Freshman forward Trevor Nill skates around the Western Michigan goal tended by Riley Gill during Friday’s game at Munn Ice Arena. Nill made a total of three shots during the game. The Spartans defeated the Broncos 3-1.
Kalamazoo — Freshman forward Trevor Nill didn’t even see his first collegiate goal squeak into the net.
But everyone else at Lawson Ice Arena held their breath as the puck left Nill’s stick and seemed to take ages to move mere inches as it crawled across the goal line.
“I think the first thing I came and said to my teammates was ‘that’s the slowest goal I’ve ever scored,’” Nill said. “But it went in so it doesn’t matter.”
Nill’s game-tying goal forced a game dominated by the Broncos to go into overtime and eventually a shootout – where No. 11 MSU would beat Western Michigan 2-1 to take four points in the weekend series.
The Spartans (4-2-2 overall, 2-0-2-2 CCHA) never had the lead in Saturday’s game.
MSU head coach Rick Comley wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance early in the game, as the Spartans were being outshot 25-11 at the end of the second period and had also taken seven penalties in that span.
“We stole one (tonight),” Comley said. “We played so poorly for half of the hockey game and took a lot of penalties. That’s been a real nemesis for us the whole year. Maybe young teams do that too much. But I thought in the last 30 minutes we played pretty darn well.”
Freshman goaltender Drew Palmisano started between the pipes for the Spartans and earned his second career victory by stopping 32 shots.
The loud sellout crowd gave the Broncos (1-5-2, 0-2-2-1) the jump in the first period and Western Michigan recorded 12 shots while MSU only was able to get three on Broncos goaltender Riley Gill.
“They were just outplaying us and they were all over us,” Comley said. “(Western Michigan) came out really good and energized.”
Western Michigan defenseman Kevin Connauton fired a shot from the top of the circles to give the Broncos the 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the second period.
Senior forward Tim Crowder put the Spartans on the board with just more than two minutes left in the second after senior forward Matt Schepke fed him a perfect pass during an odd-man rush.
Nill thought the Spartans settled down and started playing their game after getting a goal.
“We took a little while to get going,” Nill said. “But we just kept plugging away and eventually we started to get some bounces here and there. That first goal definitely riled the guys up.”
Western Michigan defenseman Tyler Ludwig reclaimed the lead for the Broncos on the power play when he ripped a slap shot from the point with 11:47 left in the second period.
But Nill tied the game back up two minutes later.
Junior forward Jay Sprague played the puck to the front of the net and Nill was able to deflect the pass. Gill sprawled over to try and make the save, but he was stuck with the torment of seeing the puck trickle past his outstretched glove and stop before even hitting the back of the net.
The game headed for a shootout after neither team could find the winning goal in regulation or overtime.
The Spartans improved their shootout record to 2-0 as senior forward Kurt Kivisto and Schepke both beat Gill on dekes to his glove side.
Only one Western Michigan shooter was able to beat Palmisano and Broncos forward Patrick Galivan was unable to get his shot on net.
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If Galivan would have made his shot, the shootout would have continued, but Palmisano felt he played it perfectly.
“He came down and I knew he was shooting because he was going really slow,” Palmisano said.
Comley was happy with the result of the game even though it might not have been the prettiest performance.
“It’s interesting from game to game to see who steps up and gets it done,” Comley said. “Trevor Nill did a great job for us tonight and got a goal … so we’ll take it.”
On Friday night, the Spartans defeated the Broncos 3-1 at Munn Ice Arena.
Freshman forward Daultan Leveille had two goals on the night, while fellow freshman Andrew Conboy recorded one.
The Spartans head to Ohio State Friday for a two-game road series against the Buckeyes.
