Spartans rebound, pick up 4-1 win over Bulldogs
By Alyssa Girardi –
EAST LANSING — Leading up to Saturday’s game, the dialogue surrounding MSU hockey’s ability to score continued to run like a broken record.
The Spartans were coming off a 1-0 loss to No. 15/14 Ferris State, despite outshooting the Bulldogs 36-16. However, offensive concerns were hushed after Saturday night when MSU responded with a 4-1 victory.
The passes were crisp, the shooting was on point and the confidence was high.
“That was a tough pill to swallow last night,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. “I thought our guys came in very businesslike today and believed in each other and in the process of getting better.”
MSU closed out the game with 35 shots — 16 in the first, 11 in the second and 8 in the third, with goals from four different players. Travis Walsh (Haslett) earned his first career goal when he opened late in the first with a wrist shot from the blue line that skimmed the ice for a slight redirection past a screened CJ Motte (St. Clair).
“We talked about it before the game, that first one is going to be big,” captain Michael Ferrantino (Plymouth) said. “Especially the way it went in was kind of the way we had hoped, kind of diagramed up: just get in front of him and find a way to chip something, find a skip on the ice and find a way in the net, right? And good for him for scoring his first goal; that’s been a long time coming.”
While Saturday was similar to Friday’s shot count, Anastos noted a change that he believes was a difference maker: shot selection.
Friday, MSU threw a lot toward Motte, but Saturday they focused on improving shot quality while keeping shots down low. Anastos said he thinks Motte made better saves Saturday night, despite facing a higher number the prior game.
“Sometimes you just talk about getting traffic to the net, getting people in front of the goalie, getting bodies there,” Anastos said. “But we also focused on the quality of the shots we were taking and trying to keep the plays alive.”
Mackenzie MacEachern (Troy), who had a two-point game, doubled the Spartans’ lead in the final minutes of the period. Brent Darnell (Canton) threw a pass toward the net from along the left boards, and the puck found MacEachern at the back post in front of a wide-open net.
At 14:10 of the second, Thomas Ebbing (Troy) chased down the puck deep in the Bulldogs’ zone, stealing the puck from behind Motte’s net. He slid a backhanded pass to J.T. Stenglein, who found Villiam Haag for the one-timer.
Jake Hildebrand’s shutout was spoiled when Andrew Dorantes (Waterford), Kenny Babinski (Midland) and Justin Buzzeo caught the Spartans in a three-on-two five minutes into the closing period.
“I thought tonight we had a number of chances where Hildebrand stood pretty tall,” Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels said. “As long as we’re developing opportunities and chances … and I thought the power play looked better tonight than it has in a while. We didn’t capitalize on it, but I thought we had the possession in zone, we had some time, we had some shots but didn’t convert on them.”
Matt Berry (Canton) tallied his fifth in six games — a quick start for the senior who spent most of last season and the offseason battling injury.
His power-play marker came while Ferris State came rushing out of the box after an MSU five-on-three. MacEachern set up Josh Jacobs (Shelby Twp.), who fired a slapshot from the point. His shot went wide, rebounding to the stick of Berry at the post.
“That’s one of his best spots,” Anastos said. “In fact, he came to the bench and said ‘I scored from my spot.’ And Josh put the puck in play there, so with our lively boards at home I thought that was well-played, even if it was unintended.”