff finished the night with 37 saves as Michigan State out shot Lake Superior State 41-22.
“Obviously, we showed some resilience and push back, but way too late,” said Whitten. “I don’t care who you play; if you only show up for one period or half a period, you’re going to lose hockey games. We need to be a heck of a lot better for 60 minutes.”
The Lakers (1-4-2) and Spartans (3-2-0) meet again in Munn Arena Saturday night.
“They’re going to be a desperate team and they’re going to feel that they just ran out of time tonight,” said Cole. “It’ll be up to us to get back on the way that we want to play.”
WCHA Roundup
Bowling Green 2, Alaska 1
Two Falcons netted their first goals of the season as Bowling Green came from behind to beat visiting Alaska, 2-1.
Troy Van Tetering put the Nanooks on the board at 7:15 in the first, but BGSU senior forward Mitchell McLain tied the game at 11:06 in the second and sophomore defenseman Alec Rauhauser scored the game-winning goal 55 seconds into the third period.
Alaska’s Anton Martinsson and Bowling Green’s Eric Dop each made 25 saves.
Cornell 5, Alabama-Huntsville 1
Jeff Malott scored two goals and Cam Donaldson made two assists as Cornell opened its regular season with a 5-1 home win over Alabama-Huntsville.
The Big Red led 5-0 until Chargers’ senior Brenna Saulnier ruined Matthew Galajda’s shutout with just over three minutes to go in the game.
A power-play goal by Alec McCrea at 4:39 in the first put the Big Red up 1-0 after one, and Cornell led 3-0 at the end of two on a pair of goals scored less than two minutes apart, Trevor Yates’ game-winning power-play goal at 5:00 and freshman Morgan Barron’s first collegiate goal at 6:48.
Galajda stopped 28 in the win. UAH’s Jordan Uhelski made 26 saves as the Big Red outshot the Chargers 31-29.
Ferris State 2, Bemidji State 2 (BSU wins shootout)
After 60 minutes of regulation and two scoreless overtimes, Bemidji State took an extra conference point from Ferris State on Jay Dickman’s shootout marker, capping a back-and-forth 2-2 hockey game.
Kyle Bauman had both goals for the Beavers in regulation, his first two of the season. Bauman put Bemidji State up 1-0 after one with his first at 13:06, assisted by Dickman.
Corey Mackin’s first of the season at 10:06 in the second tied the game briefly at one apiece, but Bauman’s second of the game at 11:17 put BSU up 2-1 after one. Nate Kallen evened it up again when he scored on the Ferris State power play at 12:26 in the third.
The Beavers outshot the Bulldogs 40-21 in 70 minutes of play.
No 12 Minnesota State 3, No. 16 Michigan Tech 1
With two third-period goals scored less than two minutes apart, No. 12 Minnesota State defeated No. 16 Michigan Tech, 3-1.
Senior Jeb Knutson’s fourth goal of the season 14:48 was his second game-winner of the year, on a delayed penalty and assisted by Clint Lewis and Jared Spooner. Knutson also assisted on Marc Michaelis’s goal at 1:59 in the first that gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead after one.
After a scoreless second period, Justin Misiak scored unassisted at 3:29 in the third to tie the game, but Knutson scored at 14:48 and senior Brad McLure’s first goal of the season at 16:53 capped the scoring. Patrick Munson stopped 30 for the Huskies in the loss, while Connor LaCouvee made 17 saves on 18 shots.
