March 25, 2006
East Regional | First Round
On All Cylinders
Michigan State wore down UNH, while Maine blasted past Harvard

By Joe Gladziszewski

Michigan State 1, New Hampshire 0
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-MS	Tim Crowder (15)	EV
2:14	T. Kennedy, J. Abdelkader
Second Period
No Scoring
Third Period
No Scoring
Goaltending
NH: Jeff Pietrasiak, 59:24, 29 saves, 1 GA
MS: Jeff Lerg, 60:00, 36 saves, 0 GA
Penalties: NH 6/12; MS 4/8
Power Plays: NH 0-2; MS 0-4
Attendance: 5,062

ALBANY, N.Y. – Some teams work the puck down low to generate scoring opportunities. Others use the cycle to physically wear down the opponent. Michigan State employed that tactic in a game of keep-away and it worked like a charm as the top-seeded Spartans grinded out a 1-0 win over New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Arena.

Never was it more evident than near the end of the game. Michigan State kept the Wildcats pinned in deep. With one minute remaining the Spartans' most veteran unit of senior David Booth, junior captain Drew Miller and sophomore wing Jim McKenzie maintained possession deep in the zone and more than 20 seconds ticked off the clock.

UNH senior captain Brian Yandle is one of the best puck-moving defensemen in the nation and he said it was tough to do against the Spartans.

“They’re a tough team and we knew they like to play that three man down-low cycle game," he said. "It’s tough to face. You’ve got to battle against those guys with our sticks and try not to get any penalties. They made it tough for us to break out.

“They play strong in the neutral zone and it’s tough to penetrate and get into the zone on those guys. It’s not just their defense, but their entire team defense was great.”

That execution made Tim Crowder’s early first-period goal stand up for the rest of the game. With both teams in a line change, Crowder gained the zone and fired a slapshot from just inside the blue line low to the blocker side of UNH goalie Jeff Pietrasiak. Crowder’s shot caught the inside of the far post and put the Spartans ahead.

Michigan State’s forwards wanted to make it difficult on the New Hampshire defensemen. Their perception was that the Wildcats blue liners didn’t like playing in their own end of the ice and would rather be carrying the puck and starting the offense.

“We’re not a fancy team. We just want to get the puck in and cycle and that’s when we’re going to win hockey games,” Booth said. “Their defense is skilled and they’re offensive-minded. That’s what created a lot of chances for us, because their defense is offensive-minded and when we got the puck in there they just wanted to get up and go.”

In need of a game-tying goal, UNH coach Dick Umile re-united the team’s top offensive combination of Jacob Micflikier, Dan Winnik and Brett Hemingway for the third period. The trio never really got it going due to Michigan State’s sustained pressure at the other end of the rink.

Maine 6, Harvard 1
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-ME	Josh Soares (15)	EV
8:16	M. Leveille
1-H	Mike Taylor (5)	EV
9:32	N. Coskren, C. Johnson
2-ME	Bret Tyler (7)	EV
9:57	Unassisted
Second Period
3-ME	John Hopson (8)	EV
7:49	C. Hahn, K. Hopson
4-ME	Michel Leveille (15)	EV
12:01	Unassisted
Third Period
5-ME	Greg Moore (27)	EN
16:24	M. Leveille
6-ME	Brent Shepheard (5)	PP
19:20	R. Bellamy
Goaltending
ME: Ben Bishop, 59:59, 25 saves, 1 GA
H: John Daigneau, 59:27, 38 saves, 5 GA
Penalties: ME 5/10; H 8/16
Power Plays: ME 1-7; H 0-4
Attendance: 5,062

IN THE ZONE

Matchups between great teams are won when one of the teams is able to establish and take advantage of their strengths. Maine’s forwards spent a lot of time in the Harvard zone. That was good news for the Black Bears and bad news for the Crimson, who weren’t able to generate a forecheck or offensive zone opportunities.

“We weren’t able to establish our forecheck and weren’t able to sustain any kind of pressure in their offensive zone," Harvard head coach Ted Donato said. "We spent the entire game playing against their forwards in our own zone, which is our strength."

The few early chances the Crimson had were snuffed out by Maine freshman goaltender Ben Bishop. That allowed Maine to control things at the other end of the ice.

“We tried to play our game plan the way we wanted to and keep them to the outside,” said senior forward Greg Moore said. “We know that they’re an offensive threat with a lot of talented forwards so we tried to spend as much time out of our end and try to keep the puck deep and make it tough for them.

SEEN AND HEARD AT PEPSI ARENA

• The arena was sparsely populated one week earlier for the ECACHL championship tournament and Pepsi Arena and the NCAA must have expected the same for the East Regional. Several sections behind each net in the upper bowl of the rink were blocked off with black curtains. Expectations were correct. Attendance was 5,062.

