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No.1 Michigan State Overpowers Columbia 12-5 in 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship First Round
ATHENS, Ohio -- Evan Perry (Sr., Rockford, Mich.) scored four goals to earn Player of the Game honors, while Andrew Olesnavich (Jr., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Jon Haga (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) tacked on hat-tricks, as No. 1-nationally ranked Michigan State University used a 5-0 first half and a 7-0 lead midway through the second period to hold off Columbia University 12-5 in the first round of the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship at Ohio University.
The Big 10 Conference champion, Michigan State sealed the game in the first period rolling out to a 5-0 lead behind a pair of goals by Perry at the 5:40 and 4:27 marks. Perry opened the scoring 80 seconds into the contest on a blast from outside and added his second marker at 4:27 off another shot after Haga registered the Spartans' second goal at 5:05. Jake Marsh (Fr., Okemos, Mich.) made the score 4-0 at 1:37 and Haga closed out the first period scoring with his second tally of the day with 43 ticks left on the clock.
Perry expanded the margin to open the second period with a give-and-go score at 5:45 before Olesnavich capped off a 7-0 scoring run by the Spartans at 3:47 to build a nearly insurmountable lead.
Columbia attempted to fight its way back into the game as Sam Scioscia (Sr., Danville, Calif.) broke through the Spartans' defense with 2:50 left in the half to pull the Lions to within 7-1. Michigan State regained a seven-goal lead before the end of the half as Haga scored on an advantage opportunity 12 seconds following Scioscia's tally to go ahead 8-1.
The Lions were unable to overcome the deficit as the Spartans pushed the lead to 10-1 midway through the third period and 12-3 to start the fourth to take the seven goal win.
In goal, MSU's Ben Shantz (So., Rockford, Mich.) and Daniel Jenkins (Fr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) combined for two saves, while Columbia's Alexandre Wright (Jr., Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) stopped seven.
For Columbia, five different players found the back of the cage as the Lions will next be in action at 8:40 p.m. on November 14 versus the loser of a first round game between No. 5 ranked the University of Pennsylvania and No. 9 the University of Oregon.
Michigan State advances to Saturday, November 15 to take on the winner of the Penn-Oregon game at 11:20 a.m.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Columbia University | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Michigan State University | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
Columbia Goals: Dan Heckman; Daniel Kirel; Keating McKeon; Sam Scioscia; Alexi Shaw
Michigan State Goals: Evan Perry (4); Andrew Olesnavich (3); Jon Haga (3); Tim Wickes; Jake Marsh
Saves: Columbia - Alexandre Wright (7) ; Michigan State - Ben Shantz (1 - 14 minutes), Daniel Jenkins (1 - 14 minutes)
Ejections: Columbia - 8 ; Michigan State - 4
Advantage Opportunities: Columbia - 0 for 4; Michigan State - 3 for 8
Sprints: Columbia - 2 (1st & 2nd) ; Michigan State - 2 (3rd & 4th)
