Spartans Double Dip With Bowling Green
12/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 1, 2005
East Lansing, Mich. - The Michigan State men's ice hockey team (5-6-4, 2-4-3) returns to Central Collegiate Hockey Association action this weekend with a home-and-home series against Bowling Green (3-9-1, 3-7-1). The two teams will face-off Friday night at Munn Ice Arena at 7:05 pm, before squaring off in a Saturday re-match on the campus of BGSU at 7:05 pm. The Spartans are in the midst of an eight-game winless streak, their longest since the 1980-81 season, and have not won since a Nov. 5 shutout of Northern Michigan.
RECENT RESULTS
The Spartans dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 2 Wisconsin, before picking up a hardfought 2-2 tie with No. 7 Minnesota in the 13th-annual College Hockey Showcase. Michigan State jumped out in front of the Badgers, on Friday, 1-0 and held on to the lead until midway through the final period. UW's Adam Burish collected a loose puck and beat freshman goaltender Jeff Lerg with the game-winning strike with less than five minutes to play. Ryan MacMurchy added an empty-net goal to cap the scoring. On Saturday, the Green and White traded first-period goals with the Gophers and the teams skated to a 2-2 tie after one. Goaltenders, MSU's Dominic Vicari (32 saves) and Minnesota's Jeff Frazee (27 saves) stole the show down the stretch as neither team scored again and the game ended in a draw.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green enters the weekend with an overall record of 3-9-1 and is just 3-7- 1 in Central Collegiate Hockey Association action thus far in 2005-06. The Falcons have dropped five of their last six games, including last weekend's sweep, 6--1 and 5-3, at the hands of conference leader Miami University. BGSU is paced offensively by sophomores Alex Foster (5-19-24), the current CCHA scoring leader, and Jonathan Matsumoto (7-14-21) but has struggled to find consistent goaltending this season. Senior Jon Horrell and freshman Jimmy Spratt have each seen action in seven games this season but have yet to fill the very large shoes left by the departed Jordan Sigalet. Michigan State holds a 59-27-8 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, which began on Jan. 2, 1971 with a 7-1 Spartan victory. MSU is 31-9-3 at Munn and 21-15-5 on the road vs. the Falcons; in the past-15 meetings the Green and White hold a 10-4-1 edge, a mark that includes a four-game series split last season. The Spartans were led offensively in last season's cluster-battle by senior forward Colton Fretter (2-3-5), junior forward Drew Miller (2-3-5) and junior forward/defenseman Tyler Howells (1-4-5).
MSU'S TELEVISION WOES
The Spartans avoided a loss in a televised game for the first time this season, when they drew a 2-2 tie with visiting Minnesota. MSU is now 0-4-1 in broadcasted games this season. Friday's contest vs. Bowling Green will be aired on Comcast.
SPARTANS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
With a 3-1 loss vs. No. 2 Wisconsin and a 2-2 tie vs. No. 7 Minnesota, in the annual College Hockey Showcase, the Spartans record against ranked opponents in 2005-06 currently stands at 4-2-2. Michigan State opened the season with a 3-0 shutout, over then No. 7 North Dakota, to capture the Lefty McFadden Invitational. MSU also drew with then No. 1 Michigan, 3-3 on Oct. 22, and split with then No. 2 Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., the following week, before sweeping a weekend series with No. 14 Northern Michigan at Munn Ice Arena in early November. The Spartans are just 1-4-2 against all other opponents this season. Following a weekend series with Bowling Green, the Green and White will travel to current No. 16 Alaska Fairbanks, for a CCHA series, and to Detroit for the 41st annual GLI, which presents a second round match-up with either Colorado College or Michigan. CC and UM were ranked third and first, respectively, in last weeks USCHO Division I poll.
