Spartans beat No. 14 Boston University Saturday night in East Lansing
By Nick Barnowski –
EAST LANSING – Two goals 52 seconds apart late in the third period propelled the Michigan State Spartans to a 3-1 win over No. 14 Boston University Saturday night in East Lansing, marking their first victory of the season.
Brent Darnell scored his first goal of the season with just over five minutes to play in the third to tie the game at one. Shortly after, Joe Cox added his first as a Spartan to give MSU a 2-1 lead that they did not relinquish.
Captain Greg Wolfe added an empty-netter in the closing moments to secure MSU’s first win of the 2013-14 campaign.
“I thought that was our best overall three period effort,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. “I was certainly very happy with our play, it’s a good win for our team tonight.”
Darnell’s goal came after MSU had sustained pressure in the Terrier zone for most of the third period. After corralling the puck near the end boards along the goal line, he fired the puck at the net and it went in off of Boston University goalie Sean Maguire’s pads. Brock Krygier and Jake Chelios picked up assists on the goal, and for Krygier, it was his first collegiate point.
Fifty-two seconds after, the Spartans struck again, thanks to Cox, a freshman forward from Chelsea. Cox collected a puck that had bounced off of skates near the right-hand side of the crease and managed to jam it past Maguire. Both Chelios brothers, Dean and Jake, assisted on the goal.
Despite it being described as a “grinding” goal, Anastos said that it was “a Picasso” to him.
“That was a beautiful goal,” he said while laughing. “They grinded it out down low. We felt we were putting them under quite a bit of pressure under the course of the night and we just kept battling.”
The crowd of 4,565 erupted after the goal and the Spartans celebrated in the corner by the student section with victory in sight for the first time this season.
“The puck just kind of popped right out in front of the net and luckily I was right there,” Cox said. “Right when we got [the first goal] everyone was fired up and ready to go, and right when we got the chance we went out there and capitalized.
“Of course it was a big goal, but it was a big goal for me because it was my first. A lot of emotions.”
Both goalies played well for their respective teams: Michigan State’s Jake Hildebrand posted 26 saves in the win while Maguire stopped 30 shots.
“It’s been a long time since we got a win,” Hildebrand said. “I just wanted to do everything I possibly could to make sure we got that win.”
Michigan State blocked 16 shots in a strong team defensive effort.
“All the boys were diving, doing everything they could, sacrificing the body,” Hildebrand said. “It was awesome to see that.”
Boston University took the lead at the end of the first period despite MSU controlling play for most of the opening 20 minutes.
The Spartans were strong on the forecheck and at one point had an 11-1 lead in shots on goal. MSU attempted 26 shots in the first and had multiple scoring chances, including three chances in a row right in front of Maguire by captain Greg Wolfe.
But with 48 seconds left in the first, Matt Lane scored his second of the season to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. After Boyle Somerby made the initial outlet pass, Cason Hohmann drove down the right side and made a cross-ice pass to Lane who fired a shot past Hildebrand’s blocker.
“You play a real solid first period and you make a mistake and all of the sudden it’s in your net,” Anastos said. “But to the guys’ credit, we just stayed after it. I thought it showed good character.”
The majority of the game’s penalties took place in the second period, as MSU went 0-3 and BU went 0-2 with the man advantage despite both team’s posting 8 and 5 power play shots on goal respectively. Overall, MSU was 0-7 on the power play and BU was 0-3, and MSU led in shots on goal, 33-27.
After Darnell and Cox’s goals, Wolfe added an empty-netter with four seconds left in the game to seal it for the Spartans. It was his third of the season.
Anastos was pleased to see improvement in the team after games against Massachusetts and UMass-Lowell left the team winless to start the year.
“Looking from start to finish over two weekends, I think we’ve gotten better every game we’ve played, and that’s a good thing.”
Hildebrand agreed.
“Every game we’ve gotten better and better,” he said. “We outplayed them pretty much the whole game and we just couldn’t pop one in, but once we got one we got another the boys just couldn’t stop going.”
Michigan State hosts American International next week in a two game home series. Game 1 is Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. and Game 2 is that Sunday, a 1 p.m. start.