Michigan State University
Ferris State
Spartan Hockey Falls To Ferris State, 5-3
12/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 7, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - For the first two periods, Michigan State and Ferris State traded goals, but the Spartans didn't have an answer for the Bulldogs in the third period and dropped a 5-3 decision at Munn Ice Arena.
Head Coach Rick Comley was pleased with his team's play early on, but felt his team didn't respond in the third period.
"It was anybody's game going into the third period," said Comley "We just didn't have the energy to win it."
Although the Spartans were lethargic in the third, they played hard early. It didn't take long for the Spartans to get on the scoreboard. Just 2:51 into the first period, sophomore Jim Slater gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead after flipping the puck over the left shoulder of Ferris State goaltender Mike Brown. Slater's fifth goal of the season came on nifty feed from sophomore Mike Lalonde. Freshman David Booth was also credited with an assist on the goal.
The equalizer for the Bulldogs came when junior Brett Smith capitalized on a breakaway opportunity. Smith buried the unassisted goal past sophomore netminder Matt Migliaccio at the 13:07 mark of the first period. However, the tie wouldn't last long. A little over three minutes later at 16:24, the Spartans regained the lead when sophomore Brock Radunske netted his third goal of the season. Assisting on the goal were freshman Colton Fretter and senior Brian Maloney. The Spartans took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Migliaccio dazzled the sell-out crowd at Munn Ice Arena early in the second period as he turned away several great Bulldog-scoring chances. Sophomore Mike Kinnie finally beat Migliaccio at the 5:45 mark of the second period when he ripped a wrist shot from the right face-off circle that tied the contest, 2-2. Just seconds after Michigan State had killed off a five-minute major, Ferris State struck again. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the night when senior Phil Lewandowski trickled the puck past the goal line just before the net was jarred out of place. The goal, which gave Ferris State a 3-2 lead, came at 9:18 of the second period and was assisted on by Kinnie and junior Derrick McIver.
With just 2:27 left in the second period, the Spartans scored their first power-play goal of the night to knot the game at 3-3. Sophomore Ash Goldie created the third tie of the night when he took a pass from senior Brian Maloney and slipped it past the Ferris State netminder. Fretter set-up Goldie's third goal of the season when he slid a centering pass from behind the net to Maloney. Fretter's assist gave him his fourth point of the two-game series with the Bulldogs while Maloney tallied his fifth assist of the year.
Fretter continued his aggressive play in the third period , but was denied at point blank range by Brown. Ferris State applied the pressure as they held the puck down in the Spartan zone until senior Chirs Kunitz beat Migliaccio short-side to put the Bulldogs ahead 4-3. Kunitz's quick wrist-shot came from middle of the right face-off circle at 11:15 and was assisted on by sophomore Jeff Legue and Mciver. Before Michigan State could answer Ferris State took the first two-goal lead of the game and never relinquished it. Freshman Nick Scheible got the insurance goal at 14:29 when Smith slung a pass cross-ice and he fired it past Migliaccio from the middle of the right face-off circle.
Coach Comley though his team fought hard, but the injury to sophomore Lee Falardeau and disqualification of Booth hurt their comeback chances.
"We fought hard, but I just though we ran out of gas," said Comley "The injury to Falardeau and the DQ of 12 (Booth) hurt us."
The Spartans will break for the holidays before returning to the ice at the Great Lakes Invitational, Dec. 28-29, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. MSU faces Boston University in game one, at 4:05 p.m., followed by Michigan Tech and Michigan at 7:35 p.m. The third-place game is set for 1:35 p.m. on Dec. 29, while the championship contest is slated for 5:05 p.m.
Spartan Notebook
? This was Ferris State's first win in East Lansing since March 6, 1999.
? The Spartans are now 0-4-0 after being tied after two periods.
? Sophomore Lee Falardeau injured his right knee in the first period and will be out for 2-4 weeks.
* Ferris State held a 40-to-23 edge in shots on goal.
