Hockey: Winless streak continues
By JUSTIN SCHUVER
Sports Writer
The good news for the Irish on Saturday was that they finally didn't lose the game.
The bad news is that they still haven't won a game in their last seven contests, either.
After losing to visiting Michigan State in a 2-1 heartbreaker on Friday, the Irish were able to break their three game losing streak with a 3-3 tie against the powerful Spartans on Saturday.
"I'd be happier with more than one point on the board," said Irish coach Dave Poulin. "We battled and should have made more than one point this weekend. The puck is just not going our way."
Friday, the puck seemed to be going the way of Spartan sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio. Despite the Irish holding a 41-25 lead in shots against, Migliaccio stole the win for the Spartans by saving all but one of those Irish shots on his way to being named first star of the game.
Irish goaltender Morgan Cey got a little help from the right goalpost toward the end of the first period. Spartans' leading scorer Jim Slater skated in on a breakaway, but hit the post when he tried to beat Cey up high. After missing, Slater was injured by an errant stick to the ribs and did not return for the rest of the game.
With Slater out, the other key component of the Spartan offense — the power play — gave Michigan State the initial lead. With Irish defenseman Tom Galvin in the penalty box for interference, Spartan forward Mike Lalonde beat Cey from the right circle midway through the second period.
The Spartans struck again on the power play just about six minutes later, when defenseman Kevin Estrada managed to slip the puck behind Cey.
Down 2-0 going into the third period, the Irish needed to make a move, and they finally did about eight minutes into the period on a power play of their own.
The Irish took advantage of a rare Migliaccio mistake after the Spartan goalie gave up a juicy rebound off of a Rob Globke shot and Irish senior forward John Wroblewski was able to tap the puck just inside the left goal post.
"It was a great individual effort by Robby [Globke]," said Wroblewski. "He took out about five guys and I just had a tap-in."
Despite out-shooting the Spartans 20-6 in the final period, the Irish just could not get another puck past the stingy Migliaccio, even after pulling Cey for an extra attacker near the end of the period.
Despite the disappointing loss, Poulin had a few positive words to say about his team's effort.
"We played smart and well in the first period, had our penalty trouble in the second, and played a tremendous third period," he said. "But we need to play like that the whole game."
Saturday, in front of a sold out crowd, the Irish again had to come back from an early deficit after a MSU power play goal.
Twelve minutes into the first period, Spartan forward Brian Maloney was somehow able to pick the puck out of a scrum in front of the net and flip it over a helpless Cey, who was pinned to the ice under Maloney's teammate Ash Goldie. Despite complaints from the Irish, the goal counted.
Six minutes into the second period, the Irish responded with a power play goal of their own. From inside the right circle, Irish defenseman Evan Nielsen made a beautiful centering pass to forward Aaron Gill, who beat Migliaccio from the slot to tie the game
The tie was short-lived, however, as the Spartans went back ahead just five minutes later. After Cey had trouble handling the puck behind his net, the Spartans' John-Michael Liles was able to score into the vacated goal.
Cey responded to that bobble toward the end of the period, when he stopped Slater — who returned to action Saturday — on a penalty shot. With Irish defenseman Neil Komadoski called for hooking Slater on a breakaway attempt, the Spartan forward tried to beat Cey high with a wrist shot, but the Irish goalie was able to get a glove on it and deflect it just high.
It was Cey's second penalty shot save of the season. He also stopped Michigan's Milan Gajic in a game earlier in the year.
"That stop was huge," said Poulin. "They had all the play and momentum at that point."
Even though the Spartans were able to take a 3-1 lead in the third on an odd-man rush, the momentum that Poulin spoke of finally shined through.
With just more than four minutes left in the game, the Irish were able to score two goals just 18 seconds apart to salvage the tie.
With the Irish on the power play, Stastny was able to deflect a centering pass by Irish defenseman Cory McLean past Migliaccio to cut the deficit to one.
Moments later, Irish freshman forward Tim Wallace scored just his third goal of the season, to bring the crowd to its feet, after Migliaccio gave up a rebound off a shot by freshman Tony Gill.
"The freshmen had tremendous energy tonight," said Poulin. "The crowd was great, and yet I thought our team played composed."
The teams played a scoreless overtime, with both Cey and Migliaccio coming up with big saves. At one point in the extra period, Cey made three consecutive point-blank saves as Spartan players crashed the Irish net.
"[Morgan] made some huge saves down the stretch," said Poulin. "He robbed some high-profile players."
With one streak snapped, the Irish hope that they can finally get that elusive win next weekend at home against Ohio State.
"We have to keep the energy level up [for Ohio State]," said Poulin. "That's why even just this one point is important."
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 27, 2003