STRUGGLING SPARTANS
Michigan State is now winless in eight games (0-5-3) after starting the season 5-1-1. The streak is the worst for the Green and White since the 1980-81 season when it was 0-7-1 during an eight-game stretch from Jan. 23 to Feb. 14, 1981. That year, Ron Mason's second in East Lansing, the Spartans managed only a 12-22-2 overall record and finished 10th in the WCHA with a 7-20-1 conference mark.
SPARTAN PK STYMIES WCHA OPPONENTS
Despite entering the weekend allowing opponents to score on the power-play 21.4 percent of the times, the Spartan penalty kill was perfect in College Hockey Showcase action. Michigan State held Wisconsin to just three shots and zero goals with the man-advantage on four opportunities. On Saturday, Minnesota, fresh off of a 5-9 performance against Michigan was 0-5 vs. MSU penalty killers, including a 0-2 performance on two late-third period opportunities. The Spartans have still surrendered power-play goals in ten of 15 games this season.
THE CENTURY CLUB
Senior forward Colton Fretter ran his personal point-streak to four games with an assist in each game this weekend. Fretter, a native of Harrow, Ont., picked up a helper on junior captain Drew Miller's first-period power-play goal vs. Wisconsin and assisted on junior forward Tyler Howells' game-tying goal against Minnesota on Saturday. Fretter now boasts five goals and seven assists this season; with 12 points he is now just five shy of breaking the 100-point plateau in his career. Fretter should soon become the 63rd Spartan to score at least 100 points in a career and the first since former teammate Mike Lalonde (2002-05, 50-52-102), who scored his 100th point on Feb. 18 of last season, in a 6-3 win over Ohio State.
THERES NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Tyler Howells' first-period goal on Saturday was his first-career goal at Munn Ice Arena. The junior defenseman had managed just one goal in each of his first two seasons as a Spartan, with both coming on the road. This season, Howells had scored in away games, at Michigan, twice at Cornell, and at Western Michigan, before lighting the lamp in front of the home crowd for his seventh-career goal. The goal marked the Eden Prairie, Minn., native's second point in his last seven contests after opening the season with a seven-game point-streak.
SHOWCASE HISTORY
The Spartans are now 13-10-3 overall in 13 appearances in the College Hockey Showcase. Michigan State dropped to 10-3-0 vs. Wisconsin, in the annual clash of Big Ten rivals, losing to the Badgers for just the fourth time in the past 16 meetings between the two schools. Meanwhile the Green and White and moved its record vs. Minnesota to 3-7-3; Michigan State is winless in five-straight games vs. the Golden Gophers.
"FROSH" CONTRIBUTIONS
Freshmen forwards Tim Crowder and Justin Abdelkader continue to contribute for Michigan State; on Saturday the two rookies teamed up to score the Spartans first goal of the game. Crowder leads all MSU freshmen in goals (6) and points (7), while Abdelkader is the top-rookie assist-man with three helpers and second in frosh scoring with five points. Four of Crowder's six goals have either tied the score or put the Spartans in the lead, including the game-winner in a 5-4 overtime victory over Northern Michigan on Nov. 4.
POTTER CLOSES IN ON NEW CAREER HIGH
Senior defenseman Corey Potter continues to be a key ingredient in the Spartan offense this season. Potter picked up his second goal and seventh point of the season with a power-play tally in Saturday's 5-3 loss. The Mason, Mich., native is now just one-point shy of matching his singleseason high of eight points. A mark he set in both his freshman (4-4-8) and sophomore (0-8-8) campaigns.
PUSH FOR PLAYING TIME
Freshman goaltender Jeff Lerg continues to challenge incumbent Dominic Vicari for more playing time in the Spartan crease. After watching all but one of the Spartans' first seven games, the Livonia native has played well enough to earn a spot in the goalie rotation. Lerg has seen action in five of MSU's last eight games, including an 18 save performance vs. Wisconsin on Friday. In that game, Lerg carried a 1-0 lead deep into the third period, making 15 stops in the process, before being beaten by UW's Ryan MacMurchy.
