By Ryan Carlson (@RyanCarlson88):
Tied 3-3 with just over two minutes left, senior defenseman Jon Rivard found junior forward and captain Corey Semmelmayer who netted one in the top left for a 4-3 San Jose State win over Santa Clara University.
After a long losing slump over the past couple weeks, Friday night’s win was the first for SJSU since the season opener.
“Jon carried the team on his shoulders,” Semmelmayer said. “Jon came through with me open on the right side, that was the easiest goal I’ve ever had. This kid is the player of the game for sure.”
Rivard had a ton of speed through the neutral zone and on the power play, slowing the game down to his pace and setting up not only Semmelmayer’s goal but his own as well.
A few Spartans also noted how they were able to execute on special teams such as penalty kills and power plays. They were able to ice the puck and when in the zone, were able to set up and create scoring opportunities.
“I don’t think they saw a lot of the puck on their powerplay, and other than that, it was good we kept most of our pressure in the offensive zone,” Rivard explained.
Despite playing on the road, it felt like a home game for the Spartans because of the large amount of fans.
“The biggest difference in this game was that we kept battling and battling and got the win,” Rivard said.
Between the pipes, senior goalie Edward Berlin gave up two quick goals 180 seconds into the game, but he held it down from then on and knows it’s going to take a collective effort to turn the season around.
“Everybody took responsibility and that is what it’s gonna take moving forward,” Berlin said.
All around, it was a strong team effort for the Spartans, one that they will try to feed off as they take on Long Beach State at Sharks Ice in Fremont Saturday night at 8 p.m.