The state’s two biggest college hockey powers have some unfinished business to take care of - and the game that has been circled with both blue and green ink for the past three and a half months is now just a day away. Sixth-ranked MSU (17-5-2 overall, 12-4-1 CCHA) and No.
MSU head coach Ron Mason has been shooing it away all season, but the injury bug finally bit Tuesday night in Big Rapids. And although it bit hard, the sting doesn’t look quite as bad as it did at first.
Big Rapids - Everything Chris Kunitz did Tuesday night, Adam Hall had an answer for. Kunitz, a Ferris State left wing and the CCHA’s leading goal-scorer, put the Bulldogs up 1-0 and 2-1, but MSU senior right wing Hall provided the equalizer each time. And just when a scoring duel seemed to be shaping up between the two players, MSU freshman center Jim Slater gloved a bad clearing attempt deep in the Bulldog zone, and banged home the game-winning goal to lift No.
The sixth-ranked Spartans are in the midst of a rare eight-day, three-game stretch against three different schools at three different arenas. Behind MSU is a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan on Saturday night. Looming on the horizon is a main event showdown against the co-first-place Michigan Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena this Saturday. But for the only time this season, Tuesday is a game-night this week.
Kalamazoo - Sixth-ranked MSU had the pedal to the metal in Friday’s 6-3 win over Western Michigan, but the Spartans’ offensive fuel tank went dry a night later as they sputtered to a 2-0 loss in Kalamazoo.The Spartans (16-5-2 overall, 11-4-1 CCHA) seemed to get all the bounces in the series opener at Munn Ice Arena, but MSU players and coaches were left scratching their heads after their luck took a 180-degree turn Saturday at hostile Lawson Arena.Western (12-9-3, 6-8-2) packed 4,575 rowdy fans into Lawson for a “Black Out” promotion Saturday, and the arena continued to be an Achilles’ heel for the Spartans.
It’s hard to believe, but only four players on MSU’s roster have ever won a game against Western Michigan. All four - right wing Adam Hall, left wing Joe Goodenow, and defensemen Andrew Hutchinson and Jon Insana - are seniors now.
Quick, who leads sixth-ranked MSU in goal scoring?No, it’s not senior captain Adam Hall, sensational freshman center Jim Slater or even thunder-shooting junior wing Brian Maloney.It’s John-Michael Liles - a 5-foot-10 defenseman from the renowned hockey hotbed of Indiana.Against Quinnipiac on Saturday, Liles became the first Spartan to notch 10 goals this season.
Redshirt-freshman right wing Steve Swistak was in the American spotlight for a couple minutes Monday morning.
The new year found three new faces in the Spartan lineup searching for, well, new beginnings.MSU head coach Ron Mason used a nonconference series against overmatched Quinnipiac to insert freshman goaltender Matt Migliaccio, junior left wing Steve Clark and redshirt sophomore forward Pat Brush into the Spartan lineup.Each played one game of the series - Clark in Friday’s 4-1 win and Migliaccio and Brush in Saturday’s 3-1 victory - but all hope the appearances won’t be their only cameos of the 2002 campaign.“I try to approach every weekend as if I was going to play,” said Brush, who had played in one previous game on Jan.
The sixth-ranked Spartans got exactly what they wanted from Quinnipiac this weekend - two hard-fought games and two victories.MSU (15-4-2) overwhelmed its nicknameless foe 4-1 Friday and 3-1 Saturday in the nonconference series at Munn Ice Arena.
While you were away from the world of Spartan hockey... • The Spartans (15-4-2 overall, 10-3-1 CCHA) advanced to the title game of the Great Lakes Invitational, but lost the championship 5-4 in overtime to North Dakota on Dec.
No. 6 MSU, still reeling from a loss to North Dakota in last week’s Great Lakes Invitational, reinforced its ego at the expense of nonconference foe Quinnipiac on Friday at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans (14-4-2 overall, 10-3-1 CCHA) netted a 42-15 shot advantage and physically manhandled Quinnipiac in securing the 4-1 victory.
Junior goaltender Ryan Miller missed his first game of the season Saturday night, but the sixth-ranked Spartans didn’t miss a beat. With MSU head coach Ron Mason giving Miller the day off, freshman goaltender Matt Migliaccio earned his first career start and made 11 saves in a 3-1 victory over Quinnipiac (7-10-1) at Munn Ice Arena. Quinnipiac goaltender Jamie Holden was awesome in making 37 saves, but MSU (14-4-2 overall, 10-3-1 CCHA) got goals from junior right wing Steve Jackson, junior left wing Brian Maloney and junior defenseman John-Michael Liles to complete the weekend sweep. The Spartans beat Quinnipiac 4-1 Friday. Saturday’s win was Migliaccio’s first decision of the season, although he had played in two previous games - both times in relief of Miller. And he looked understandably shaky on Quinnipiac’s first goal - 4:49 into the game.
Detroit - MSU’s oldest player, junior left wing Brian Maloney, was not quite 14 months old the last time the Spartans beat North Dakota.Things didn’t change in the 37th annual Great Lakes Invitational championship game Saturday night.The underdog Sioux (9-9-1) raced to a three-goal first-period lead and then held on to beat No.
Detroit - The drive for five is on track.Fourth-ranked MSU, fresh off a 20-day break, looked rusty early on but stormed back to beat Michigan Tech, 4-1, Friday in the second semifinal of the 37th annual Great Lakes Invitational.The Spartans (13-3-2 overall, 10-3-1 CCHA) rode 22 saves by junior goaltender Ryan Miller to victory over the Huskies in front of 18,071 at Joe Louis Arena.The MSU win means the Spartans will play North Dakota in the championship game at about 7:30 p.m.
Coming off last weekend’s road series on an Olympic-size ice rink in Alaska, the Spartans will turn around and do it all over again tonight and Saturday at Northern Michigan. But stakes are a little higher this weekend, considering the Wildcats (8-3-1 overall, 6-3-1 CCHA) are ranked eighth in the nation and are a prominent contender for the CCHA crown. No.
MSU freshman center Jim Slater, a Lapeer native, will play for the United States at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic later this month. Consequently, MSU’s scoring leader will miss the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec.
Joining the likes of athletic heroes Muhammad Ali, Willie Mays and Steve Young, MSU hockey player Steve Swistak will be one of 11,500 Olympic torchbearers carrying the flame across the country en route to February’s Winter Games in Salt Lake City.Swistak, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman, will run with the torch for one-fifth of a mile near his hometown of West Bloomfield on Jan.
MSU’s surprising loss to Alaska-Fairbanks on Friday dropped the Spartans to No. 5 in this week’s USCHO.com poll and No.
No. 3 MSU woke up Saturday morning to frigid temperatures and a harsh reality in Fairbanks, Alaska. After a 2-1 loss to heavy underdog Alaska-Fairbanks the night before, head coach Ron Mason’s Spartans fell to 0-3 on the road this season and were grappling for answers. “I think we came out a little tired from traveling,” junior right wing Kris Koski said from Alaska on Sunday.