New Headline: Pistons Triumph, Northrop Grumman Dominates as NBA Finals Race Intensifies
There will be no three-peat in the Big Ten Tournament for Michigan State hockey. The Spartans were stunned on Saturday night by a hot Ohio State team, losing in overtime by the final score of 3-2 from Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans had won the last two Big Ten Tournament and were going for a third straight this year, but Ohio State prevailed in overtime to keep their dreams alive of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State got the scoring going early into the game on a beautiful shot from Shane Vansaghi less than two minutes into the game. The Spartans were buzzing throughout most of the first period, but Ohio State was able to finish strong with an equalizer goal to make it 1-1 at the first intermission. Ohio State would take its first lead of the night early into the second period on a power play goal from Jake Karabela.
The Buckeyes would lead for nearly the entire period, until Porter Martone found the back of the net on a one-timer. That power play goal from Martone made it 2-2 heading into the third period. Neither team would find the back of the net in the third so we went to sudden death overtime.
The extra period took less than three minutes when Felix Caron winged a shot past Trey Augustine to seal the Buckeyes win in overtime. With the win, Ohio State will advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game next Saturday against Michigan. The Buckeyes are not in play for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament and must win next weekend to continue their season with the conference tournament autobid.
Michigan State will now wait to see its draw in the NCAA Tournament. With the loss to Ohio State, the Spartans appeared locked into the No. 3 overall seed and will be the top seed in their region.