TOLEDO, Ohio – Holy Toledo!
The Michigan State hockey team’s season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday on a Cornell goal with 10 seconds remaining.
The top-ranked Spartans and No. 1 seed in the Toledo, Ohio regional dominated the first two periods, holding a 3-2 lead and outshooting its opponent 30-9. But the Big Red stormed back with a major push in the third.
After tying the game with 7:22 remaining, it received its first power play of the game with 1:39 left. Cornell’s power play ranks bottom-three in the country but struck at an opportune time. Sullivan Mack deposited a cross-seam pass from Charlie Major to stun MSU, the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament champions.
The Spartans (26-7-4) had prevailed through several late nervy moments during the Big Ten Tournament, but didn’t have any time for a last-ditch effort Thursday following Cornell’s go-ahead goal.
They hung on for a 1-0 win over Notre Dame in the Big Ten semifinals and outlasted Ohio State 4-3 in double overtime in the final after blowing a two-goal third-period lead.
The Big Red pulled off what 30th-year head coach Mike Schafer, who is set to retire after this season, called a “miracle on ice” in the Eastern College Athletic Conference semifinals to keep its season alive.
It forced overtime against No. 1 seed Quinnipiac with a shorthanded goal with just over a minute left and won in overtime.
It carried momentum into the ECAC championship against No. 2 seed Clarkson and earned a 3-1 victory for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAAs. Cornell advances to face No. 2 seed Boston University – an 8-3 winner over No. 3 seed Ohio State in the other semifinal – on Saturday.
MSU was living in the offensive zone for the majority of the second period, peppering Ian Shane with shots. But it remained a one-shot game for most of the period, despite the Big Red managing just one shot through the first 14 minutes. Its second was a major one.
Forward Charlie Major blasted a one-timer from the top of the circle past MSU goalie Trey Augustine to tie the game. The Spartans’ second line retook the lead on the ensuing shift. Shane misplayed the puck behind his net, and Karsen Dorwart accepted his gift, scoring on a wraparound.
MSU received the fast start it was looking for. A strong forecheck forced a Cornell defensive zone turnover, and Joey Larson retrieved the puck along the wall and found Gavin O’Connell open in front. His quick shot beat Shane, giving the team a 1-0 lead just over seven minutes in.
The Big Red responded at the 15:02 mark of the first before MSU retook the lead in the final minute on the first power play of the game. Charlie Stramel, a first-round pick of the Wild, was knocked down in front battling for positioning, and the puck found him as soon as he got back up. He dished a no-look pass to Daniel Russell back door for an easy tap-in goal with 29 seconds remaining.
The Spartans’ season ends in an NCAA regional for a second straight year as a No. 1 seed. They lost to Michigan in the regional final last season.
