MSU's Basgall Takes Fault For Third-Period Meltdown

The Michigan State men's hockey team's historic season came to an end Sunday evening when they fell 5-2 to their No.1 rival, Michigan in the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament.

The game was all knotted up at two goals apiece with less than 10-and-a-half minutes gone in the third period, but a two-goal burst in the span of just 12 seconds would significantly shift the game's momentum in the Wolverines' favor. The Spartans were never able to answer, and after a power-play goal late in the third period put the nail in the coffin, Michigan advanced to the Frozen Four just over a week after falling to the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.

MSU sophomore defenseman Matt Basgall took blame for the back-to-back goals that put the Wolverines up 4-2 in the third when he addressed the media after the game.

"I'll be the first one to tell you: I didn't make a good enough play on either of those goals, so I take responsibility for those," Basgall said. "It was a tough read for me on the first one. Saw him cut in the middle, I slowed my feet down and gave him the wide lane and he took it.

"So, as a man, I'll say that I do take responsibility for that. It's a team game, but I think I could do better on those plays."

Prior to Sunday's contest, the Spartans had bested the Wolverines with four wins in their five meetings, including the Big Ten Tournament title game.

"I mean, what we did this year, able to do a great job in the rivalry in that sense," Basgall said. "It's a great season that we had. And we got some great hardware and, unfortunately, fell short here.

"Obviously, this is the most important thing in our season. This is the goal that we work to all season. Some great accolades that we went and got along the way, but it's going to be a continued year of work to get back here."

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