Hockey Clips Lake Superior State, 2-1

Feb. 7, 2004

DETROIT - Michigan State picked up a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Lake Superior State on Saturday night (Feb. 7) at Joe Louis Arena. With the win, MSU improves to 17-14-1 overall, 13-8-1 in the CCHA, while LSSU falls to 6-15-5 overall, 4-13-3 in league play.

"It was a hard-fought game," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "We had a lot of good scoring chances. Jeff Jakaitis played well in goal; LSSU protected the net and we couldn't get the rebounds again.

"I thought Lake Superior played better than they did the other night. I think we had 47 shots tonight and only 34 the other night. It's college hockey. That's what it is - 8-5 one night and 2-1 the next."

Freshman defenseman A.J. Thelen (Savage, Minn.) started the scoring for the Spartans as he converted on a failed Lakers' clearing attempt for his ninth goal of the season at the 18:19 mark of the opening stanza. All told, MSU outshot the Lakers in the opening stanza, 15-to-5.

The Lakers tied the game at one at the 4:36 mark of the third period. Freshman blueliner Barnabas Birkeland fired a shot from the point that went off MSU blueliner Chris Snavely for his first collegiate goal.

The Spartans made it 2-1 on a goal by junior forward Jim Slater (Lapeer, Mich.). Slater won the face-off in the offensive zone, worked the puck down low and put a back-hand shot that beat Jakaitis low to the ice. The goal marked Slater's 16th of the season.

"First of all, I want to say my goal was pretty lucky," commented Slater. "I had a clear lane to the net and my eyes became as big as saucers. It took some weight off my shoulders (to get the go-ahead goal)."

Freshman netminder Dominic Vicari stopped 28 shots in MSU's 2-1 win over LSSU.

MSU netminder Dominic Vicari finished with 28 saves, while LSSU goalie Jeff Jakaitis recorded 45 stops.

"It feels great," said Vicari. "Tonight was the first time that I've actually played here in this arena (as a collegian). It felt really cool to be out there. To be on the same ice as the all of the legends, and to be in the same crease as Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek was a great experience.

"It was a lot different. There weren't a lot of tips tonight. Their goal was a tip shot. Besides that, our defenseman let me see the puck. That's what we've been working on. I felt a lot sharper tonight."

Michigan State heads to the Great White North to face Alaska Fairbanks in a two-game set next weekend (Feb. 13-14). Face-off both nights is set for 11:05 p.m. ET.

Spartan Notebook
* Freshman netminder Dominic Vicari (Clinton Township, Mich.) made his first career start as a Spartan at Joe Louis Arena.

* MSU lost the services of senior defenseman Joe Markusen and LSSU lost junior forward Bo Cheesman for next Friday's game as both players picked up five-minute fighting majors and the automatic game disqualification.

* With tonight's win, MSU picked up its fourth sweep of the season and their first since taking two at Ohio State Jan. 23-24.