SpartanMag.com - MSU hockey team hangs on for 2-1 win

October 30, 2009

Ricardo Cooney
SpartanMag.com Staff

EAST LANSING - It took a replay that led to a waved off goal but the No. 20 Michigan State hockey team hung on for its fifth win of the season on Friday night against an always tough Western Michigan team.

The Spartans (5-2, 2-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) used goals by freshman Chris Forfar and junior Dustin Gazley in the first and second periods, respectively, to put themselves halfway to the win total of all last season.

"(This was just) another game of experience,'' MSU coach Rick Comley said about his team which features nine freshmen and nine sophomores. "We're just going to keep putting these kids out there and they'll learn quickly that every team (is hard to play) and that every win is a tough win. It certainly wasn't our best game, by far, but we'll take it. I think they all worked hard.''

After playing two previous series against teams that play more of an uptempo style in Miami and Maine, the Spartans played a Broncos' team concerned more with protecting the middle of ice, while laying back and waiting to capitalize on an opponent's mistake.

"They were totally a different team than all of three teams we've played so far,'' Comley said. "All three teams we've played (Clarkson, Maine and Miami) are speed energy, work hard and pressure teams. (Western) is more of a capitalizing team that controls the middle of the ice. But, whatever. Get in tough games and learn and grow.''

That mistake didn't come until the 13:23 mark of the last period when Gazley took a boarding penalty - much to the dismay of most of the the 4,983 in attendance. That miscue eventually led to a power play goal by Western's high-scoring freshman Trevor Elias, cutting MSU's lead to one.

With the Spartans running around and not playing in system, the Broncos (4-1, 0-1) used much of the third period to take the game away from MSU.

In that last period, after outshooting WMU 17-11 during the first two periods, the Broncos outshot MSU 13-4 in the final 20 minutes.

The Broncos, who pulled goalie Riley Gill in the last minute, seemingly got the tying goal when Max Campbell, camped out in the crease after a shot by Greg Squires, slid the puck past MSU goalie Drew Palmisano's left pad.

But after referees went to the scorer's bench area to review the play on video, one skated out and waved it off as the Spartans erupted from the bench to mob Palmisano in triumph.

"I had no idea (from my vantage point),'' Comley said of the last second play. "I knew it was really close. They (officials) said that it showed that it was clearly not in. Not by a lot (though).''

An allowed goal would have been an injustice for second-year goaltender Palmisano, who played one of his best games of the early season, turning away 23 shots and earning the game's first star.

The Spartans, who had to play a large part of the contest with just five defensemen after Matt Grassi - playing in his first game as a Spartan, after recovering from a broken hand - took a game misconduct for checking from behind at 2:05 of the second period, seemed to run out of gas in the last 10 minutes.

And with Western pressing, MSU had just enough left and the fortune of a replay to hold off a Bronco team it will have to see one more time for a 7:30 p.m. contest in the always-raucous Lawson Arena on Saturday night.

"The environment will be great but we've been at Maine and we've been at Miami, and it doesn't get any tougher than those two rinks,'' Comley said. "I'm sure it will be loud and crazy but that's okay.''

Friday's win was additionially satisfying for the Spartans because no one on their top line of Corey Tropp, Derek Grant and Nick Sucharski earned a point. Tropp entered as the leading scorer in the nation, while Grant was the top scoring freshman in the country.

"We needed it and that's what we need. That's critical, just to get some balance (in scoring) and different people chipping in,'' Comley said of the two goals he got from players on his second and third lines. "Forfar is a very intelligent player. Not real flashy but does a lot of really good things. Excellent penalty killer and he got a real nice goal that way.''

Moreover, after controlling the play for 50 minutes, they were able to escape and find a way to win a game they could have easily lost in overtime if the tying goal would have been allowed after the review.

Either way, the Spartans are continuing to show the growth and progress Comley had been hoping for prior to opening the season back on Oct. 9.

"There's positives and negatives,'' Comley said. "The negatives or concern is, third periods. We've lost leads now but that's a sign of youth. And we knew coming (into the season) that faceoffs were a critical part of the game and we lost two key faceoffs that led to a goal and almost the tying goal. And I still see this team getting tired as games going on but I think that's age and maturity. Again, (it's a) work in progress.''

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