Michigan State University
Notre Dame
Freshman Friday!
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 3, 2006
The freshman line of Justin Abdelkader (Muskegon, Mich.), Tim Crowder (Victoria, B.C.) and Tim Kennedy (Buffalo, N.Y.) combined for all three goals on the night as Michigan State picked up an important road victory over Notre Dame, 3-2, on Friday night. Junior netminder Dominic Vicari (Clinton Twp., Mich.) made 21 saves to earn his eighth win of the season as the Spartans improved to 15-10-7, 9-7-6 in CCHA play. The win over Notre Dame (9-15-3, 7-11-3) puts MSU into sole possession of second place heading into Saturday's tilt with the Irish at Munn Ice Arena.
"We've been talking about our freshmen all season long, and tonight they were great for us," noted head coach Rick Comley, who saw his team improve to 15-10-7 on the season. "You want wins any way you can get them - I thought we played well defensively, created chances, and our goalie played well. It's big to get a win on the road, and now we need to focus on getting a win tomorrow at home."
The Spartans jumped out in front 13 minutes into the game when potted a power-play tally, his sixth extra-man score (and eighth goal overall) of the season. Abdelkader deposited the rebound of a Tim Kennedy (Buffalo, N.Y.) shot and lifted a wrist shot over fallen Notre Dame goaltender David Brown.
The two teams traded power-play chances late in the first period and into the second, but neither could capitalize with the man-advantage. The Spartans carried even-strength play and owned a 22-8 edge in shots on goal at the 15:33 mark of the second period, when they were awarded their third power play of the period.
Brian Lerg's (Livonia, Mich.) rush down the right side of the ice nearly netted MSU's second power-play goal of the game, but the sophomore's shot slid just wide and off the side of the net.
While scoring was at a premium in the first two periods, the teams engaged in a wild third. The home team started it off when it potted a goal less than a minute into the final frame to bring the score to 1-1. MSU winger Jim McKenzie took a penalty at 19:25 of the the second period, and Notre Dame capitalized on the opportunity early in the third as Josh Sciba's blast from the point eluded Spartan goaltender Dominic Vicari at the 0:50 mark and drew the Irish even.
Michigan State answered at 4:51, regaining the lead with a power-play goal of its own when Crowder's shot from the left point slipped through Brown's pads and into the back of the net. Senior forward David Booth (Washington, Mich.) collected an assist on the play to raise his personal point-scoring streak to eight games, a new career best.
Tim Kennedy put the Spartans up 3-1 with the eventual game-winner exactly three minutes later; he corralled a loose puck in the neutral zone, beat a Notre Dame defenseman one-on-one, and wristed a shot under the arm of Brown.
The Irish battled until the final buzzer, pulling their netminder for the final minute and a half. The hosts pulled within a goal with Evan Rankin's tally with just nine ticks remaining on the clock, but that goal proved moot as Vicari held off the six-on-five in the final seconds and finished with 18 saves to post the win in his first start since Dec. 29. Brown stopped 30 of 33 shots in the Notre Dame net to earn the loss despite a strong effort.
The two teams will wrap up the season series tomorrow night at Munn Ice Arena, in a game televised by FSN Detroit; face off is set for 7:35 p.m.
Spartan Notebook
* Spartan alum and former Lake Superior bench boss Jeff Jackson coached in his first game vs. Michigan State as the head coach of Notre Dame.
* Prior to Friday night's contest freshman Jeff Lerg was named the Hockey Commissioners Association's rookie of the month for January. Lerg posted a 6-2-2 record with a 1.67 GAA and a .941 save percentage during the month.
* Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari made his first start since suffering a 6-3 loss to Colorado College in the GLI championship game and responded with his eighth win of the season, making 21 saves on the night.
* Justin Abdelkader collected his eighth goal and sixth power-play tally of the season at 13:37 of the first period. The goal was the Muskegon, Mich. native's first since a 2-1 win over UAF on Jan. 14. He is tied with Drew Miller and David Booth for the team lead in power play goals.
* Freshmen Tim Crowder and Tim Kennedy assisted on Abdelkader's goal, marking just the second time all season that the trio has combined on a Michigan State goal this season.
* Tim Crowder scored his tenth goal of the season pulling into a tie with sophomore Bryan Lerg for the team lead.
* Senior forward David Booth (Washington, Mich.) collected an assist on Tim Crowder's goal to raise his personal point-scoring streak to eight games, a new career best. In that span Booth has posted 3-7-10.
* Tim Kennedy notched his third goal of the season and his first since a 4-0 shutout win over UAF on Jan. 13. Senior Corey Potter's assist on the play was his 14th point of the season and the 29th assist of his Michigan State career.
* With the win, their fourth in a row vs. Notre Dame, the Spartans improve to 55-31-8 in the all-time series between the two schools. MSU is now just one game under .500 on the road this season at 4-5-3 and is now 7-2-2 since the start of 2006.
