From The Locker Room
11/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Michigan State vs. Ferris State
Nov. 5, 2004 * East Lansing, Mich.
Post-Game Quotes
MSU Head Coach Rick Comley On the game ...
"I think that Ferris is coming off of a very good win. They had a good win on the road at Bemidji State and then they had a tremendous win over Michigan. They are feeling good. They work hard and they skate well. We managed to get them in a hole and they fought through that. You can't let yourself get down when they score a couple of goals. It was a very hard-fought game."
On his team's performance ...
"I thought that we took some silly penalties, some of those were really avoidable. That got Ferris back in the game. We picked up two penalties when it was 2-0 that were completely unnecessary and then with the power-play goal it became a hockey game. (Dominic) Vicari was shaky a little early, those goals weren't necessarily his fault, but they were good shots that went in.
FSU Head Coach Bob Daniels
On the overall game ...
"I thought we survived a really sloppy start - not sloppy, but they got those two pretty quick. I thought neither one of the goalies were themselves tonight at the start, and yet as the game went on, they got better. I'm not displeased at all with the overall performance. I thought it was a good hockey game."
On the performance of his defense ...
"I thought they played very well. I was really impressed with our three freshmen, but overall we played really well.
On the four goal flurry in the first period ...
"They got two quick, and then we got one, so I was comfortable with that. Then they scored to make it 3-1 and I was thinking `do I need to call a timeout right now' and I said `I think I'll wait and see what happens'. Then we got one, and at some point this is going to settle down into a hockey game. Then they scored one more goal."
On Michigan State's fourth goal ...
"It was painful - there's no other way to put it. If we were dumping it in to get a change, we should have dumped it on net, but we got caught slow on the change and that gave them an odd man rush, but that was devastating, no question."
Ethan Graham, So., D
On the win...
"I think it was a good win. It definitely gives us some confidence going into Saturday's game at Ferris State. It is a tough place to play.
"I think when Ferris came on we woke up every time and counter pretty well. We got the lead early which enabled us to get into the game when they would come on."
On his goal ...
"Dom started the play by throwing the puck up to Fretter. We kind of caught them. I saw that we had numbers so I jumped up and had 3-on-2. Fretter made a great play coming across the line, drew the defenseman to him. Muller made a nice pass over and I put it in.
On his emotion after the goal...
"Well, I don't score many goals, so when I get them I try to be excited about it. It was good. It was a nice feeling to get a 4-2 goal, putting us up by two going into the third period."
Think your goal crushed FSU spirits...
"Well, its never good for a team to give up a goal last minute in the period, but Ferris is a good team. They can go in and recoup and come back in the third period."
Tough third period to maintain what you had achieved ...
"Ferris always works hard. You know going into the third period even though you are up 4-2, it's still not a safe lead, so you still got to play."
Drew Miller, So., F
On being a star player...
"It's definitely an honor. But (Colton) Fretter had two points and a lot of guys played really well, so you can't just put it all on one person, it's a team effort."
On the power play goal...
"We really worked hard this week in practice. Jason Woolley was a big factor in our power play success. I think tonight we were moving the puck around really well. I think we just caught them in the wrong place at the wrong time. They moved their defense up on Jimmy and I went to the net. I tried to pass it Mueller but had an open shot so I took it and it went in."
On the victory ...
"It was a team effort. We needed it all together for 60 minutes and I think tonight we were really close to doing that. The team really needed it and I think right now it's all about the team, it's not about individuals. The team needs to get on track to be the team we want to be in the future. I think tonight was a really good step for us towards that goal."
On tomorrow's game...
"Tomorrow is a really big game for us. Ferris is a really hard place to play because their fans are so loud and their student section is really big. I think we just got to go in there with the attitude that we had in tonight's game, get a quick start and really be on them and get the shots on the goalie from the start. I think that just putting together a full weekend is what we really need to do right now. Getting two wins in a weekend and one on the road is going to be a big challenge. And I think we need to get it done."
Dominic Vicari, So., G
On the team's fast start in the first period...
"We came out flying here. In the first period, we got a couple goals early which we wanted to do and unfortunately, they got a couple good bounces and brought the game close up until the last 30 seconds of the second period."
On being tested in the second period and facing flurries in front of the net...
"It was a little bit different. In the first period, I didn't see that much action until about five minutes into it and I didn't really see a whole lot of shots. In the second period, they came out flying and I managed to fight them off in the second."
How big was Graham's goal at the end of the second period?
"I think that it was a big goal. They're coming off in the last minute of a period, and both teams are fighting hard the whole period and then we're going into our locker room with the upbeat scoring the goal. It helped out in the third."
Categorizing the team's win tonight...
"It's a big game for us; we needed to get that victory. We need to start pulling weekends together instead of being a roller coaster and we need to start getting weekends together. You can tell right off the bat the guys were ready to go. We got a couple goals early and I think that helped us out a lot."
Colton Fretter, Jr., F
How it feels to continue his point-scoring streak...
"The win feels much better. I could care less about the points, just as long as we get the win. The win is the best feeling I could get."
Describe the type of game the team played tonight...
"It was a hard-fought game. They battled; they had a lot of odd-man rushes I thought. Dom played good today and Graham's goal was big for us and that was a good momentum swing for us going into the third."
Talk about the importance of getting the next goal with the game at 3-2...
"There was still a lot of time left in the game, so anything could happen. When we scored the fourth goal, we can't be too cautious. It didn't really matter who scored the next goal, I think. We just had to keep going."
