Grand Rapids — Sophomore goaltender Jeff Lerg was supposed to let Hobey Baker goaltending candidates Notre Dame's David Brown and Boston's John Curry control the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional at Van Andel Arena.
Instead, it was Lerg who looked like he was vying for college hockey's top honor, as he stopped 46-of-48 shots in two games. And after beating Notre Dame, 2-1, on Saturday and Boston, 5-1, on Friday, he and the Spartans are going to St. Louis for the Frozen Four on April 5. They're just two wins away from becoming national champions.
"He's a great goaltender," Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said. "There's no question about it. He's been that way all year long — he's been that way for the past two years."
With a .911 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average, Lerg doesn't have the numbers Curry and Brown have. But because of his play this weekend, he was named the Midwest Regional's Most Valuable Player.
"When I'm on my game, I can be as good as anybody in the country," Lerg said.
"It's one of those things where I just wanted to make a statement, to prove myself. We've had an up-and-down year, but when things are up, they're only going upwards."
Although he hasn't received much recognition this year, Lerg's value has always been known to his teammates.
"He doesn't let any pucks in the net in practice," senior captain Chris Lawrence said. "He'll come up to me after practice and say, 'Hey, I let in five goals today.' He knows exactly what goals went in. That's hard work, that's not luck. He's going to say that just because that's Jeff Lerg, but that's hard work paying off all year."
In addition to Lerg's MVP award, four out of six spots on the Midwest All-Region Team belonged to the Spartans.
Sophomore forward Tim Kennedy, senior defenseman Tyler Howells, junior forward Chris Mueller and Lerg all earned places on the squad.
Kennedy scored Saturday's game-winning goal and finished the weekend with three points.
Mueller scored the first goal in Saturday's game and had two points on the weekend.
Howells blocked several shots over the weekend and also recorded two assists, including one on sophomore Tim Crowder's game-winning goal against Boston.
Team Kneeds
The Spartans may have to play without junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic when they play Maine in the Frozen Four on April 5.
Vukovic suffered a knee injury when he got tangled up along the boards behind the MSU net early in the second period. He was assisted off the ice and didn't make an attempt to move his feet.
"He said to me, 'It's going to be close,'" Comley said. "In two weeks, I don't know. But he'll give it everything he has. That was a big loss."
Vukovic leads all Spartans defensemen in goals with seven and leads the team with a plus-17 rating. He also was named the team's most improved player at the team's annual banquet.
Comley dressed seven defensemen in both games during the weekend. The decision greatly paid off after Vukovic exited Saturday's game.
