Spartans Embarrass Wolverines

Friday, February 28, 2003
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The stage was set; even Hollywood couldn't have written a more compelling script. A small, but strong group of seniors were preparing to play their final regular season game on their home ice. The team for whom they played was in a fight for first place, just two points behind the conference leader. Their coach was going for win number five hundred. Everything was in place except one thing, the Wolverine hockey team, which forgot to show up for Friday nights contest.

Coming out flat and getting flatter as the game progressed it was about as painful a game of hockey as has been seen at Yost in quite some time. After skating off the first eight minutes of the game the Spartans would draw first blood as they slipped one past Montoya through some heavy out front traffic. With a lot of bodies between him and the puck the Spartans just kind of lofted a soft sort of shot from Montoya's right that deflected at least once and then sort of floated over his shoulder and into the net. While it wasn't much of a shot it counted on the board and the Spartans were off and running.

About three and a half minutes later the Spartans would strike again and once again it would be a soft goal. With the Spartans continuing to apply some pressure Montoya looked to have the puck covered up to the right of the net. However, it just slipped out from under his glove and lay on the ice where no one except a Spartan skater and apparently the official saw it. The Spartan skater was able to come in and just touch the puck to send it over the line for Michigan State goal number two.

The Wolverines would spend much of the remainder of the first period wandering around the ice, seemingly in a daze. Each team would lose players to the sin bin with just over five minutes to play, but the penalties were all coincidental and the teams continued to skate five on five. With about two and a half minutes left in the period Michigan would get a power play chance that would have allowed them to climb back into a game that they had never been in. With just under two minutes to play and 1:16 left in the power play, it appeared that Michigan had punched the puck into the net as a group of players gathered in front of the Spartan net, all jabbing away with their sticks. In the end no goal was allowed as they referee apparently felt that the net came off the moorings prior to the puck going into the net rather than the other way around.

The first period would come to an end with Michigan State holding a two to nothing lead. The Wolverines would out shoot the Spartans in the first, accumulating thirteen shots on goal to the Spartans seven.

Michigan continued to encounter problems as they started the second period by getting whistled for a penalty just eighteen seconds into the action. While they killed that off they once again got whistled for a penalty with just over twelve minutes to play. This penalty was even harder to take because it was called behind the play and killed what looked to be a very promising rush up the ice by the Wolverines. This penalty also proved costly in that the Spartans were able to score a goal, extending their lead to three. Once again the Spartans created a lot of traffic in front of the Michigan goal and kept firing shots from the points. Once of those shots deflected off a leg or a skate, bouncing right past Montoya for the Spartans third goal of the game.

The Wolverines would get a power play with just under six minutes to play, but would be unable to beat the Spartan net minder. The Wolverines would also come close with just over two minutes to play when the puck was sitting right in front of the Michigan State goal line, but no Wolverine could get close enough to poke it over the line. Michigan would get whistled for another penalty with under twenty-five seconds to play in the period to give the Spartans a late power play opportunity. The second period would come to an end with Michigan State leading by a score of three to nothing. The Wolverines continued to out shoot the Spartans, ending the second period with a twenty-six to seventeen advantage in shots on goal.

The Spartans started the third period with 1:37 of power play time left and they barely needed any of it as they scored their fourth and final goal of the game just seventeen seconds into the third period. With the Wolverines seemingly lost on the ice and skating with no zip at all the Spartans worked the puck down low, made a pass through the slot from Montoyas left to his right, where a Spartan was all alone for the easy back door shot. This was the Spartans best goal of the night, but all four of them counted.

With just under seventeen minutes to play the Wolverines would pull Montoya for the first time this year (the first time he was pulled with the Wolverines trailing) in favor of Noah Ruden. The teams would trade some penalties through the remainder of the final period, but neither team would score again. The game would come to an end with the Spartans winning by a score of four to nothing. The Wolverines ended the game with a thirty-seven to twenty-five advantage in shots on goal.

With so much on the line one would have thought that the Wolverines would come out of the gate flying up and down the ice, but in this game they did anything but that. They seemed to be constantly on their heels and very much not ready to play this game. Perhaps in the end all of those pressures that were building prior to the game were to much for this young team and led to their demise. About the only thing that can be said about this game with any certainty is that Michigan was never in it. They got out hustled, out hit, out skated, and were simply over powered by a Spartan team that, while better than they were at the start of the year, should not pose this kind of problem for the Wolverines. The best thing Michigan can do about this game is forget about it. Write it off as one of those fluke games where absolutely nothing goes your way and move on to the next game. There were no positives to be taken from this game and there is another to be played tomorrow - a game that Michigan simply has to win.