No. 11 Men’s Hockey Blanked by Michigan State, 3-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 24, 2004
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Spartan freshman defenseman A.J. Thelan scored twice to lead Michigan State to a 3-0 win over the No. 11 Ohio State men’s hockey team Saturday in front of 8,341 fans in Value City Arena. The win gives the Spartans a two-game sweep of the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes drop to 15-12-0 on the year and 10-9-0 in the league, while the Spartans improve to 15-12-1 and 12-6-1 in conference play.
There was no scoring in the opening period. Ohio State put 11 shots on net, while the Spartans had eight. The Buckeyes’ best chance of the period came on an Andrew Schembri (Fr., Mississauga, Ontario) breakaway, when his shot beat the goalie but hit the crossbar. OSU was 0-for-2 on the power play; the Spartans did not have a power-play chance.
In the second, the Spartans got on the board on a goal by A.J. Thelan, whose blast from the point beat OSU goalie Mike Betz (Sr., Elizabeth, Pa.), who was screened. MSU outshot the Buckeyes in the period, 11-8. Each team was scoreless on three power-play opportunities in the period; MSU went into the third with the man advantage.
Thelan added his second goal of the game, this time on the power play just 52 seconds into the third period. Adam Nightingale ended the scoring with an empty-net goal at 17:54 of the period after the Buckeyes pulled Betz for the extra attacker. MSU was 1-for-4 on the power play in the period; OSU did not have a power-play chance. OSU outshot MSU in the stanza, 9-6.
In the game, Betz made 22 saves in 59:48. Matt Migliaccio made 28 saves to record the shutout.
OSU was 0-for-5 on the power play in the game and allowed one goal on six Spartan chances.
Ohio State returns to action with a single game at Bowling Green Saturday. The Buckeyes and Falcons will face off at 7:05 p.m. in the BGSU Ice Arena.
Postgame Quotes
Ohio State head coach John Markell
On the game
We had some good executions. We needed a goal to get going and we hit two crossbars. We were shut down in the second and third periods. I don’t know how many opportunities we had that were blocked or saved. Things weren’t going well for us offensively. They shut us down in the end. We are disappointed we lost four points. It is gut-wrenching.
“We played good defense and had some opportunities to score. Sometimes you just need a bounce. We have to get at it in practice and build our confidence. There are no excuses. We play the game to win. We played hard. I can’t say we didn’t play with any motivation but you have to get some luck.
“We have to step back and take a look at where we are. We have some guys who have some nicks so we want to get healthy. We might make some adjustments in our schedule. We lost to a good hockey club. I still believe in these guys and it’s my job to get them believing in themselves. We have to be road warriors with the next six of nine games on the road. If we play smart we’ll still be there. Never give up.”
Ohio State junior captain JB Bittner
On the game
“Both nights we had enough scoring chances. You have to give credit to their goaltending. It seems like some bad luck. We had the effort there both nights. We came out hard in the first period. We didn’t get a goal and then they ending up getting one. Their goalie made some good saves. We are headed down the right track. We played well and worked hard.”
Ohio State senior goaltender Mike Betz
On the game
“We had a solid effort. They didn’t have that many scoring chances. We played well on both offense and defense but I think we played better on defense tonight (than Friday). We didn’t get the first goal and that makes it tough.
“We knew (Michigan State’s) potential. We didn’t bury the puck. We had 45 shots last night and only got two goals. That has been happening a lot to us and I don’t know why that is. We played a team with a different kind of style this weekend than when we beat them up there.”
Michigan State head coach Rick Comley
On the win
“I was very worried about getting one win against Ohio State this weekend. The surprise of getting two is great.”
On his team’s performance
“Overall, we performed much better tonight than last night. We had more control and Ohio State was not able to get the long runs they did in last night’s game. They were not quite as dangerous and did not have the first-period spark they had last night.”
Hockey Game Box Score (Final) Ohio State Men’s Hockey 2003-04 Michigan State vs #11 Ohio State (Jan 24, 2004 at Columbus, Ohio)
Michigan State (15-12-1, 11-6-1 CCHA) vs. Ohio State (15-12-0, 10-9-0 CCHA) Date: Jan 24, 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Arena: Value City Arena Attendance:8341 Start time:7:07 pm End time:9:12 pm Total time:2:05
Goals by Period 1 2 3 Tot ———————————- Michigan State…… 0 1 2 – 3 Ohio State………. 0 0 0 – 0
1st period – Penalties – Scott May, OSU (slashing) 6:15; Brock Radunske, MSU (cth-roughing) 6:15; Ethan Graham, MSU (roughing after the whistle) 9:12; A.J. Thelen, MSU (hooking) 17:49.
2nd period – 1, MSU, A.J. Thelen/7 (Chris Lawrence/7) 13:03. Penalties – Nate Guenin, OSU (holding the stick) 1:12; Adam Nightingale, MSU (slashing) 5:40; JB Bittner, OSU (interference) 8:58; Brock Radunske, MSU (cross-checking) 9:40; Adam Nightingale, MSU (holding the stick) 13:52; Dave Steckel, OSU (interference) 19:23.
3rd period – 2, MSU, A.J. Thelen/8 (Corey Potter/5, Brock Radunske/14) :52 (pp). 3, MSU, Adam Nightingale/7 (David Booth/15) 17:54 (empty net). Penalties – Matt Waddell, OSU (cross-checking) 3:46; Sean Collins, OSU (cth-high sticking) 8:50; Bryce Anderson, OSU (charging) 18:57.
Shots on goal – MSU 8-11-6 25; OSU 11-8-9 28.
Power plays – MSU 1 of 6; OSU 0 of 5.
Penalties – MSU 6 (12 min); OSU 7 (14 min).
Goalies – MSU, Matt Migliaccio 7-4-1 (59:58 minutes, 28 shots-28 saves) , EMPTY NET (00:02, 0-0); OSU, Mike Betz 13-11-0 (59:48, 24-22) , EMPTY NET (00:12, 0-0).
A-8341 T-2:05 Three stars: 1. A.J. Thelen 2. Matt Migliaccio 3. Corey Potter Referee:Steve Piotrowski Assistant Referee:Keith Sergott; Pat Bracco Win-Matt Migliaccio (7-4-1). Loss-Mike Betz (13-11-0).
