Friday, November 12, 2004

Michigan State sweeps No. 8 Cornell

Michigan State swept Cornell in a delayed two-game set that started Friday night and concluded Sunday afternoon in East Lansing. The Spartans allowed just one goal all weekend in a 1-1 tie Friday and a 2-0 shutout Sunday. Going into the weekend, Cornell was ranked eighth nationally and was the nation's only unbeaten team.

Friday, Ash Goldie's power-play goal 5:54 into the game was all the offense Michigan State could muster and the Spartans battled to a 1-1 tie. The visitors tied it on a goal by Doug Krantz early in the second period.

Goldie's fifth goal of the year was assisted by sophomore A.J. Thelen and junior David Booth.

Sophomore goalie Dominic Vicari made 20 saves for MSU (5-4-1, 3-3-0 CCHA) while fellow sophomore David McKee stopped 36 for the Big Red.

"I thought we played really good," Vicari said. "Our guys came out and were really cooking. They were getting their second, even third shots. McKee just stood on his head out there and made some big saves for them. I thought our guys played really well tonight."

On Sunday, freshmen Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller (first collegiate goal) netted MSU's goals and Vicari pitched the goose egg with a 32-save performance. McKee made 20 saves.

"It feels really good," MSU junior defenseman Jared Nightingale said. "I am really happy with our defensive play all weekend. I think our addition with Corey Potter (back from injury after missing the first eight games) showed how important he is to our backside and our whole team. I thought that was our strength this weekend, controlling Cornell down low."

"When you play a team that is highly ranked nationally and as good a team as they are...and they're big and strong," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "It was a very hard game; our kids showed a lot of character and played their hearts out the whole weekend."

The Spartans play a staggered home-and-home series with Michigan this Thursday (7:05 p.m. at MSU) and Saturday (7:35 p.m. at Michigan).

1 comment:

Matt said...

Hey Matt! FYI, the game on Thursday is at 8:05 and will be on CSTV.