TOLEDO, Ohio – About 50 minutes after Michigan State’s loss to Cornell in an NCAA regional semifinal Thursday, senior defenseman Nicklas Andrews was still in disbelief inside the Spartans’ locker room at Huntington Center in Toledo. One of MSU’s best seasons in program history ended in an instant. Cornell, the No.
4 seed in the regional, scored two goals in the final eight minutes, including the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining, to stun the top-seeded Spartans 4-3. “Emotionless,” Andrews said of Cornell’s game-winning goal. “Couldn’t comprehend it.
Even still now, it just doesn’t feel real. It’s a tough thing to wrap your head around, especially the way we worked throughout the whole year. To have it end on one particular play, it’s tough to wrap your head around.
” MSU (26-7-4) was ranked inside the top five all season, while the Big Red (19-10-6) only qualified for the tournament by winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference as the No. 6 seed. The Spartans, however, experienced the harsh reality of an unpredictable single-elimination tournament Thursday.
The ice was tilted in their favor during the first two periods, leading 3-2 while outshooting Cornell 30-9. But their lead vanished in the third in stunning fashion. They were hemmed in their own zone for much of the period, and Cornell’s persistent push resulted in the equalizer with 7:22 remaining.
Sophomore Trey Augustine, the Big Ten Goalie of the Year and a second-round pick of the .
