MSU dominates in OSU sweep

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan State Beat Writer

Only allowing one goal all weekend gave Michigan State an easy sweep at Ohio State.

Winning by scores of 4-1 and 4-0, goalie Jeff Lerg was nearly perfect.

"I thought that Jeff Lerg was great tonight and we really responded well with a strong third period," noted MSU head coach Rick Comley after the victory Saturday. "Jeff probably deserved to have two or three shutouts before this, but had a couple of bad bounces. He's very modest. He's really an outstanding player who is the backbone of our team."

Friday night, Lerg stopped 27 shots and the Spartans got goals from Tim Crowder, Bryan Lerg, Nick Sucharski and Justin Abdelkader.

"It was a good road win," said Comley. "Nothing comes easy in this league. There are no easy games. You have to fight for everything. We're happy to come out with a victory."

Saturday night, Michigan State extended their CCHA unbeaten streak to 10 games as Lerg kicked out all 23 Buckeye shots for his first shutout of the year.

With a 1-0 lead at the second intermission, Abdelkader scored twice in a three-goal final period, Tim Kennedy had a pair of helpers and Chris Mueller potted a shorthanded goal for the Spartans, who are 4-0-2 since their last-place GLI showing last month.

Matt Schepke also scored for Michigan State.

MSU (16-5-4, 12-2-2 CCHA) has a home-and-home series with Michigan, starting Friday at Yost Ice Arena and concluding Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena. FSN Detroit will carry both games of the series, with the puck dropping both nights at 7:35 p.m.