Michigan State University
UMass-Lowell
Dominic Vicari Earns Shutout Win Over UMass-Lowell
1/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 9, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's men's ice hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period of its contest with the UMass-Lowell River Hawks and never looked back in posting the 2-0 shutout on Friday night (Jan. 9) at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans' defense stepped up with the return of Corey Potter (So., Mason, Mich.) from the World Junior Championships in Finland, along with forward David Booth (Washington, Mich.) and netminder Dominic Vicari (Clinton Township, Mich.).
"I think we really came together and played a good hockey game as a team," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "We played a sound defensive game and Dominic (Vicari) was strong in goal. It's nice to have Corey Potter back too; he makes Ethan Graham better, and they are our best defensive pair. Plus, David Booth returned and Adam Nightingale was finally healthy - that's adding four darn good players to our lineup."
The play went back and forth between the Spartans and River Hawks for most of the first period. However, the Spartans took control of the game at 11:01 of the first period, when freshman defenseman A.J. Thelen (Savage, Minn.) let go a slap shot from the blueline which was blocked by UML goaltender Chris Davidson. However, Davidson could not handle the rebound and Spartan attacker Lee Falardeau (Jr., Midland, Mich.) was on the doorstep to knock the rebound into the net.
 Junior forward Lee Falardeau scored the game-winning goal vs. UMass-Lowell.  | |
"Finally, I feel as if I'm getting back to my normal style of play," said Falardeau. "I'm getting healthy. Ever since the Great Lakes Invitational, I feel as if I'm going in the right direction."
To cap the Spartans surge of offense, less than one minute later junior forward Adam Nightingale (Cheboygan, Mich.) capitalized on a pass from freshman forward Chris Lawrence (Havertown, Pa.). The goal was Nightingale's fifth of the season, giving Michigan State a 2-0 lead. MSU carried the momentum for the remainder of the period with several good scoring chances and peppering Davidson with 12 shots.
In the opening minutes of the third period, senior defenseman Joe Markusen (Park River, N.D.) had a shot blocked leading to a breakaway for River Hawks forward Danny O'Brien. He made a quick move to his backhand side but never had Dominic Vicari (Fr., Clinton Township, Mich.) fooled as he was denied a goal. In his first game back since winning the gold medal in the World Junior Championships in Finland, Vicari played another solid game in goal for MSU, stopping 25 UML shots. Tonight's game was his third shutout of the season.
"I felt good," said Vicari. "Even though I didn't get a lot of chances to play at the World Juniors, we practiced every day. It felt great being out there (tonight) and in a State jersey. Since we played on an Olympic sheet in the tournament, as the game went on I started to feel normal again. The defense played great tonight."
Despite a well-played first two periods, MSU and UML got a little more physical with each other in the final period. Both teams received several penalties in extra pushing after the whistle. One altercation gave the River Hawks a power play where they got some of their best scoring chances of the game. However State's penalty kill came through, holding UML scoreless.
"Tomorrow is very important to us," Comley said. "We need to prove to ourselves we can put together a winning weekend. It's been awhile since we have won two games back-to-back in a weekend, and we can't play like that all season. We are much better than a .500 team."
Michigan State looks to roll into the second half of their season as the Spartans (12-10-1) face the River Hawks Saturday, Jan 10, at Munn Ice Arena. Faceoff will be at 7:05 p.m. EST.
