Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Hockey Sweeps Northern Michigan
11/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 10, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Damon Whitten (Brighton, Mich.) scored a pair of goals and Andrew Hutchinson (Rochester Hills, Mich.) added a career-high four assists as Michigan State downed Northern Michigan, 4-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 6,904 at Munn Ice Arena tonight. The win is the sixth straight for the Spartans (7-1-1 overall, 6-1-0 Central Collegiate Hockey Association), who are ensured of remaining atop the CCHA standings.
"Last night's game was a struggle," said Spartan head coach Ron Mason, who picked up a win in his 900th game behind the MSU bench. "Tonight, we dictated the tempo of the game. I thought it was our best effort of the year."
Whitten, who scored the game-winning goal Thursday, picked up where he left off when he gathered a rebound off a Hutchinson shot from the point and fired the puck into a virtually empty net at 1:18 of the opening frame. The Wildcats (5-3-3, 3-3-2 CCHA) would even the score when Ryan Riipi tallied on the power play at 13:02 of the first period.
The Spartans regained the lead at 13:14 of the second period when Whitten again scored off a Hutchinson rebound. Brad Fast (Fort St. John, B.C.) also picked up an assist on the goal, the first of three helpers on the night for the sophomore defenseman.
John Nail (Brampton, Ont.) doubled the MSU edge with his blast from the top of the far faceoff circle that eluded NMU goaltender Craig Kowalski 54 seconds into the final stanza. A power play goal by freshman Jeremy Jackson (Langley, B.C.) with 25 seconds left in regulation provided the final margin of victory.
Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) was solid in goal for the Spartans, turning aside 20 of the 21 shots he faced. Kowalski stopped 37 shots for Northern Michigan.
MSU continues its four-game home stand Friday (Nov. 17) when the Spartans welcome Western Michigan to Munn Ice Arena for a 7:05 p.m. start.
