Wolverines beat Spartans outdoors at Soldier Field

Photos by Andrew Knapik/MiHockey

By Nick Barnowski –

CHICAGO – After losing to Michigan State at Joe Louis Arena last week, the Michigan Wolverines exacted revenge Saturday night at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The Wolverines took a 2-1 lead in the season series against the Spartans (10-12-2, 4-4-2-2) but more importantly picked up three points to remain first in the Big Ten after defeating MSU, 4-1, at the Hockey City Classic.

“I think we knew coming in it was going to be a big game,” Michigan captain junior Andrew Copp said. “We wanted to match (MSU’s) desperation right from the get-go and I think we did that.”

Michigan head coach Red Berenson said his team didn’t play with enough sense of urgency in Michigan’s 2-1 loss to MSU on Jan. 30, but liked what he saw outdoors in the Hockey City Classic.

“We were more invested in the game than we were last weekend,” Berenson said. “I thought our forecheck was better, I thought our d-zone was better, I thought our neutral zone was better and I thought our second effort was better.”

MSU head coach Tom Anastos said he thought the better team won.

“I thought they did a better job managing the game than we did,” Anastos said. “They were way better at creating danger in front of our net than we were.”

Michigan (16-8-0, 8-2-0-0) found the back of the net just 1:43 into the game and improved to 11-2-0 when scoring first this season.

Sophomore defenseman Michael Downing (Canton) received a Tony Calderone pass and fired a wrister from the top of the face-off circle that beat MSU goalie Jake Hildebrand between his blocker and the post. It was Downing’s fifth goal of the season and first-ever against MSU.

“I think scoring the first goal was really important for us too, not letting them get into their trap and their neutral zone game, which is really good defensively,” Copp said.

“We knew they were going to come out on fire,” MSU captain Mike Ferrantino said. “Obviously they weren’t happy about what happened last weekend and we knew that coming in.”

The Wolverines made it 2-0 when freshman Cutler Martin’s shot from the high slot got past Hildebrand following a flurry of scoring chances near the crease.

“There was a lot of traffic,” said Martin, an East Lansing native. “It popped through, luckily. It was a big goal for our team.”

Fewer than five minutes after Martin’s goal, Michigan captain Andrew Copp slid the puck underneath the MSU goaltender from the top of the crease to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.

Both Copp and Martin’s goals came after the Spartans were unable to clear their own zone.

“I thought it was sloppy,” Anastos said of his team’s defensive zone coverage. “Part of it was that our ability to control the puck was not what we hoped for. A lot of it has to do with your opponent, because they did a good job forechecking.”

Midway through the third period Matt DeBlouw scored MSU’s lone goal. After the puck appeared to be covered by Michigan goalie Zach Nagelvoort, it came loose and DeBlouw was there to put it in. Mackenzie MacEachern and Matt Berry had the assists.

Justin Selman added an empty-net goal with 12 seconds left in the game.

The game was delayed an hour and 40 minutes after poor ice conditions pushed back the Miami-Western Michigan contest. Players from both teams said the ice got better as the game went on and that it didn’t take away from the whole weekend’s experience.

“When you get to play in a venue like this it’s something you never forget,” Ferrantino said. “The ice conditions were what they were, we’re not going to make excuses about it because both teams were playing on it.”

The Spartans will host second-place Penn State at Munn next weekend, while Michigan will travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers.