Hockey goes 1-1 against OSU

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The MSU hockey team did its best Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde impression in its two-game series against Ohio State late last week.

In the regular season home opener at Munn Ice Arena on Thursday, the Spartans rode the strong play of senior goalkeeper Drew Palmisano to down Ohio State, 3-0. The following night, the team’s flaws were exposed as the Spartans fell flat and were dominated by the Buckeyes, 5-2.

“It was my understanding the guys didn’t have a sweep at all last year, so we’ll have to keep kicking at that can and hope to get in position to do it again,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “We’re taking baby steps. We’ve got to continue to look at the positives of games that we make and yet be responsible for the areas we didn’t do so well in.”

With the CCHA schedule in full swing, every game carries a substantial amount of weight for the Spartans (2-4-0, 1-3-0 CCHA). Coming off a weekend sweep at the hands of Lake Superior State, the importance of a strong showing against OSU was not to be understated.

In the first game Thursday, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead when junior defenseman Torey Krug was fed a pass near the blue line from senior defenseman Brock Shelgren. Krug fired a shot over the hand of Buckeye goalie Cal Heeter to give his team a 1-0 lead.

At the 15:15 mark in the second period, junior forward Anthony Hayes would net his first goal of the season after he caught a pass from junior forward Kevin Walrod and scored near the right circle. Senior forward Trevor Nill would add another at 1:39 in the third period to seal the 3-0 victory.

Palmisano made 29 saves on the evening to increase his consecutive shutout streak against OSU to two games, dating back to 2010.

“It’s always good to come back and play at Munn, especially when the student section is going through warmups,” Palmisano said. “It kind of gave us some energy before the game, and it set the tone for us to come out hard.”

The following night told a very different story.

As was the case in the previous game, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead in large part to junior forward Kevin Walrod, who put it under Heeter’s legs in the fourth minute to give his team a one-goal advantage. Walrod notched two goals on the evening, and after 40 minutes of play, the teams headed into the second intermission with a respectable 2-2 tie.

But mistakes in the third period unraveled the Spartans. The Buckeyes would get a pair of goals from Darik Angel (4:04) and Chris Crane (5:17) close to a minute apart to widen the gap to 4-2. OSU later scored an empty-netter to extend the lead to 5-2 and close the book on the Spartans’ first home series of the season.

Splitting with OSU has become commonplace for the Spartans, as the teams now have split each of the last four series against each other.

“It was a tough loss (Friday),” Hayes said. “You never like to see that (with) a team coming into your home rink and outwork you, and unfortunately that’s what happened. There’s no excuse for it.”

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