Michigan State University
U.S. Under-18 Team (ex)
Hockey Defeats USA Under-18 Team, 2-1
12/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 17, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's ice hockey team played a closely contested game with the USA National Under-18 Team at Munn Ice Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 17. With a late third-period goal, the Spartans secured a 2-1 victory.
"All-in-all, we were very diligent," said head coach Rick Comley. "We stayed with it, we didn't get the bounces tonight and USA played well."
Just 1:22 into the first period, the Spartans capitalized on a Team USA penalty. On the MSU power play, freshman forward Tommy Goebel (Parma, Ohio) slid the puck across to freshman defenseman A.J. Thelen (Savage, Minn.) who fired a shot at the net. On the shot, junior forward Jim Slater (Lapeer, Mich.) deflected the puck past USA goalie Jordan Pearce.
"The U.S. Team had nothing to lose," said MSU captain Jim Slater. "We have a lot of respect for them."
Team USA struck back five minutes later, with a power play goal of their own. Forward Geoff Paukovich netted the goal, with a shot that deflected off sophomore defenseman Corey Potter's (Mason, Mich.) skate tying the game at 1-1.
The Spartan's offensive attack controlled play in the second period, with MSU dominating USA in the corners. Michigan State's hard work created two power plays in the first half of the period. Despite the man advantage, the Spartans failed to get many quality scoring opportunities. Nearly devastating turnovers in the neutral zone and communication errors in the defensive zone gave USA the best of the scoring chances. Near the end of the period, on a USA power play freshman goaltender Dominic Vicari (Clinton Township, Mich.) made several key saves to keep the teams knotted at, 1-1.
 Dominic Vicari stopped 31-of-32 shots in MSU's 2-1 win.  | |
USA's power play carried over to the third period, and the Spartans took yet another penalty to give themselves a 2-man disadvantage. A combination of Michigan State's penalty kill unit's hard work and Vicari's strong play in net, gave MSU the needed firepower to kill off several USA power plays. Vicari made 31 saves on the evening, while Pearce stopped 34 shots.
At 9:38 in the third period, MSU's offensive efforts finally paid off. Kevin Estrada (Surrey, B.C.) took a pass behind the USA net from freshmen forwards Drew Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) and Chris Lawrence (Havertowown, Pa.). Estrada looked to circle the net, but reversed and snuck the puck past the USA goaltender, to give the Spartans the 2-1 advantage.
"I feel we won a game we could have lost," commented Comley. "USA worked hard as every game against a college team is big for them. I thought Dominic (Vicari) played well."
Michigan State returns to the ice for the 39th annual Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena Dec. 27-28. State meets Michigan Tech in game two on Dec. 27 at 6 p.m., as Michigan and Boston College play in the first game at 2:30 p.m. The third-place game is set for 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, followed by the title game at 4 p.m. Fox Sports Net Detroit will carry all four games from the GLI.
