Rough 3rd Period Uncharacteristic of Spartans’ Usual Dominance All Season
by Marin Klein/CHN Reporter
TOLEDO, Ohio Playing the full 60 minutes has been Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale’s motto from the start of the 2024-25 season.
The team showed up in big games time and time again, showing its grit, determination and blue-collar style of play. As many trophies as that won the Spartans, they fell short in the game that mattered most, having their national championship dreams crushed by the Cornell Big Red in the NCAA Regional semifinals, losing 4-3 in the final seconds.
“I got into coaching 18 years ago, and it took me 30 seconds to understand that I don’t care what anyone thinks,” Nightingale said. “I care about the guys in the room and I told them I’m super proud. They’ve done everything we have asked and I think if you look at it, we got a chance to play for six trophies this year and we won five of them. This is the one we really wanted obviously, and we fell short.”
Both Michigan State and Cornell were crowned champions of their respective conferences less than a week ago. None of that mattered when they stepped on the ice for the Regional matchup. Two teams with a blue-collar style of play, two goaltenders that have put up impressive performances in big games. It was looking to be a matchup that would get down to the wire.
The shot count favored Michigan State heavily in the first two periods but did not tell the full story. It stayed a close game, Cornell was able to control the circle and apply pressure. Mistakes plagued both teams throughout the game, small things coaches need to be eliminated when this point of the season rolls around.
The Spartans took early control of the pace and were aggressive in the offensive zone. The early payoff came when Cornell had control behind its own net, but gave away the puck to junior forward Joey Larson, who slid the puck over to sophomore linemate Gavin O’Connell, who buried the puck behind senior goaltender Ian Shane.
Cornell countered, but then Michigan State got its only power play of the game. The Spartans wasted no time. The all-junior top-line showed off their impressive play when Isaac Howard sent the puck in the slot for Charlie Stramel, who made an incredible spinning back-handed…
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