CMU club hockey eliminated in playoffs
CHICAGO - The club hockey team was eliminated from the American Collegiate Hockey Association regional playoffs Saturday in a 8-0 loss to rival Michigan State.
MSU center Mike Mistretta scored on his brother, freshman goalie Willie Mistretta, to give MSU a 2-0 lead four minutes into Saturday's game.
"Mentally, before the game, I thought we were prepared well," said coach Craig Lipar. "That first goal that they pop in, that's not a very strong goal, it kind of takes the wind out of our sails."
No. 8-seed Central won Friday's game 7-4 against No. 5-seed Lindenwood. Junior right wing Mike Lesnau had five points and CMU scored four goals in the third period to secure the win.
Mistretta had 44 saves Friday and 45 saves Saturday for CMU - 19 in the third period alone.
Lipar said he felt the referee called the game one-sided against Michigan State. CMU took nine penalties and MSU took advantage, scoring five power-play goals.
"I think guys were focusing their attention more on the referees towards the end of the game and not worrying about what we had to do as a team," said junior center Ian Carlson. "We weren't thinking about what we had to do."
Central had 32 shots on MSU goalie Justin Sand. The closest CMU came to a goal was a third-period slapshot by freshman defenseman Tom Murphy that bounced off the goalpost.
No. 4-seed DePaul defeated No. 6-seed St. Thomas in the next game by a 6-2 score. Both MSU and DePaul advance to the national tournament.
"We didn't get enough pucks to the net," Carlson said. "We just didn't play a clean game today."
Carlson said he will use the loss to get ready for next year.
"The fact that we lost to these guys two years in a row now to end our season is a big thing," he said. "Ending the season on an 8-0 loss is never a fun thing. That should be enough motivation for everyone coming in next year. So we'll see how it goes."
CMU finished the season 16-16.
Leading Central this season was junior forward Jordan Jakubik, who finished the season with 30 goals and 27 assists, totaling 57 points.
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