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Sports | Ice Hockey

ICE HOCKEY

SPORTS UPDATE: Icers redeem themselves against Niagara in overtime nail-biter

James Jahnke
November 9, 2002

The Spartans are nothing if they aren’t dramatic this year.In what is becoming the norm, the MSU hockey team played a hard-fought and tense game Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena - and this time, the Spartans came out on top.Sophomore left wing Brock Radunske was the hero for the second time in three games Saturday, slapping home a game-winning overtime goal to lift MSU to a 5-4 victory over Niagara.Radunske’s tally with 1:07 left in the extra period helped erase the memory that No.

ICE HOCKEY

SPORTS UPDATE: Niagara upsets icers

James Jahnke
November 9, 2002

Freshman left wing David Booth did his best to shake the rust out of the Spartans on Friday night, but 13th-ranked MSU still succumbed to heavy underdog Niagara, 2-1, at Munn Ice Arena.Booth scored 41 seconds into Friday’s game, but that was all MSU (4-3-0 overall, 3-1-0 CCHA) could muster for the entire night.

ICE HOCKEY

Niagara visits Munn

James Jahnke
November 8, 2002

Bye weeks on the MSU hockey schedule haven’t been very common in recent years, so it’s tough to guess how the Spartans will perform against Niagara at 7:05 p.m.

ICE HOCKEY

Versatility proves to be important

James Jahnke
October 31, 2002

Versatility has been the name of Jared Nightingale’s game so far this season. The 6-foot-2, 191-pound freshman is a defenseman by trade, but he has played half of MSU’s games as the fourth-line right wing this year. Where Nightingale lines up on a given night seems to depend on whether freshman defenseman Evan Shaw is playing or not.

ICE HOCKEY

Last-second goal secures weekend sweep of Lakers

James Jahnke
October 28, 2002

Junior defenseman Joe Markusen’s name usually doesn’t spring to mind when listing the offensive threats on the MSU hockey team. But the light-scoring blueliner made a huge play late for the Spartans in Friday’s game against Lake Superior State at Munn Ice Arena. With the score tied 2-2 and the clock winding down in the third period, Markusen corralled a high pass from sophomore defenseman Duncan Keith at the point and fired a long feed to sophomore forward Brock Radunske at the side of the crease. From there, Radunske simply guided the puck into the mostly open net to lift the Spartans to a 3-2 victory with 2.7 seconds left. “I knew he was in the area,” Markusen said of Radunske.

ICE HOCKEY

SPORTS UPDATE: Icers skate away with victory, barely

James Jahnke
October 26, 2002

The Spartan hockey team flirted with disaster, but came out on top of Lake Superior State on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.MSU dominated most of the game - taking a 2-0 lead into the final two minutes of the third period - but a quick Laker barrage tied the game 2-2 with 56 seconds remaining.As it turned out, the Lakers’ gallant comeback merely set the stage for a dramatic victory for the Spartans (4-2 overall, 3-1 CCHA).Sophomore left wing Brock Radunske netted a goal with 2.7 seconds left in the third period to win it for the 12th-ranked Spartans.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans shut out Lakers

James Jahnke
October 25, 2002

It’s one down, 25 to go for Matt Migliaccio.The sophomore goaltender notched his first career shutout in the MSU hockey team’s 7-0 win over Lake Superior State on Thursday night at Munn Ice Arena.The blanking puts him 25 shutouts shy of the all-time record set by his predecessor, Ryan Miller.“We’re going to go one at a time,” said Migliaccio, who made 23 saves Thursday.

ICE HOCKEY

New rule helps increase speed of game

James Jahnke
October 23, 2002

College hockey games have been as short as two hours this season, thanks to the NCAA’s new 15-second faceoff rule. The rule mandates that the visiting team puts its personnel on the ice no more than five seconds after a whistle.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans adjust game plan

James Jahnke
October 21, 2002

Marquette - It’s only two weeks into the season, but patterns are already emerging for the MSU hockey team - lose badly Friday night, watch the videotape of the loss early Saturday, make adjustments and then win the second game.Such was the case against Northern Michigan at the Berry Events Center during the weekend.

ICE HOCKEY

SPORTS UPDATE: Icers redeem themselves with victory over Northern

James Jahnke
October 19, 2002

Marquette - Senior defenseman Brad Fast carried the MSU hockey team to a 3-1 win over Northern Michigan at the Berry Events Center on Saturday.Fast scored MSU’s first two goals, including the game-winner with 8.3 seconds left in the third period.Sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio was solid in making 17 saves on 18 shots for MSU (2-2-0 overall, 1-1-0 CCHA) .But Fast, the team’s captain, proved to be MSU’s hero Saturday.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley keeps emotions in check for homecoming

James Jahnke
October 18, 2002

Rick Comley has been through this before. “When we went down to Lake Superior - I can still remember to this day - they did the introductions, the teams were lined up, they introduced me as Northern’s head coach and everybody in the building booed,” Comley said.

ICE HOCKEY

Coach urges team to turn up the volume

James Jahnke
October 17, 2002

Rarely does a 55-year-old man want a bunch of college kids to play their music louder.But that’s one of the things head coach Rick Comley still is trying to get his 10th-ranked hockey team (1-1-0) to do in his first year at the helm.Comley wants noise.

ICE HOCKEY

Team downsizes, falls 3 in rankings

James Jahnke
October 16, 2002

Hockey head coach Rick Comley’s ax finally fell last week, and little-used junior defenseman Mike Porter took the brunt of it. Porter, a 6-foot, 185-pounder, was cut from the MSU team to fulfill Comley’s wish for a 26-man active roster. The 23-year-old Northville native played three games last season, but didn’t register any statistics.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartan duo reminisces about playing hockey in Nebraska

James Jahnke
October 15, 2002

CCHA arenas don’t get much farther away from MSU than Nebraska-Omaha’s Civic Auditorium.But they don’t get much closer to home for Spartan hockey players Tim Hearon and Chad Hontvet.Hearon, a junior center, and Hontvet, a freshman right wing, both played their junior hockey in the Cornhusker State.

ICE HOCKEY

Team rebounds from first loss

James Jahnke
October 14, 2002

Omaha, Neb. - In the wee hours of Saturday morning, head coach Rick Comley watched the replay of MSU’s humbling 5-0 loss to Denver with a tally sheet in his hand.He was counting the number of turnovers his seventh-ranked hockey team made against the Pioneers in the first round of the season-opening Maverick Stampede on Friday.Comley’s final calculation: 110 MSU giveaways, including 50 by the defensemen, in 60 minutes of hockey.

ICE HOCKEY

Goaltenders play gives team encouragement

James Jahnke
October 14, 2002

Omaha, Neb. - Amid the cheering for the victorious Denver Pioneers, one could almost hear the sigh of relief from MSU fans at the Omaha Civic Auditorium this weekend. Very rarely do Spartan fans take any solace from a one win, one loss weekend.