By Brittany McCormick –
EAST LANSING – The Spartans failed to sweep their neighbors from the north, as they tied Lake Superior State and lost the shootout in the second game of their weekend series.
Dean Chelios and Greg Wolfe scored for the Spartans, who dropped to 13-9-4 on the season. Chris Ciotti and Fred Cassiani recorded goals for the visiting Lakers.
Even though MSU had won 4-2 on Friday night, coach Tom Anastos felt his team’s performance was far better Saturday, despite the loss.
“Well to learn a lesson about winning, last night’s game, we won the game and I didn’t feel that great about it,” Anastos said. “I didn’t feel that great about how we played overall. And yet, tonight’s game, while it’s a tie and we lost the shootout, I feel way better about how we played overall. Obviously you want a good result, but you want to play well. Our goal is to do both and get to that point.”
The second game of the series began just like the previous night. In the first period, Lake State’s Domenic Monardo streaked down the left side of the ice and found Washington, Mich., native Ciotti, who netted the first tally of evening.
Keeping to the script of Friday night’s game, the Spartans were able to respond with a goal of their own. This time it was Dean Chelios who found the back of the net after gathering up the rebound off of Trevor Nill’s initial shot.
The score remained tied throughout the second period, even though the Spartans had nine minutes on the power play. They failed to capitalize on a five-minute major that Buddy Robinson of LSSU was called for and gave up a penalty shot to the Lakers. Sophomore goaltender Will Yanakeff deflected Nick McParland’s attempt and kept the score an even 1-1.
“Anytime you have nine minutes of power play, especially in such a condensed time, you don’t get anything, it’s obviously a momentum killer,” said sophomore forward Greg Wolfe. “It’s just something we have to keep working on. I think the biggest thing is just not getting frustrated and getting down on it. It will come. We’re working on it and getting chances.”
With around 7:30 left in regulation, the Spartans were awarded a face-off in the Lakers’ zone. Michigan State’s Brett Perlini won the draw mere seconds after the play was drawn and slid the puck across the front of the net. Wolfe tapped the puck past goaltender Kevin Kapalka and gave the Spartans the one-goal lead.
“Actually, right before we went out, [Anastos] just drew it up,” explained Wolfe. “He drew it up right before we went out. It just worked perfectly.”
The lead only lasted three minutes until Lakers’ captain Cassiani tied the game once again. Both teams battled hard to get the regulation game-winner but neither could, sending the game into overtime.
Overtime was an offensive battle, with Lake Superior notching four shots on goal to Michigan States’ three. The score still remained tied, leading to a shootout for the third time in MSU’s season. Lake Superiors’ Kyle Jean and Dan Radke capitalized on their shots while Wolfe was the only Spartan to score, leading to a Lakers’ shootout win.
“That’s a good team we played out there,” Nill said. “I give them a lot of credit. Their goaltender played great hockey and that was a really good hockey game. We battled for sixty but tonight we didn’t get it.”