Fierce goalie competition to continue vs. Broncos

One of the biggest question marks for the MSU hockey team entering this season was between the pipes.

After Jeff Lerg’s departure, it appeared sophomore goaltender Drew Palmisano was the heir, especially after starting six games last year and being ranked the No. 1 goalie recruit by Inside College Hockey entering last season.

MSU head coach Rick Comley has called Palmisano his No. 1 goalie, but said he plans to continue splitting time between Palmisano and senior goaltender Bobby Jarosz.

“If we are going to have a No. 1 goalie, I want to see more out of them,” Comley said. “I want to see a separation.”

This weekend against Western Michigan, Jarosz (2.54 goals against average) will start Friday at Munn Ice Arena and Palmisano (2.48 GAA) will get the nod Saturday at Lawson Ice Arena.

Comley said he doesn’t know how long he will continue to juggle goalies, but said he wants the competition to push Palmisano to become more dominant in net.

“Drew’s always been a good kid and has always worked hard,” Comley said. “I just wanted to see more out of him. Nothing makes the players react better than competition.”

Palmisano started in the Spartans’ victory at No. 1 Miami (Ohio) on Saturday and Jarosz started on Friday in MSU’s late loss to the RedHawks.

“I wanted to challenge Palmy to see how he’d react,” Comley said of his decision to bench Palmisano on Friday night. “But he was as good Saturday as I’ve ever seen him.”

Palmisano said seeing Jarosz have a solid game Friday motivated him to bring his best efforts the following night.

“(Bobby) played really well Friday, and it really forced me to bring my ‘A’ game Saturday night, which is good,” Palmisano said. “It ended up working very well for the team.”

Last season, Palmisano was brought into the MSU hockey program to learn the tricks of the trade from Lerg, while Jarosz didn’t see any playing time.

But Jarosz, who had started only one game in his MSU career entering this season, said he knew he’d see ice time this year and planned accordingly.

“I refocused myself over the summer,” Jarosz said “I came into workouts with a clear goal of being as ready as I could be. I had a better summer working out and when we started captains’ practices, the whole time I had my eye on playing this year. I buckled down and tried to focus the best I could every time.”

Regardless of who’s between the pipes, the Spartans have confidence both netminders can get the job done.

“We are comfortable with both goaltenders,” junior forward Corey Tropp said. “Any night, both of them can step up and are capable of shutting down the other team.”

Jarosz said the competition has helped both goaltenders.

“We have a good relationship and we always push each other,” Jarosz said. “Every time we notice the other guy having a good day, we always want to do better and prove that we deserve to play also.”