HOUGHTON, MICH. — It looked like the Minnesota State men’s hockey team was in control.
It all went wrong in the final five minutes.
Michigan Tech scored the game-winning goal with 9.1 seconds remaining in a 4-3 victory over the Mavericks in the CCHA semifinals Saturday at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
With MSU leading 3-2, the Huskies tied the game at 15:27 of the third, scoring on a penalty shot. The officials ruled that an MSU player covered the puck in the crease and awarded the shot.
The game-winner came on a wild bounce. After the puck deflected off the glass behind the net, an MSU defender attempted to swat the puck away from the crease in mid-air with his hand. The puck instead deflected off MSU goaltender Alex Tracy’s helmet and into the net.
“It’s a game of inches. We lost those inches at the end of the game,” MSU coach Luke Strand said in a phone interview. “Unfortunately, we put ourselves in a spot where a bounce could cost us.”
The Mavericks never trailed prior to the game-winning goal.
Tech came out strong in the opening minutes of the first period, but MSU got on the scoreboard first at 7:08, with Lucas Sowder firing a wrist shot home from the right circle.
The Huskies tied the game at 3:00 of the second, but Will Hillman answered for MSU at 9:13. Tech’s goal was challenged by MSU, as it appeared Jack Works directed the puck into the net with his skate. However, the goal stood after a video review.
“For us, it looked like a kicking motion,” Strand said. “That’s why it was challenged.”
MSU took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
At 1:33 of the third, Tech tied the game with a power-play goal. The Mavericks responded just a few minutes later with Adam Eisele scoring on a wrist shot.
Shots on goal favored the Huskies 38-32.
The Mavericks finish Strand’s first season behind the bench at 18-15-4.
“We need to get back to this place. That’s the mindset of the guys who return and the additions to our roster,” Strand said. “To continue with Maverick hockey in the direction it’s been.”
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