Spartans get past Colorado College

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Jeff Lerg is guilty of grand larceny.

The junior goaltender made a season-high 41 saves to lead third-seeded Michigan State to a 3-1 victory over second-seeded Colorado College in Game No. 2 of the NCAA West Regional at the Colorado Springs World Arena.

The Spartan victory set up an all-Central Collegiate Hockey Association regional final on Saturday night against Notre Dame, which upset top-seeded New Hampshire, 7-3, in the first game of the day.

Lerg was brilliant in the opening period, when the Tigers outshot MSU, 12-2. Both teams had three power-play opportunities, but were only able to muster one shot on goal apeice.

Michigan State broke the stalemate midway through the second period when junior left wing Tim Kennedy lifted the rebound of a Jeff Petry shot past a sprawling Richard Bachman on the power play.

Jeff Dunne doubled the Spartan lead with 1:57 remaining in the second period on a one-timer from the right circle. MSU stunned the Tigers with seven seconds left in the period when Chris Mueller took a feed from Kennedy and beat Bachman with a slap shot in the top left corner.

The Tigers scored their only goal midway through the third period when Andreas Vlassopoulos won a draw back to Derek Patrosso (Northville), who put a shot between Lerg's pads to give CC life with 7:53 to play.

With the Spartans protecting their lead in the final 20 minutes, Colorado College had a 17-9 advantage in shots on goal, but was unable to crack the MSU defense a second time.

Bachman finished with 20 saves for the Tigers, who saw their season end with a 28-12-1 record.