Icers fall to RedHawks in overtime

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Another night, another dramatic overtime loss for the No. 15 MSU hockey team.

After losing a heartbreaker in overtime to No. 16 Michigan in the finale of the Great Lakes Invitational, the Spartans had an opportunity to both find some momentum and make up ground in the CCHA standings against Miami (Ohio) in the first of a six-game homestand. However, the RedHawks physically dominated the Spartans down the stretch to come away with a 2-1 victory.

The loss was not without chances for the Spartans (11-8-2, 6-6-1-1 CCHA). Despite getting beaten up down the stretch by a physical Miami defense, MSU outshot the RedHawks 34-27 but couldn’t capitalize on five powerplay chances.

“It was a real tough, physical game, which is what we expected,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “The game pretty much was what we anticipated. (They’re) a very good team, they compete very high and very hard — probably as hard or maybe harder than any team we’ve played so far. When you play in a game like that and your powerplay has those chances and doesn’t come up with a goal, it comes up and bites you and it did.”

It was a slow start for both teams before Miami broke the scoreless tie late in the first period. At 17:48, forward Brian Paulazzo found the back of the net past senior goalie Drew Palmisano to give the RedHawks the early 1-0 lead.

Twelve seconds later, sophomore forward Greg Wolfe answered to tie up the game, 1-1. Wolfe found some space in the offensive zone and forced a short breakaway to score and knot the game at one goal apiece.

The game was scoreless the rest of the way and MSU would be given a chance to avenge its overtime loss to U-M in Detroit. But a win wouldn’t come easy, as the Spartans lost defenseman Matt Grassi in the third period, who left the game after taking an elbow to the head.

In overtime, forward Jimmy Mullin capitalized on the shorthanded Spartan defense and beat Palmisano at the 1:24 mark to give Miami the 2-1 win.

The loss is particularly devastating to Palmisano, who has made 115 saves during the past outings but only has been able to come up with one victory with two overtime losses.

“That’s a tough one to swallow,” junior defenseman Torey Krug said. “I thought the guys competed really hard the whole game. … Unfortunately, we didn’t get the end result we wanted. The guys worked hard, (we’ll) stay the course and make sure we come back harder tomorrow.”

Entering the second half of the season, respect and overall placement in the CCHA standings will need to be earned.

Facing a myriad of injuries — which includes key injuries to Grassi, senior forwards Trevor Nill and Mike Merrifield along with freshman forward Justin Hoomaian — and a challenging second half schedule, every win will count towards a playoff run for the Spartans.

MSU will have a chance to salvage the series and pick up a victory on Saturday, as Miami returns to Munn Ice Arena to close out the weekend.

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