Michigan
23-10-2, 18-7-2
Michigan State
20-15-2, 16-9-2
Ryznar's Late Goal Produces OT Tie at Michigan State
3/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team tied Michigan State 4-4 Friday night (March 5) at Munn Ice Arena. The tie means that the Central Collegiate Hockey Association title will be up for grabs on the final day of the regular season as the Wolverines take a one-point lead over second-place Miami (Ohio) into Saturday's action. U-M needs one point to clinch the top seed in league tournament and two points to win the title outright.
| | Ryznar's clutch shorthanded goal tied the game with 1:18 to play in the third period. |
In overtime, the biggest save was not made by sophomore goaltender Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill.), who had 31 stops in the game, but by a high-sticking call. MSU's Lee Falardeau swatted the puck into the net for the apparent game-winner, but the goal was quickly waved off as his stick was higher than the crossbar when it touched the puck.
Michigan State took the late lead with goals three minutes apart in the third period. Freshman defenseman A.J. Thelan tied the game a second time, 3-3, at 9:04. Colton Fretter rushed into the Wolverine zone and made the corner around his defender. Fretter's shot was stopped by Montoya, but sophomore David Booth got a second chance which rebounded out the point to Thelan. The freshman defender had an open net, as Montoya was knocked out of the crease by his own player.
The Spartans took their first lead of the game, 4-3, as junior Mike Lalonde used his upper body to put the puck into the net at 11:50. Lalonde was the beneficiary of a tipped pass out of the corner from Spartan freshman Tommy Goebel. The puck jumped in the air atop the crease, hit Lalonde in the chest and went over Montoya, who had taken away the lower portion of the net.
Michigan took control of the physical battle with three second-period goals. Sophomore Jeff Tambellini (Port Moody, B.C.) tallied the game's first goal with a slick backhanded shot from the right post, back over Vicari's left shoulder. Junior Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich.) carried the puck into the Spartan zone, behind the net and played the puck off the back of the net to avoid his defender. Tambellini took it as he curled around the net, sending the puck high when he reached the right post.
The Spartans tied the game 1-1 at 16:52 with a goal by Booth, before the Wolverines responded with goals seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead.
Helminen notched U-M's second strike after splitting the Spartan defense through the neutral zone. As he broke in on goal, the trailing MSU defender got his stick on Helminen's arm but the U-M forward was still able to shovel the puck on net and over Vicari's leg pad with one hand for the goal at 18:41.
The Maize and Blue put up another goal 14 seconds later, at 18:55, when junior Eric Werner's (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) shot from the left point was tipped in traffic by sophomore Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C.) to beat Vicari on his right side.
Brock Radunske put Michigan State within one in the final minute of the second with a third-chance goal following defender Chris Snavely's shot from the left point. Radunske chipped the puck over the paddle of Montoya's stick on his second shot at 19:06, as the U-M netminder had stretched to the back post to try to stop the rebound chance.
MSU captian Jim Slater got behind the Michigan defense to earn a breakaway at 13:36 in a first period played primarily in the corners of the rink. Montoya came out to the top of the crease to challenge Slater, forcing his wrist shot wide of the net.
The No. 6 Wolverines (23-10-2, 18-7-2 CCHA) and 14th-ranked Spartans meet in each team's league finale tomorrow (Saturday, March 6) at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich. The game can be seen live on Fox Sports Net Detroit at 7:30 p.m.
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
