from Columbus, Ohio; official
MSU- 1 1 1 1 - 4
OSU- 1 1 1 0 - 3
First period- 1, OSU Richards 12 (Smith, Holmes) pp 7:39
2, MSU Smith 10 (Tuzzolino, Clarke) 11:10
Penalties- Holmes, OSU (hook) 1:36
Hirst, OSU (hold) 5:04
MSU bench (too many men) 6:39
Richards, OSU (rough) 18:14
Tuzzolino, MSU (rough) 18:14
Patterson, OSU (check from behind) 19:34
Second period- 3, OSU Power 9 (McMillan, Root) pp 14:22
4, MSU Berens 13 (Sylvester) 16:43
Penalties- Beuselink, OSU (slash) 3:04
Winter, OSU (delay of game) 5:01
Carter, MSU (slash) 5:35
Brown, OSU (rough, served by Hirst) 5:35
Watt, MSU (interference) 8:57
Slater, MSU (hold) 12:35
Root, OSU (rough) 17:36
Beuselink, OSU (slash) 18:40
Carter, MSU (slash) 18:40
Third period- 5, OSU Dufour 14 (Richards, Sellers) :21
6, MSU Watt 10 (Smith, Murray) 19:46
Penalties- Rathwell, OSU (interference) 4:19
Slater, MSU (hold) 8:23
Beuselink, OSU (cross check) 14:59
Overtime- 7, MSU Suk 10 (Murray, Carter) pp 2:06
Penalty- Patterson, OSU (check from behind) :50
Power plays- MSU 1-9, OSU 2-4
Goaltender saves- MSU Buzak 6-4-7-0---17
OSU Brown 9-11-17-4---41
Referee- Petterle
Linesmen- Lulich, Kelly
A- 1,040
______________________________________________________________________________
"We were 14 seconds away from disaster."
That's how MSU coach Ron Mason put it after the Spartans battled back from
three separate one-goal deficits to pull out a 4-3 overtime victory over last-
place OSU in Columbus on Friday.
Freshman forward Mike Watt, playing the point on a 6-on-5 Spartan attack with
goaltender Mike Buzak watching from the bench, lit the lamp with 14 seconds lefton the clock to take the CCHA contest into overtime, where senior Steve Suk
scored the game winner on MSU's 9th power play of the night to give the Spartanstwo MUCH-needed points.
The Spartan win coupled with Michigan's 2-0 win over Miami in Oxford clinches
third place for MSU with a chance at second tonight if the Spartans can defeat
the Redskins and Ferris State manages to beat Bowling Green at BG.
Watt finally found the way to beat OSU goaltender Kurt Brown, who made 17 saves
in the third and 41 on the night. Brown came up big on a number of occasions
and got some help from his three best friends (the two posts and the crossbar)
at times to keep the red light dark for most of the game.
The win takes a little bit of the luster off of tonight's meeting in Oxford.
But the game is by no means meaningless. The Redskins need to garner at least
one point to avoid falling into fifth and (should all home teams win their 1st
round matchups) having to travel way up I-75 to the Soo to play Lake Superior
State for the chance to go to JLA. While MSU has clinched third, they do
entertain the thoughts of finishing second, and no doubt would like to go into
the playoffs on a winning note. From the way the playoffs are shaping up, it
looks like the Spartans will entertain the team that almost eliminated their
playoff hopes last year, the Flames of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
If given the opportunity, it is my belief that MSU will pass on UAF, since the
Nanooks have won three of the last four meetings, if the Nanooks beat OSU on
Tuesday in Columbus. The Spartans and the Flames have not met since October,
when MSU took two from UIC at Munn and the two teams tied in their lone meeting
in the Windy City. IMHO, the only way that MSU would not face UIC is if MSU
ends up second and OSU beats UAF.
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University 16-7-3, 21-10-3
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU who the hell knows when?
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