Goal should've stood

It was the type of play that has defined the Spartans season.

Senior defenseman Brandon Gentile fired a shot from the point that freshman forward Brett Perlini deflected into the net.

But immediately after the lamp lit, the referee at the side of the net waved the goal off — deeming Perlini’s stick was above the crossbar when he made the deflection.

All four referees gathered to discuss the call and they must have agreed that it was the right decision.

The referee then went upstairs to triple check the call.

But the only view he was given was the aerial view of the net and Perlini was well out of the view of this camera angle when he made his deflection.

So the initial call on the ice stood and the goal was officially waved off.

Unfortunately this was the wrong call.

But I’m not pinning the blame on the referees for this one. They did everything by the book. It’s just a shame the referee who made the initial call didn’t have a better view of the play.

With the deflection taking place so far away from the net, the initial call was crucial. With the video evidence being completely inconclusive, if the referee would have initially called it a goal, it would have stood and the Spartans would have taken the lead in the game.

This was a tough call because the other three referees weren’t going to talk the ref closest to the play out of the decision he made right away. His call would have needed to be very blatantly wrong for this to happen and deflections might be the toughest to judge, as they occur in the blink of an eye.

MSU head coach Rick Comley was very unhappy with the decision on the ice and thought the goal should have counted.

“It was clearly not a high stick,” Comley said. “Perlini started with his stick up (high) then came down to the puck. His stick was below his chest.”

From the press box, I had an absolutely great view of the play. The shot was perfectly lined up and the moment Perlini tipped the puck his stick was a little above waist level.

I don’t think there is much argument that the goal should have counted.

So what is to be done to make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen?

The obvious solution would be to equip each building with more cameras at varying angles and take the time to make sure you get the call right.

But it would be very costly and some buildings and teams don’t have capabilities to do this.

The referees did a good job of consulting each other, but if one of them sees the play, they can’t be afraid to overturn the initial call — especially when the video replay doesn’t reveal anything.

This goal would have been huge for the Spartans at that point in the game. It was all tied up and a go-ahead goal would have given MSU the lead and, more importantly, confidence.

Thankfully, the call didn’t alter the final outcome of the game.

Perlini continued to play great and was without a doubt one of the best players on the ice this weekend.

The Spartans brushed this bad luck play off and continued battling — something we likely would not have seen a month ago.

Maybe this is a sign of the tides turning for the Green and White.