MSU head coach Rick Comley has been a fan of the new shootout rule since its implementation in the offseason.

“We were one of the schools that was in favor (of the shootout),” Comley said. “I just believe you have to break ties and the fans loved it. But obviously it was a real good win for us.”

Sophomore forward’s Andrew Rowe and Dustin Gazley were the dynamic-duo in regulation for the Spartans – as Rowe tallied both of MSU’s goals and Gazley fed him the puck both times.

“(Rowe’s) played pretty well for us,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “I though Gazley played very well and Rowe stepped up and got a couple big goals. And we are still searching for goals obviously right now.”

Rowe now is leading the Spartans (2-2-1 overall, 0-0-1 CCHA) with three goals and he was happy to contribute offensively to help the young team get the win.

“Coach was saying our biggest issue was scoring goals,” Rowe said. “Some guys just need to step up and I guess tonight was my night. But maybe tomorrow will be some other guys night.”

Comley was pleased with his team’s ability to control the tempo of the game and maintain possession – an area Comley cited as a problem thus far into the season.

“We had possession more (tonight),” Comley said. “Those first two or three games we never had the puck. And then tonight against a big, strong team we had more possession and drew a couple penalties. That’s how we play.”

Thirty seconds into the game, Lerg had to come up big for the Spartans. The netminder faced a point blank shot that was fired to his stick side. Lerg thought he had the puck trapped in his body, but it fell out and trickled through the crease – going just wide of the post.

Rowe almost gave the Spartans the lead when he picked the pocket of a Wildcats defenseman at the blue line and walked right in on Northern Michigan goaltender Brian Stewart. He dropped his shoulder and made a move, but Stewart was able to do the splits to stop the shot.

Northern Michigan struck first with 12:10 left in the first period when forward Matt Butcher was left open in the slot after the Wildcats cycled the puck near the right boards. Butcher received a backhand pass from forward Ray Kaunisto and fired a wrist shot over Lerg.

But the Wildcats wouldn’t keep the lead for long.

Only 25 seconds later, Rowe notched the game at 1-1. Rowe brought puck into the offensive zone and fired a low shot that Stewart was able to get his right pad on. But Stewart was unable to control the rebound and it went right in front of the net – where it bobbled around before bouncing out to Gazley. Rowe was waiting at the right faceoff dot, and when Gazley gave him a light pass he fired the shot over Stewart’s glove.

Lerg stopped 10 shots in the second period and made two big saves to keep the game tied up going into the third. The first came just under halfway though the period when Lerg showed off his quickness to the glove side and robbed Wildcat Phil Fox who tried to beat him up high.

With 4:01 left in the second period Northern Michigan forward Mark Olver brought the puck in on Lerg from a bad angle and tried to bang it past the senior captain. Lerg made the save but the Wildcats crashed the net hard. Lerg held strong and kept the puck out of the net, despite seven players collapsing into the crease.

Under a minute into the third period, the Spartans found themselves shorthanded but were able to get a quality scoring chance when Gazley had a breakaway from center ice. He opted to shoot from just outside the crease but the puck whizzed over the crossbar.

With just under 10 minutes to go in the game, Northern Michigan forward Nick Sirota stole the puck and was off on a breakaway on Lerg. But the Spartans aggressive backcheck forced Sirota to take an early shot from well outside the circles that was easily stopped by Lerg.

Three minutes later, the Wildcats took the 2-1 lead on another breakaway. This time it was forward Ray Kaunisto who stole the puck from freshman defenseman Tim Buttery and beat Lerg.

But the Spartans weren’t about to sit back and surrender the game.

Once again it was the combination of Gazley to Rowe that tied the game up at 15:07 in the third period. Freshman defenseman Matt Crandell took a shot from the point that was tipped by Gazley. Stewart couldn’t control the rebound and it bounced right in front of him. Rowe was right there waiting to pounce and he fired a shot over Stewart’s shoulder for his second goal of the night.

The game remained tied through the rest of the third period and was headed to overtime.

The extra session was played mainly in the Spartans’ defensive zone, but they were able to keep the Wildcats off the board and force the shootout.

Comley made sure his team practiced shootouts throughout the week and he is confident his netminder will give them a good chance to win every time.

“When you have Jeff you like your chances in a shootout situation,” Comley said.

Kivisto shot first for the Spartans and beat Stewart by starting down the right side of the ice and going all the way across the face of the net to slide the puck under Stewart’s diving arm.

Comley was confident in Kivisto’s ability on breakaways, even if he isn’t a huge offensive threat during the game.

“I told you since the summer we will use him in shootouts as the first shooter even though he didn’t get a point last year,” Comley said. “He scores all time in practice.”

Lerg stopped the first Northern Michigan shooter and Buttery was unable to score on his opportunity.

Wildcats forward Gregor Hanson beat Lerg when he came in with speed and pulled off a double move that tricked the senior goaltender.

“It was a good move,” Lerg said. “It’s tough though because when they swipe the ice it’s real quick coming back.”

Schepke was the final shooter for the Spartans and he buried the puck past Stewart after he faked the shot and got the puck up from his backhand.

Olver was the final shooter and he needed to score to extend the shootout. Oliver tried to slide the puck between Lerg’s legs, but Lerg wasn’t fooled. He brushed the puck away with his stick and gave the Green and White the win.

Lerg wants to be careful not to overestimate the narrow win when the Spartans face the Wildcats again Saturday night at Munn at 7 p.m.

“They still got a point out of it and still have a chance to go 3 out of 4 (points) on the road which is real good,” Lerg said. “So our opportunity tomorrow is to make sure they only get one point and we will try to finish out with four – which is huge for the standings.”