Spartans Win Exhibition Opener

by Matt Mackinder

Sunday...In its first exhibition game of the season, the Michigan State hockey team defeated the University of Toronto, 7-2, on Sunday afternoon at Munn Ice Arena in front of 4,706 spectators.

MSU was led by senior Ash Goldie who had a goal and two assists. Five other Spartans recorded multi-point efforts on the afternoon, and seven different icers contributed goals.

"The positive of this game was that we were able to play against an opponent for the first time this season," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "Hopefully the guys are now more tuned in to exactly what they need to improve on when we get back to practice on Tuesday."

Freshmen Jeff Dunne and Bryan Lerg scored power-play goals for the Spartans as did sophomore Drew Miller and senior captain Jim Slater. Junior David Booth and senior Kevin Estrada rounded out the scoring.

Sophomore Dominic Vicari started and made eight saves on nine shots before giving way to senior Matt Migliaccio midway through the second period. Migliaccio made eight more saves while allowing just one Toronto tally.

"We went out there today and played a real opponent instead of an intra-squad scrimmage and got the win, and that's what is important," said Goldie. "We've got a lot of things to work on coming into this weekend. It feels like we are one unit this year, we are really working as a team. If we work on our team defense and establish our forecheck, we can win a lot of games. I feel like everyone is on the same page this year."

The Spartans kick-off the 2004-05 regular season this Friday at 7:35 p.m., when they take on St. Lawrence at Munn. On Sunday, New Hampshire invades Munn for a 2:05 p.m. match-up.