Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Michigan
MSU Hockey Shows Senior-ity Vs. Michigan
3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 1, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State hockey team really had nothing to play for Thursday night. The Spartans had already clinched the CCHA regular-season title and top seed in the league playoffs last week.
But tonight was Senior Night at Munn Ice Arena. And Michigan was the opponent.
The six Spartan seniors went out in style, defeating Michigan, 3-1, in front of 7,121 fans, the largest crowd in Munn Ice Arena history. The win was the 10th career victory for this year's senior class against the Wolverines, the most wins against Michigan since the Class of 1991 recorded 11 career victories against their rivals from Ann Arbor.
"The atmosphere during Senior Night is where you see the greatest emotion in a team, especially if the kids who are leaving are really respected," said MSU head coach Ron Mason.
The Spartans' special teams started the scoring on their third power-play opportunity midway through the second period. Sophomore Brad Fast (Fort St. John, B.C.) took a shot from the blue line that knuckled past Michigan's Josh Blackburn to give the Spartans a one-goal edge a little more than 10 minutes into the middle stanza. Sophomore Troy Ferguson (Kitchener, Ont.) and senior Damon Whitten (Brighton, Mich.) earned the assists on Fast's fourth goal of the season.
We were fortunate to get the first goal and when you're at home, that's critical," said Mason. "Special teams were key in this game."
Ferguson notched his second point of the night less than five minutes later to give MSU a 2-0 advantage. Whitten earned his second assist of the night and 22nd point of the season.
"I saw Rustyn (Dolyny) going to the net hard," said Whitten of the scoring play. "I knew Ferguson was back and I actually tried to play it fast off Blackburn's pad and it worked out great. It worked the way I hoped it would - to get a little rebound - and Ferguson was able to put it away."
Sophomore Brian Maloney (Bassano, Alta.) gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead 3:35 into the third when he corralled a rebound off a Dolyny shot and rammed it past Blackburn, who made 28 saves on the night, for his 12th goal of the season and fourth in four games. Sophomore John-Michael Liles (Zionsville, Ind.) also assisted on the power-play goal.
Sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) was spectacular between the pipes for the Spartans. The All-America and Hobey Baker candidate stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced on the night. The lone Michigan goal came with a little more than five minutes left in regulation, when Mike Cammalleri scored his 22nd goal of the year on a rebound.
"They were really frustrated," said Miller. "After plays didn't go their way, they were really frustrated. You don't want to let the other team know you are that frustrated and they were showing it. I think that was good."
The seniors - and the rest of the team - were honored following the game as they were presented with the CCHA Championship Trophy.
"It was special picking up that trophy because it was our goal from the beginning of the year and we achieved it," said Dolyny. "Hopefully it will happen again."
"It's emotional," said Whitten about the night. "You kind of reflect back on everything real quick. It's kind of weird to think that this might be last couple times skating around Munn. Four of the best years of your life were spent here."
