Ann Arbor — After a hard-fought match with rival Michigan, the MSU hockey team left Yost Ice Arena the same way it entered — undefeated.
In an intense game that lasted nearly three hours, the Spartans managed a 3-3 tie with the No. 1-ranked Wolverines on Saturday night.
"We played well enough to win," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "But they could have won it, too. It was very intense and very physical."
It was the third straight MSU-U-M game to go into overtime.
The Spartans (2-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 CCHA) outshot the Wolverines (4-0-1, 0-0-1) 38-23, but it wasn't enough to get a goal to break the tie.
Comley said his team is starting to show fans just how talented it is.
"I'm tired of answering questions about me and this year and how important it is," Comley said. "We're starting to prove that we've got a pretty darn good hockey team, so we will let this team talk for itself."
MSU scored first off the stick of freshman forward Tim Kennedy, but Michigan scored the next two goals to take a 2-1 lead.
Off an assist from sophomore forward Jim McKenzie, junior defenseman Tyler Howells fired a shot over the shoulder of Wolverine goaltender Billy Sauer to tie the score moments into the second period.
In the second period, Wolverine Andrew Cogliano gave his team their second power-play goal of the game to take a 3-2 lead.
But the Spartans would come back and silence the crowd of almost 7,000 fans when freshman forward Tim Crowder scored in the final minute of the second period.
With 8:42 left in regulation, junior forward Drew Miller was knocked down after a checking-from-behind penalty on Michigan, giving the Spartans a five-on-three advantage for 1:38. The Spartans tried to break the tie, but Sauer kept them scoreless despite numerous shots.
Comley said he was impressed with the performance of his freshmen — Kennedy and Crowder — on the ice.
"You bring freshmen in here and you try to tell them in practice how they would have to play in tough games, but they got to be in a tough game to learn from," Comley said. "Kennedy looked like a Big Ten player."
Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari had 20 saves to end the night. Playing his third year in a Spartan uniform, Vicari said he didn't even know where to rank this game among the most exciting of his career.
"This one was pretty good actually," Vicari said. "It was a battle right from the beginning. Usually the game is real close and this one was no different. We managed to get a couple of goals and come out with some pride."
Even though they didn't get the victory, Vicari said it was good for the team.
"This is a big tie for us, " Vicari said. "We say we would rather get the win, but we know coming in here in this building and playing Michigan who is ranked number one right now is a good confidence boost. We're still undefeated. We've got a big next couple of weeks."
