Sports: Icers Win Great Lakes Invitational
In a thrilling game against No. 3 Michigan at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, MSU beat their archrivals 2-1 in overtime and secured its first Great Lakes Invitational championship since 2000.
The win gives MSU some momentum entering 2005. The Spartans, at 5-7 and 8th in the CCHA, need a major spurt to get into contention.
Colton Fretter scored the winning overtime goal, assisted by defenseman Ethan Graham, and leads MSU in points with 22. MSU’s other goal was from senior captain Jim Slater, who also scored the winning overtime goal the day before when MSU beat No. 6 New Hampshire 4-3, its second win over the Wildcats this season. Slater was named MVP of the tournament.
“This was tremendous for us,” said third-year coach Rick Comley about the GLI triumph, MSU’s tenth since the tourney started in the 1980s.
Many Spartan hockey fans hope the win will turnaround MSU’s fortunes in the second half of the season. In the first half, MSU performed somewhat like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, beating ranked teams and losing to unranked teams. The Spartans had only one weekend sweep (against Ferris State), but split most other weekends. A typical weekend took place just before Finals week, when MSU lost to Notre Dame 3-2 in overtime on Friday, only to come back and win 4-1 at home on Saturday, with Ash Goldie exploding for a hat trick for MSU’s first win after surrendering the first goal.
The Spartan icers did have some high points. They beat Wisconsin 4-0 in Madison, WI, during the College Hockey Showcase. Sophomore goalie Dominic Vicari performed steadily throughout, earning National Defensive Player Of The Week honors for his play during the GLI. Sophomore forward Drew Miller was tied for fifth with Slater and Fretter in the CCHA’s power play scoring, and the Miller, Fretter and Chris Mueller line—the so-called “ER” line—tallied 50 points for the season, or an average of 2.63 points per game. MSU also excelled in penalty kills.