Michigan State continued their climb up the CCHA standings with a home-and-home sweep of Notre Dame this past weekend and now sit in second place behind Miami-Ohio.The freshman line of Justin Abdelkader, Tim Crowder and Tim Kennedy combined for all three goals on the night as the Spartans picked up a 3-2 road win Friday night.
Junior netminder Dominic Vicari made 18 saves to earn his eighth win of the season.
"I think at the beginning of the year, our line was supposed to go out and hit and bang, and just score every now and then," Kennedy said. "Now, we're playing better and the team looks for us to go out and have at least one goal every night. I think that's a big step for the three of us and we just need to go out and continue doing so for the rest of the year."
Saturday night back home at Munn Ice Arena, junior captain Drew Miller's deflection of a David Booth blast from the point on the power play served as the game-winner (pictured) with just over five minutes remaining in the final frame as Michigan State completed the weekend sweep with a 2-1 victory.
Jeff Lerg stopped 26 shots for the win. Livonia native Erik Condra scored Notre Dame's lone goal.
With the win, the Spartans (16-10-7, 10-7-6 CCHA) remain alone in second place in the CCHA, one point ahead of Michigan.
"It was a great weekend, we got four points, but it was tough. We played with a lot more energy last night, but I thought Notre Dame played well," noted MSU head coach Rick Comley. "(UND head coach Jeff Jackson) has them playing well though. They are on the rise and are tough in their own zone. We hit four posts I think. We just couldn't get the darn thing in. But like last night, we got a big goal late. In this league, and point is a good point, I don't care how you get it."
Michigan State goes on the road for a single game this week. The Spartans travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a meeting with Ohio State in Value City Arena at 8:05 p.m. on Thursday.
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