ORONO, Maine - Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) scored a goal and added two assists, but the University of Maine men's ice hockey team fell to Michigan State 5-3 on Friday night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. David deKastrozza (Toms River, N.J.) and Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) each chipped in with a goal for the Black Bears.
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Maine opened the scoring just 5:18 into the first period. Nyquist had the puck at the top of the circle and found Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who had an initial shot that Spartan goalie Drew Palmisano stopped. The rebound when right to deKastrozza on the door-step who scored his first collegiate goal.
Michigan State answered just 17 seconds later. Derek Grant shot the puck towards the goal from boards near the goal line. Corey Tropp was able to control the lose puck and beat Maine goalie Scott Darling (Lemont, Ill.) to knot the game at 1-1.
Maine took the lead back at 9:11 of the first period. Nyquist made a behind-the-back drop pass to rookie Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.). Cornell had his shot from the top of the face-off circle bound right to Dee, who was to the right of Palmisano on the post. Dee was easily able to find the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
Michigan State tied the game at 2-2 at 16:00 on the power play. Tim Buttery was stationed in front of the net and able to tip a Mark Crandell shot past Maine goalie Darling. Derek Grant also assisted on the goal for the Spartans. Michigan State took the lead at 15:12 of the second period. Tropp stole the puck off a Maine turnover and skated in alone on Darling, scoring a short-handed goal.
Tropp made gave Michigan State a 4-2 lead when he got the hat trick at 18:50 of the second. Jeff Petry found Tropp to the right of Darling and he was able to score his third goal of the game.
Maine cut the deficit to just one goal when Nyquist scored at 19:46 of the second period. Dimmen got the puck to Will O'Neill (Salem, Mass.) who had his shot from the top of the circle saved. The rebound went right to Nyquist who easily beat Palmisano for his team-leading third goal of the season.
Michigan State closed out the scoring at 16:38 of the third period when Petry got his first goal of the season from Daultan Leveille and Torey Krug.
Michigan State, who improves to 3-0-0 on the season, outshot Maine 34-26 in the game. The Black Bears were 2-for-8 on the power play, while the Spartans were 2-for-6.
Maine goalie Scott Darling made 29 saves in goal. He falls to 0-1-0 on the season. Palmisano stopped 23 shots for the Spartans and improves to 2-0-0.
The two teams conclude their two-game series on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 PM at Alfond Arena. Tickets are available and can be purchased at the door.