GRAND RAPIDS, MI – On Thursday evening, following a 3-2 overtime Michigan Tech victory against Alaska Fairbanks, Michigan State hockey took the ice at Van Andel Arena, home of the Grand Rapids Griffins, to advance to the Great Lakes Invitational final after a 4-1 win over Ferris State.
Michigan State’s lines looked a little different going into the tournament, with four players in Sweden for the IIHF World Junior Championships. Starting goaltender Trey Augustine and winger Issac Howard were absent, as both players represented Team USA. Defenseman Maxim Śtrbák played for Slovakia, and winger Tommi Männistö represented Finland. Issac Howard scored a goal as a part of Team USA’s 11-3 win over Switzerland on Thursday afternoon.
Alternate captain Nicolas Müller won the opening faceoff against Ferris State’s Luigi Benincasa, but the first several minutes of the opening period saw the Bulldogs controlling possession of the puck. A penalty was called early on MSU alternate captain Karsen Dorwart for interference, resulting in a Ferris State power play. The Spartans killed the power play, returning to full strength.
Minutes later, Jeremy Davidson put MSU on the board for his fourth goal of the season.
In the final minutes of the first period, Tanner Kelly found the top shelf of the net for the Spartans third goal of the game, assisted by captain Nash Nienhuis. Michigan State scored three goals on 15 shots, outshooting Ferris State by eight.
The opening minutes of the second period saw another power play for MSU. Freshman defenseman Artyom Levshunov recorded three shots in over a minute, all from the blue line before serving the primary assist on Karsen Dorwart’s goal, 5:38 into the period.
The Bulldogs held possession before defenseman David Gucciardi gained control of the puck and sent it down the ice to find Davidson, who in a tight situation, spun behind the player guarding him and found the back of the net for the Spartan’s fourth goal of the game.
“I came off the bench and Gucciardi found me in the middle, and that guy caught up to me. I didn’t really have much space so I just spun and shot it and luckily it went in,” said senior forward Jeremy Davidson.
Ferris State’s response came three minutes later from Travis Shoudy, Tiernan’s twin brother. Travis slid the puck past DiPasquo with the help of Tyler Schleppe and Antonio Venuto to open up the scoring for the Bulldogs.
“It was pretty cool to score against him, but I wish we could have capitalized on other chances,” Travis Shoudy said.
The final minutes of the second period saw lots of traffic in front of Ferris goaltender Logan Stein. Michigan State’s Owen Baker lost track of the puck, leading to a one-on-one opportunity for the Bulldogs that was saved by DiPasquo. The Spartans outshot the Bulldogs 16-9 in the second period.
“We did a better job of playing with discipline. One of our goals for the second half of the year was to try to stay out of the box,” MSU head coach Adam Nightingale said.
Michigan State hockey will be back at Van Andel Arena on Friday evening to take on Michigan Tech in the Great Lake Invitational final, with puck drop set for 7:00 pm.