AFTER FURTHER REVIEW
Instant replay was utilized at Munn Ice Arena for the third time this season, when confusion resulted from a scrum in front of the Western Michigan net; The goal was dissallowed due to inconclusive evidence. In MSU's series vs. Northern Michigan, the replay system was used twice. A Friday night goal stood up, but a Saturday night goal was called off.
NOVEMBER RAIN
The Spartans wrapped up the month of November with a dismal 2-5-3 record in ten games. Michigan State entered the month four games over .500 at 5-1-1, but heads into December one game under .500 at 5-6-4. November marks the third month since last season in which the Green and White have won just two games in a single month. In October of 2005, MSU was 2-4-0 and in February of 2006 the Spartans were just 2-4-2.
CHECK YOUR PROGRAM
Spartan fans are getting to know some new faces this season. Sucharski's and Gentile's first collegiate appearances marked the ninth and tenth career debuts for MSU this year. Sophomore forwards Daniel Sturges and Zak McClellan appeared in their first games this season, after sitting out the entire 2004-05 campaign. Freshmen Justin Abdelkader, Tim Crowder, Tim Kennedy, Kurt Kivisto, Jeff Lerg and Matt Shouneyia have all also appeared in Green and White for the first time this year.
ClIMBING THE LADDER
Michigan State head coach Rick Comley enters the season, his fourth at MSU and the 33rd of his legendary career, in sole possession of sixth place on the all-time coaching wins list in Division I hockey, with 665. Now in his 33rd season, Comley is 668-529-83, good for a .555 winning percentage. He needs just six victories to tie former Clarkson and Boston College head coach Len Ceglarski for fifth place all-time, but still has a ways to go to catch the NCAA's all-time winningest bench boss. Former Spartan head coach and current athletic director Ron Mason earned 924 victories in his illustrious career.
IRONMEN
Spartan seniors forward Colton Fretter and defenseman Jared Nightingale are far and away the team's leaders in career games played. The duo will each compete in their 130th career game this weekend vs. the Falcons of Bowling Green. Nightingale enters the two-game weekend series with 129 games played at Michigan State, while Fretter has suited up 128 times. The Spartan career record is 180 games set by Danton Cole (1985-89) and Don McSween (1983-87).
LEFTY McFADDEN CHAMPIONS
Michigan State opened the 2005-06 regular season with a win over Wayne State, 5-1, and a 3-0 win over North Dakota to capture the fourth-annual Lefty McFadden Invitational tournament title. Forwards Bryan Lerg and David Booth and defenseman Tyler Howells earned all-tournament team honors for their performances. Lerg paced the Spartan offense with a goal and three assists, Booth chipped in a shorthanded goal and a pair of assists, while Howell added two assists from the blueline. MSU junior goaltender Dominic Vicari earned the victory in both contests allowing just one goal on 41 shots for the tournament.
CAPTAIN MILLER
Junior forward Drew Miller has been selected to captain the 2005-06 Michigan State hockey team. Miller, an assistant last season, is the 10th member of his family to don the Green and White. The East Lansing, Mich., native has posted a career-line of 21-22-43. Joining Miller for his third season as an assistant captain is senior defenseman Jared Nightingale, along with seniors, defenseman Corey Potter and forward Colton Fretter.
THE 2005-06 SPARTANS
The Spartans return seven of their top 10 scorers from the 2004-05 season, including double-digit goal scorers Colton Fretter (20-24-44), Drew Miller (17-16-33), Jim McKenzie (11-7-18) and Bryan Lerg (10-5-15). On defense, the talented tandem of Ethan Graham and Corey Potter return and are expected to once again play a lot of minutes on the Spartan blueline in 2005-06. Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari played in 38 games last season for the Green and White, posting a 2.30 GAA and a .923 Spct., while making 1,027 saves. The Spartans finished the 2004-05 season with a record of 20-17-4 (12-13-3 CCHA) and just missed qualifying for the program's 24th NCAA Tournament.
