Spartans fall to RedHawks in OT

By Brittany McCormick

EAST LANSING – In the second consecutive game of the season, the Michigan State Spartans fell to their opponent in overtime. The Spartans were dropped by conference foe Miami of Ohio, 2-1.

“We talked about letting this sting a little bit,” said captain Torey Krug. “That’s two overtime loses in a row now. We understand that we have to let it sting a little bit and learn a lesson from it. At the same time we have to forget about it and come back out tomorrow night and work even harder than we did tonight.”

Sophomore forward Greg Wolfe scored the lone goal for the Spartans, who out-shot the Red Hawks 34-27 on the night. Senior netminder Drew Palmisano had 25 saves.

“It was a real, tough physical game, which is what we expected,” said Spartans coach Tom Anastos. “They were a real good team and played real well as a team. The game pretty much was what we anticipated. They were a very good team and competed very well. Maybe harder than any team we have played so far. When you play a game like that and your power play has those chances and doesn’t come up with goal it usually comes up and bites you. We have to recover.”

The Spartans were persistent on offense within the first five minutes of the match, notching five shots on goal.  Regardless of the Spartans’ offensive momentum within the first frame, the Red Hawks were the first to strike. Byron Paulazzo dug out the puck from behind the net and scored on a wraparound to give Miami the lead.

Michigan State wasted no time evening up the score, after junior forward Dean Chelios found Greg Wolfe in the neutral zone and fed him the puck. The sophomore forward beat goaltender Connor Knapp above his right shoulder to tie up the physical game just 12 seconds after the Miami goal. The 6-foot-6 Red Hawk goaltender provided quite a challenge for the Spartans, recording 33 saves.

“I thought we moved the puck well entering the zone and we were getting our chances,” Wolfe said. “He’s a big goalie, so he covers the bottom of the net. The way to beat him is to go high and to go under the bar. The amount of opportunities we had we’re a good deal and a good amount. We just need to bear down in front of the net and go hard getting those rebounds.”

The next two periods remained scoreless, sending the game into overtime. Miami came out strong offensive, registering four shots on net. After 1:24 of play, Jimmy Mullin found the back of the net, giving the Red Hawks their sixth conference win of the season.

The two teams wrap up the series tomorrow at Munn Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m.