Michigan State University
Ohio State
Spartans Pick Up Crucial Road Victory at OSU
2/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 10, 2006
Columbus, Ohio - Bryan Lerg (Livonia, Mich.) potted his team-best 11th goal of the season and cousin Jeff Lerg (Livonia, Mich.) made 31 saves as Michigan State (17-12-7, 11-7-6 CCHA) picked up a critical road victory at Ohio State on Thursday evening. Sophomore Justin Abdelkader (Muskegon, Mich.) earned first star honors with his goal and assist in the contest, as the Spartans reclaimed sole possession of second place in the CCHA standings with just three weekends of play remaining; the Spartans are now idle until next weekend's showdown with Miami at Munn Arena.
"Its that point of the season where every win is so important," noted head coach Rick Comley after Thursday night's victory. "These are two big points for us - and any time you can collect points on the road, its even better. We'll enjoy this for a short time, but we have to have our focus on the remaining games. Every point is precious."
The victory pushed MSU's unbeaten streak to five games, (3-0-2), and was the Spartans' ninth win in its last 13 outings.
Bryan Lerg's tally at 6:05 of the final period broke a 3-3 deadlock, and stood as his team-leading 11th goal of the season, and also his second game-winning tally of the year. Lerg and Colton Fretter (Harrow, Ont.) broke in two-on-one; Lerg slotted a pass to Fretter, whose initial shot was stopped by Caruso, but the rebound bounced right to Lerg at the top of the crease. The sophomore redirected the shot past Caruso (30 saves), and the Spartan defense held on for the balance of the period to pick up the crucial two points and earn a split in the season series.
The game started with a flurry from the visitors, as the Spartans jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with tallies 15 seconds apart. The all-freshmen line of Abdelkader (Muskegon, Mich.), Tim Crowder (Victoria, B.C.) and Tim Kennedy (Buffalo, N.Y.) struck just 2:07 into the game, as Abdelkader collected his ninth goal of the season, a wrister from the slot that sailed over the right shoulder of Ohio State goaltender David Caruso. The Spartans doubled their lead on the ensuing shift, when Kennedy buried the puck from the side of the net; Abdelkader and senior Jared Nightingale (Cheboygan, Mich.) collected assists on the play.
The Buckeyes answered MSU's strong start with a power-play goal at 4:50 of the first period. With Michigan State's Daniel Sturges (Madison, Wis.) off for holding the stick, senior defenseman Matt Waddell ripped a shot through traffic ¬- OSU's first shot on net of the game - which flew under the arm of Spartan goaltender Jeff Lerg.
The Green and White outshot the Buckeyes 16-6 in the opening frame, but Caruso bounced back from a slow start to play a strong second period. The senior netminder made 14 saves, including a pair of gems on MSU sophomore Jim McKenzie (Woodbury, Minn.), to keep the home team close. The Buckeyes managed to pull even early in the second when forward Dave Barton netted his third goal of the season at the 2:26 mark. Freshman Nick Biondo and sophomore Kyle Hood were credited with the assists. With a new lease on life in the game, the hosts pressed, and captured their first lead of the game at 12:48 of the second period, when Andrew Schembri fired home his ninth goal of the season. It was the third goal of the season series for Schembri, who potted a pair back in the November meeting of the schools.
The lead was short-lived, however, as David Booth (Washington, Mich.) extended his team- and career-best point-scoring streak with his tenth goal of the season at 17:05 and drew the Spartans even. Booth one-timed a McKenzie feed and beat Caruso low to the glove side. Junior captain Drew Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) also assisted on the tally, which sent the teams into the second intermission deadlocked at three.
With the Spartans shorthanded early in the third, goaltender Jeff Lerg made the save of the night on Barton to keep the Buckeyes from regaining the lead. Lerg stopped Barton's initial shot with his left pad, and recovered in time to make an acrobatic kick save on the rebound attempt. His OSU counterpart Caruso responded by stoning Kennedy on a breakaway attempt after the freshman had been released from the penalty box. That set the stage for Bryan Lerg's tally at 6:05, and the goaltenders would thwart the remaining attempts.
The Spartans will enjoy a rare off-weekend before facing off against first-place Miami on February 17 and 18 at Munn Ice Arena. Saturday's game against the Redhawks will serve as senior night, as Michigan State will honor its five-member senior class during a pre-game ceremony. Limited tickets remain for this final home series of the regular season.
Spartan Notebook
* Freshmen Justin Abdelkader and Tim Kennedy scored 15 seconds apart early in the first period, combining for the second-fastest, back-to-back Michigan State goals this season. Just 14 seconds separated the previous two quickest tallies, as Abdelkader and sophomore Jim McKenzie teamed up for a pair of second period strikes on Nov. 15, (a 3-2 loss) at Ohio State in Value City Arena.
* Abdelkader's first period goal and assist gave the Spartan freshman his third-multiple point outing in his last four games played. In that span he has posted 2-4-6.
* With an assist on Justin Abdelkader's first-period goal, freshman Tim Crowder racked up his 20th point of the season. Crowder is the first freshman and the seventh Michigan State skater to crack the 20-point plateau this season. The Victoria, B.C., native is the first MSU freshman to reach 20 points in a season since A.J. Thelen potted 11-18-29 in 14 games in 2002-03.
* Freshman Tim Kennedy's goal was his fourth of the season and second in the last three games. Of Kennedy's four goals in 2005-06, two have stood as game-winners for the Green and White.
* With an assist on Tim Kennedy's first-period goal Spartan senior Jared Nightingale (1-6-7) is now just one point away from a tying his single-season best of eight (0-8-8 in 2003-04).
* David Booth extended his personal point-scoring streak to ten games (5-9-13) with his second-period tally. Booth's streak is the longest of his career and the longest this season by an MSU player. Booth now boasts a 42-52-94 scoring line in his career, six points shy of becoming the 64th Spartan to reach the 100-point plateau. The Washington, Mich., native has posted 10-14-24 this season and is the fourth Michigan State player to reach the ten-goal mark this season.
* Drew Miller's assist on Booth's tally was his team-best 20th of the year.
* With a second-period assist sophomore Jim McKenzie collected the 40th point of his career. McKenzie sports a 9-13-22 line in 33 games this season, and owns 20 goals and 20 assists in nearly two collegiate seasons.
* Bryan Lerg's goal was his team-leading 11th and gave the sophomore forward a team-best 30 points on the season (11g, 19a). Lerg, (who netted just 15 points all of last season), and junior Drew Miller both hit the 30-point benchmark in tonight's game.
