The Toledo crowd was a definitive lean for the green and white as the puck dropped Thursday night for the first round game between the Big Red and Spartans with the winner taking on Boston University on Sunday. Both teams started out relatively slow as Cornell started off keeping the puck in MSU’s end. MSU finally took control for a bit and at 7:20 O’Connell connected from Larson and Dorwart for the first goal of the game.
Cornell took some control as they are a good defending team and were consistently breaking up Spartan possessions and they were finally able to keep the puck in the Spartan end. At 15:02 Walsh ties it up for the Big Red on a missed hold as the Spartan defender was denied access to using his stick. Momentum continued to shift back and forth with a lot of action between the blues. Cornell then gets called for a cross check at 19:11 and the Spartans have their first opportunity to expose the Big Red weak spot. It did not take long for MSU to strike. Daniel Russell scored from Stramel and Howard at 19:30 for the Spartan’s second goal on their first power play opportunity of the night. Stramel’s pass was exceptional to set up Russell. The first ends with Shane saving a shot from the blue line and the Spartans up 2-1 and 12-5 in shots on goal.
Period two was moving fast as MSU spent the majority of the first 7 minutes in the Big Red end of the ice and had five shots on goal while limiting Cornell to zero in that same amount of time. Very good defense was being played by both teams as consistent pokes and disruption and cutting off angles was keeping the pace fast and scoreless. At 9:59 Larson just missed as Shane made a great save on a point blank shot. First half of the period was dominated by MSU but there was nothing on the scoreboard to show for it. It wasn’t until the 11:25 mark in the period that Cornell registered its first shot on goal. At 15:00, Shane managed to just stop the puck between his skate and the post without it crossing the line. With Cornell’s second shot at 16:31, Major connected after an outstanding keep in and tied the game up. Disappointing for Spartan fans as the had dominated the entire period and getting solid looks on net.
Disappointment did not stay long as 17 seconds later at 16:47 Shane was caught behind the net and Dorwart slapped one in from Strbak and O’Connell to put MSU back up and heading to the locker room after 2 up 3-2 and 30-9 in shots on goal. MSU defense really showed up only allowing the 4 shots for the period.
The third period began with the exact intensity of a one and done that you’d expect. It seemed to be Cornell’s turn to dominate the action as they spent the majority of the first 6 minutes in the Spartan end and peppered Augustine with four shots that were all turned away. A great centering pass was whiffed on a possible one timer that may have found the back of the net for the Big Red. The game was trending all defense as MSU did not register a real shot on goal until 11:37. That was the first one that actually had an opportunity as Dorwart was denied. Walsh connected with his second goal of the night as Geary backed off Robertson who bounced one off Augustine’s chest to give Walsh the tying goal at 12:39. A media timeout at 15:39 gave the crowd the buildup of stress and expectation with everything on the line. Would the Spartans answer and take back the lead? At 18:21 MSU gets its first penalty of the game sending Cornell to the power play for the first time and to close out the third period. With 8.5 on the clock Cornell connected and ended the Spartan season.
What a disappointing end to such a promising season, especially on a penalty. Give Cornell credit as they absolutely dominated the third period. Lots of questions about this team for next year, but for now, it’s time to wallow in the what could have beens and wouldn’t it be nice if it were best of threes?
