VIDEO: Spartans Shock No. 1 Minnesota in first B1G Play, Win in Shootout

After sweeping Princeton last weekend, the Spartans had a lot to prove as they welcomed the No. 1 ranked team in the country to East Lansing Friday evening.

The game was the first B1G conference game for MSU and it was decided in a shootout. Though it was marked as a tie, the Spartans get an extra point in the standings for winning the shootout

Trailing 1-0 after the first period of play, the Spartans responded quickly on a goal by freshman forward Mackenzie MacEachern. Villiam Haag started the play and was off to the races down the ice with a defender on him and then chipped it to MacEachern who scored his sixth goal of the season, evening the score at one apiece.

The score would remain the same until Minnesota capitalized on the power play early in the third period. Once again the Spartans were trailing, but never gave up against the top-ranked Gophers. Just over five minutes later, freshman Villiam Haag crashed the net and tipped in a pass from Lee Reimer which slid between the pads of the Minnesota netminder.

Haag’s goal was good enough to force overtime, which then led to a shootout, the first of the B1G conference. Michael Ferrantino was selected to shoot first for the Spartans and made no mistake, beating Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox between the legs. Jake Hildebrand, who had 43 saves Friday night, stopped all three Minnesota shooters giving the Spartans the shootout win.

David Defever is the host of Behind the Mask for Impact Sports

Photo by: David Defever