Bulldogs top Spartans in East Lansing
By Alyssa Girardi –
EAST LANSING — The academic semester might be over for MSU and Ferris State, but the weekend after final exams left one more test for the schools’ hockey teams.
The former CCHA opponents clashed at Munn Ice Arena, and the No. 4 Bulldogs shut out the Spartans, 2-0, on goals from Chad McDonald and Justin Buzzeo.
“As a team, we played very well defensively and probably one of our better games from start to finish from a defensive standpoint and from the standpoint of puck management,” Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels said.
“We’ve been winning up to this point, but a lot of games we’re leaning on (goaltender) CJ Motte because we’re turning pucks over, we’re giving up a lot of shots, we’re playing sloppy. (Saturday), I didn’t think this was the case. I thought we played pretty solid from beginning to end.”
Despite a slight lack of jump, MSU head coach Tom Anastos said he still is pleased with the way the Spartans stayed together and pushed through. He also noted the improvements the team’s made on a weekly basis, competing against two top-five teams two weekends in a row.
Ferris State’s style of play was a flip from what the Spartans (5-9-1 overall, 0-1-1-1 B1G) experienced with No. 1 Minnesota last weekend. While Minnesota played an open game, Ferris State didn’t leave room for MSU to set up any offense.
The Bulldogs held the home team to only 16 shots, and they put 22 shots on Hildebrand.
“(Ferris State) did a really good job of clogging up the neutral zone; I think they were going one-four,” MSU captain Greg Wolfe (Canton) said. “Anyone will tell you, trying to get the puck through that is extremely tough because they just sit there and wait. They have good sticks and they’re trying to throw bodies so the only thing you really can do is dump, which is what they want you to do and then they have their one guy go back and get it out.”
Battle Creek native McDonald scored for Ferris State (14-2-3 overall, 10-0-2 WCHA) about halfway through the opening period as a result of an MSU turnover. Kenny Babinski (Midland) fed McDonald a pass from behind goaltender Jake Hildebrand, and McDonald tapped the puck into the right corner.
Spartan Matt DeBlouw (Chesterfield) took a five-minute boarding penalty in the opening minutes of the second period, and Justin Buzzeo took advantage of the man-advantage and doubled the Bulldogs lead from close range. Wyandotte native Gerald Mayhew picked up the primary assist.
MSU had an opportunity to pull the game within one during a five-on-three opportunity with seven minutes remaining in the middle period. Scott Czarnowczan (Macomb) was called for high sticking while Babinski had 59 seconds remaining on his delay of game penalty.
But the Bulldogs penalty kill shut down MSU, and held them to only one shot by defenseman RJ Boyd, but it went wide.
Over the course of the game, the Spartans had six power plays spanning almost 11 minutes, but managed only three shots on goal, five blocked pucks and two wide shots.
“The truth is, trying to find guys that are comfortable in the situation, we’re limited in what we have available to us,” Anastos said of his team’s power play. “We just didn’t show enough poise, make good decisions with the puck. We’re forcing it, we’re really forcing it with our power play.”