Michigan
8-8-2,3-5-2-1B1G
Michigan State
8-11-1,2-7-1-1B1G
Michigan Overcomes Early Deficit to Defeat MSU for Third Place in GLI
1/2/2018 6:40:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Cooper Marody scored his second career hat trick, bringing his team-leading point total to 28.
» Michael Pastujov tallied his first career goal for the Wolverines.
» Cutler Martin scored his first goal of the season in his second game back from injury.
Event: Great Lakes Invitational (Third-Place Game)
Score: Michigan 6, Michigan State 4
Records: U-M (8-8-2), MSU (8-11-1)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Jan. 5 -- vs. Notre Dame (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 6:30 p.m. (Red Berenson Dedication Night)
DETROIT, Mich. -- This time, the University of Michigan ice hockey team's comeback was successful. The Wolverines defeated Michigan State, 6-4, on Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 2) to capture third place at the 53rd Annual Great Lakes Invitational at Little Caesars Arena. Cooper Marody tallied his second career hat trick in the come-from-behind victory.
Like Monday night's game against Bowling Green, Michigan saw Michigan State jump out to an early lead. Taro Hirose scored 26 seconds into the contest after he received a pass from Mitchell Lewandowski on a two-on-one and was able to put it past goalie Hayden Lavigne.
The Spartans doubled their lead at the 4:34 mark when Logan Lambdin scored on a deflection from a shot by Carson Gatt at the point for the 2-0 lead.
The Wolverines' best opportunity of the first period came on a shorthanded breakaway after junior forward Brendan Warren stole the puck from the Michigan State defender, but was stopped by Spartan netminder John Lethemon.
The Maize and Blue opened the scoring in the second period at the 3:21 mark to cut the MSU lead in half. Sophomore forward James Sanchez picked up the puck in the Spartan corner off a deflection and sent a beautiful wrist shot into the far side of the net for his first goal of the season.
Michigan State regained its two-goal advantage 6:28 into the second on a power-play goal from Patrick Khodorenko. A tipped pass found its way to Khodorenko at the faceoff dot on the back door to set up the goal.
Michigan got back on the board with 4:21 remaining in the second period when freshman forward Michael Pastujov scored the first goal of his career to cut the Spartan lead back to one goal. Senior forward Niko Porikos passed the puck to classmate Sam Piazza on the point. Piazza fired the puck wide of the net and Pastujov was on the doorstep to bank the rebound in off the Michigan State goaltender.
The Wolverines kept up the pressure and were rewarded a minute later as junior Cooper Marody tied the game with 3:23 remaining in the second stanza. Senior forward Dexter Dancs picked up the puck behind the Spartan net and passed it to senior "DMC" linemate Tony Calderone at the half-boards. Calderone fired the puck on net and Marody was there to pick up the rebound and find twine.
The Maize and Blue picked up right where it left off, taking their first lead of the game 1:39 into the final period. Senior defenseman Cutler Martin took the puck deep into the Spartan zone and fired it on net from the corner. The puck took a fortuitous bounce off of a Michigan State defender and trickled in for Martin's first goal of the year. Assisting on the goal were Sanchez and junior defenseman Nicholas Boka.
Michigan doubled its lead two minutes later on the power play when Marody scored his second goal of the night to make it 5-3. Junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi passed the puck to Calderone, who found Marody in the high-slot. Marody pulled off an impressive toe-drag around a Michigan State defender and followed up by rifling the puck into the top corner of the Spartan net.
Michigan State answered back at the 9:46 mark of the third period with a power-play goal of its own to cut the Wolverine lead to 5-4. The Spartans controlled the puck down low on their five-on-three power play before Khodorenko found the back of the net on a one-timer from the slot for his second power-play goal of the game.
The Wolverines weren't done yet, as Marody pounced on a loose puck in front of the Michigan State net to pick up his third goal for the hat trick at the 16:13 mark of the third. Calderone passed the puck into the slot and Marody was able to chip the bouncing puck over the Michigan State goaltender to bring the Maize and Blue lead to 6-4.
Marody's three points bring his season total to 28, which is tied for the most in the country, while his 21 assists are also tied for the most throughout NCAA Division I men's hockey.
Sophomore netminder Lavigne recorded 22 saves for the Wolverines in the win.
This marks the second straight year Michigan has defeated rival Michigan State in the third-place game at the GLI, beating the Spartans, 5-4, in overtime in last year's tournament. The Wolverines improved their all-time record with MSU to 158-133-21 and 13-8-1 in GLI play.
Michigan will host Notre Dame for the first time as a Big Ten opponent on Friday evening (Jan. 5), with puck drop scheduled for 6:30 p.m. There will be a pregame ceremony before the game to dedicate the Red Berenson Rink in honor of the iconic coach and his 33 years behind the Wolverines bench. The Maize and Blue will then travel to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish on the road to complete the home and home series on Sunday (Jan. 7), with puck drop scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
Cooper Marody (3g), @Cutler88Martin (1g) and @CoachPearsonUM speak with media following today's 6-4 win against Michigan State.#GLI53 // #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/dnasQAY3pb
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) January 2, 2018
