Michigan State ends UND hockey season with 5-3 win
Anthony Romani scored twice as the Spartans defeated the Fighting Hawks in the second period before pulling away late in the third.
By Stefan Kim ·
Michigan State defeated North Dakota 5-3 on Saturday to end the Fighting Hawks' season. The Spartans took control early, scoring twice in the second period before adding three more goals late in the third period. UND finished the game with two goals each from Cooper Simpson and Will Zellers, but the deficit proved too large to overcome.
Anthony Romani opened the scoring for Michigan State with 54 seconds left in the second period. He was assisted by Chase Reid and Gavin O'Connell. Eric Nilson extended the Spartan lead to 2-0 at the 3:40 mark. Cooper Simpson cut the gap to one goal for UND at 5:25, assisted by Mac Swanson and Ollie Josephson.
The game remained close for most of the second half until the final minutes of the third period. Will Zellers pulled UND within two goals at the 1:54 mark, assisted by Gavin Lindberg. Romani re-established a three-goal lead for Michigan State at 7:41, assisted by Cullen Potter. Simpson tied it at 3-3 with his second goal at 16:08, assisted by Zellers and Sam Laurila.
Michigan State responded quickly to close out the contest. Cayden Lindstrom scored at 16:27, assisted by Ryker Lee and Reid. Tommi Mannisto pulled the goalie and scored an empty-net goal at 19:11 to seal the 5-3 victory. Joshua Ravensbergen stopped 32 shots for Michigan State, while Caleb Heil faced 28 shots for North Dakota.
The loss caps a season for UND that included a 28-31 loss to Youngstown State in college football on Saturday. In that game, Jerry Kaminski completed 18 of 33 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown. Matt Lawson led the Fighting Hawks in rushing with 99 yards on 17 carries. Lynn Wyche-El caught six passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns for Youngstown State.
Local high school football also concluded its regular season or entered playoff rounds on Saturday. In North Dakota 9-man quarterfinals, LaMoure-L-M defeated North Prairie 62-14. In Minnesota Section 8 9-man semifinals, Kittson County Central beat Win-E-Mac 50-12. Goodridge-Grygla defeated Badger-G-MR 38-16.
Semifinals for the North Dakota 9-man playoffs are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7. Napoleon-G-S will play New Rockford-Sheyenne at 1 p.m. Linton-HMB will face LaMoure-L-M at 1 p.m. North Dakota Division A semifinals are also set for Nov. 7, with Ray-Powers Lake playing Langdon Area-Munich and Northern Cass playing Harvey-Wells County.
Source: Grand Forks Herald
