Joe Cox leads Spartans’ comeback over Clarkson (with photos)

Photos by Michael Caples/MiHockey

By Alyssa Girardi –

EAST LANSING — Speeding down the ice on a breakaway, Joe Cox was hit with a harsh slash in the ribs. Before falling to the ice gripping his left side, he kept on his feet with possession of the puck and managed a shot on net.

Upon review, the play was ruled a goal, Clarkson’s Tyko Karjalainen went to the box on a 5-minute major, and the game immediately took an upward swing for MSU.

Cox (Chelsea) returned on the next shift and struck again to make it 4-3 for the Spartans before notching an assist a minute later to help Thomas Ebbing (Troy) put away his first of the season. With Cox’s help, MSU scored three goals in the minutes following his breakaway — not a bad performance following his first goal of the season.

“Obviously, those were some momentum shifters,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “(He) took a pretty heavy slash on that breakaway, rebounded from that. … He’s been playing real well all season, so it was kind of nice for him to get that behind him now that he broke the ice and scored.”

The game finished 6-4, MSU’s (6-9-1) sixth win of the season.

Both teams have had trouble scoring this season, but Sunday’s matchup was no indication of those struggles. Despite the loss, Sunday was only the second time this year the Golden Knights have netted four goals.

The Spartans scored its most goals in a game this season, and MSU’s four tallies in the second period was the most in a single frame since a 7-2 win against Michigan on Nov. 12, 2012.

In Sunday’s victory, MSU rebounded from three one-goal deficits before eventually coming out on top with Cox’s second goal and winning with Ebbing’s marker.

“It was nice to see us respond as we did today,” Anastos said. “I really kind of liked how our team just stayed focused on what we were doing and what you want to try to do is respond as quickly as you can.”

Special teams were the difference-maker — three of MSU’s goals were on the power play, and the Spartans went two-for-two on the kill.

Clarkson got on the board first midway through the opening period, and Michael Ferrantino (Plymouth) evened the score during a four-on-four at 17:00. The Golden Knights went into the second period with the momentum after scoring with 19 seconds remaining.

Matt DeBlouw (Chesterfield) tied it up again with a power-play goal at 7:59 of the second period. Brent Darnell (Canton) found Josh Jacobs (Shelby Twp.) at the point, and Jacobs redirected the puck with a quick one-timed pass to DeBlouw, who blasted a one-timer into the net.

MSU fell behind again when Jake Hildebrand appeared to have a shot from the blue line frozen beneath him, but Clarkson’s Pat Megannety got a stick on the loose puck and it trickled in through Hildebrand’s five hole. Shortly after, Cox and Ebbing’s goals put MSU on top.

Ryan Keller (Bloomfield Hills) scored his first of the season with five minutes remaining to top off the MSU victory.

The Spartans return to action in the 50th annual Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 28-29 at Joe Louis Arena. They’ll carry confidence from the Clarkson win into the break before facing Ferris State at 7 p.m. on the opening day of the tournament.

“You get everyone going into the break, get a little jump going especially going into the GLI, coming in with Ferris they’re going to be a tough team to play,” Keller said. “So if we get everyone going right before break and carry it over, that will be a huge jump for us starting the second half of the season.”