• It was great to see hockey fans of all allegiances in attendance for some of the best that college hockey has to offer. One group of friends sported sweaters of the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Finland; proving you don’t have to have a favorite team playing to enjoy the NCAA Regionals.

INCH's Three Stars of the Night

3. Michigan State freshman line The group of Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader, and Tim Crowder brought energy and attitude to the proceedings. They created scoring chances, forechecked well, and those types of contributions are what makes Michigan State successful. 2. Michel Leveille, Maine His breakaway goal shattered any remaining Harvard hopes. He also added two assists and won 11 of 18 faceoffs. His faceoff win in the offensive zone led to Josh Soares’ opening goal of the game. 1. Jeff Lerg, Michigan State The freshman goalie became the first Spartan netminder ever to record a shutout in the NCAA Tournament. A right-pad save on UNH’s Brett Hemingway during a Wildcat power play early in the third was his best of the night.

• That went for college sweaters too, as fans represented Union, Rensselaer, Boston University, Boston College, St. Lawrence, Michigan Tech, Michigan and Minnesota in addition to sweaters from the participating schools.

• Harvard made its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has lost in the first round all five times. Maine’s Josh Soares thought that might be in the back of their minds.

“Getting a couple of early goals was key for us because of the (Harvard) past,” Soares said. “We figured if we could get on them maybe they would start thinking about that.”

• The Crimson played without Jon Pelle, who was injured in the first period of the ECACHL Championship game last weekend. He was in the building to watch the game, but wouldn’t have been able to play on Sunday even if Harvard had advanced.

• Michigan State junior captain Drew Miller on the Spartans’ comfort level in a close game:

“We’ve been in this situation a lot this season, probably 10 or 12 games were decided by one goal. We felt comfortable in it,” Miller said. “The more you do it the more you get comfortable and it turned out to our advantage.”

• Michigan State’s win was its first over New Hampshire in NCAA Tournament history. The Spartans had lost the three prior meetings between the schools. It was also Michigan State’s first NCAA Tournament win at the Pepsi Arena.

• Maine’s Josh Soares pulled the chute in the press conference. He stepped up to answer a question directed to him and Greg Moore, then stumbled through the beginning of the answer and asked Moore to speak first.

• The live broadcast of the Harvard-Maine game on ESPNU was interrupted during the first period when a bus backed into the satellite uplink truck, damaging both vehicles.

• New Hampshire goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak on his view of Crowder’s goal, “I’ll have to look at the tape, but I may have been off my angle a little bit.”

• “Certainly in our biggest game of the year to come up with one of our poorer performances is frustrating, but it doesn’t overshadow the fact that our guys had a great season,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said.

• INCH overlooked a great addition to our February Napkin that took names and converted the pronounciations to French. Friend of INCH and UNH Sports Information contact Pete Souris = Pierre Soo-ree.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

Michigan State’s Justin Abdelkader kept himself involved with energy all game long. He emphasized his physical mindset by attempting a huge hit that would’ve knocked a UNH player over the boards into the penalty box. He missed the Wildcat and instead toppled into the box himself. He later threw himself in front of New Hampshire’s final shot of the game by Brian Yandle, blocking it to ensure the victory for the Spartans.

Harvard coach Ted Donato had all five of his seniors on the ice for the closing seconds of the game.

The NCAA video montages shown during intermissions included Brendan Morrison’s overtime winner for Michigan in the 1996 national championship game against Colorado College. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but the title on the top of the screen says: Colorado College 3, Michigan 2, OT.

Harvard took advantage of undisciplined penalties in last weekend’s ECACHL championship game against Cornell. They were the undisciplined group on Saturday. While the penalties didn’t result in power-play goals it did hurt Harvard’s comeback effort.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Black Bears roll into the regional finals with some momentum after a thorough dispatching of Harvard. Michigan State did what it does, winning a close game by limiting scoring chances against. It sets up as a good one on Sunday afternoon. This is the fifth NCAA Tournament meeting between the Black Bears and Spartans, but the first since March 28, 1992, a 3-2 win by Michigan State at the East Regional final in Providence. Just as they did on that day, the teams will vie for a spot in the Frozen Four.

New Hampshire is a rare program in the fact that it has usually been able to hold on to its high-end talent for all four years of their college careers. The new labor contract in the NHL makes that more difficult and juniors Brett Hemingway (Colorado) and Daniel Winnik (Phoenix) might be considering pro hockey. The only seniors dressed for UNH on Saturday were fourth-line center Andrew Leach, star defenseman Brian Yandle, and starting goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak.

Harvard also returns several integral parts of its lineup. The Crimson seniors are forwards Dan Murphy and Charlie Johnson, defenseman Tom Walsh and Peter Hafner, and goaltender John Daigneau. Four of the team’s top five scorers will return in the fall.