March 28, 2008
West Regional | First Round
Big Ice, No Biggie
Playing on Olympic ice doesn't faze Irish, Spartans

By Harry Thompson

Michigan State 3, Colorado College 1
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
No Scoring
Second Period
1-MS	Tim Kennedy (20)	PP
9:27	J. Petry, J. Abdelkader
2-MS	Jeff Dunne (3)	PP
18:03	B. Lerg, T. Crowder
3-MS	Chris Mueller (13)	EV
19:53	T. Kennedy, J. Abdelkader
Third Period
1-CC	Derek Patrosso (5)	EV
12:07	A. Vlassopoulos
Goaltending
CC: Richard Bachman, 58:00, 20 saves, 3 GA
MS: Jeff Lerg, 60:00, 41 saves, 1 GA
Penalties: CC 8/16; MS 7/14
Power Plays: CC 0-5; MS 2-6
Attendance: 6,287

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Rick Comley’s Michigan State Spartans have a winning formula as tried and true as mother’s milk. Put your trust in Jeff Lerg to keep things close and wait for the offensive chances to come.

Comley’s game plan may not do much to raise the excitement of rival fans but it does work. Just ask the teams the Spartans lulled to sleep on their way to last year’s NCAA title.

The third-seeded Spartans took the first step in repeating that feat by shocking No. 2 seed Colorado College with a 3-1 victory in front of an announced crowd of 6,287 at the World Arena on Friday night.

Second-period goals from Tim Kennedy, Jeff Dunne and Chris Mueller took the shine off of Tigers’ freshman sensation Richard Bachman’s NCAA Tournament debut, and Lerg, a Hobey Baker finalist, continuously robbed and baffled Tiger shooters all night long to post 41 saves.

“What you saw tonight is what we are,” said Comley, the master of the understatement. “Our goalie is kind of good and we somehow manage to get a few in the net.”

After losing in the second round of the CCHA playoffs to Northern Michigan, the Spartans had plenty of time to get ready for whatever the tournament committee threw their way. While some odds makers may not have liked the defending national champs opening up against the high-flying Tigers on the big ice sheet, it played into the role that the Spartans seem to revel in.

“We’ve always played well as an underdog. We’ve always played well with a chip on our shoulder,” said Comley.

“We felt like we had to always prove ourselves. As great as last year’s championship was we constantly read that the perception was that we weren’t the right team to win it.”

Out to prove that last year was anything but a fluke, the Spartans played their typical defensive style and called on Lerg to weather the initial onslaught they knew was coming.

Playing in front of the home crowd, the Tigers naturally came out fired up, pushing the pace on the big ice surface. While the aggressive forecheck from the likes of Mike Testwuide and Bill Sweatt did little in the way of yielding great scoring chances, it did keep the puck deep in the Spartan zone and the pressure off Bachman.

Bachman faced only two shots in the opening frame, compared to 10 for Lerg, but the WCHA Player of the Year did come up big with a sliding save to stone Corey Tropp on the doorstep on an MSU power play.

“We knew they were going to come out fired up playing in their building in front of their fans, so going into the locker room 0-0 after the first period we were pretty happy,” said Spartans senior forward Bryan Lerg.

The Spartans finally found the chink in Bachman’s armor midway through the second period when Kennedy picked up a rebound off a Jeff Petry wrist shot and tucked it home.

Dunne’s one-timer at the 18:03 mark staked the Spartans to what would prove to be an insurmountable lead, but it was Mueller’s goal with seven seconds left that was the back breaker.

Trying to get a line change for a faceoff deep in the CC end, Tigers coach Scott Owens sent Chad Rau, one of his best faceoff men, on the ice. There seemed to be some confusion as to who was going join Rau, and by the time the puck was dropped the Tigers were running helter skelter. Justin Abdelkader won the draw to Kennedy, who redirected the puck to Mueller, who slapped it home from the top of the faceoff circle.

“That goal was a killer,” said CC coach Scott Owens. “It just took the breath right out of us.”

Derek Patrosso proved that Lerg is only human in the third, wristing a shot off the face off inside the far post to breathe life into the dormant crowd.

Still, Lerg and his defensive mates stood tall, thwarting every Tiger effort down the stretch and setting up an all-CCHA matchup on Saturday night.

“I know a lot of people probably weren’t expecting to see us and Notre Dame in the finals,” said Brian Lerg, “but we feel very comfortable when other teams underestimate us. They probably will until we win another title.”

Notre Dame 7, New Hampshire 3
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-NH	Jerry Pollastrone (14)	EV
1:04	J. vanRiemsdyk
1-ND	Ian Cole (8)	PP
2:23	B. Ryan, M. Van Guilder
2-NH	Jerry Pollastrone (15)	EV
5:41	B. Flaishans, J. vanRiemsdyk
2-ND	Kyle Lawson (5)	PP
17:25	M. Van Guilder, R. Thang
Second Period
3-ND	Christian Hanson (11)	EV
2:39	S. Carlin, B. Sheahan
4-ND	Dan Kissel (9)	EV
9:53	Unassisted
3-NH	Phil DeSimone (3)	EV
13:09	B. Flaishans, J. vanRiemsdyk
Third Period
5-ND	Ryan Thang (17)	EV
0:23	M. Van Guilder
6-ND	Kevin Deeth (9)	EN
16:54	R. Thang
7-ND	Christian Hanson (12)	EN
17:54	G. Regan, B. Blatchford
Goaltending
NH: Kevin Regan, 58:45, 27 saves, 5 GA
ND: Jordan Pearce, 60:00, 32 saves, 3 GA
Penalties: NH 8/27; ND 5/10
Power Plays: NH 0-4; ND 2-7
Attendance: 6,634

CURSE OF THE 'CATS

One and done – again.

For the third straight year the top-seeded New Hampshire Wildcats failed to live up to lofty expectations brought on by a strong regular season, a seasoned corps of talented seniors, rock-solid goaltending and a high-powered offensive attack.

Instead, it was another quick and disappointing exit from an NCAA Regionals. Last season the 'Cats lost in the first round to Miami, and in 2006 was upset by Michigan State. It will be another year without a national title for UNH.

This time it was an opportunistic Notre Dame squad that kicked the 'Cats to the curb with a stunning 7-3 victory in the opening game of the West Regional at the World Arena.

For the Irish, who limped into the tournament as the No. 4 seed and 13th in the RPI rankings, the win set up a second-round game against Michigan State for a second year in a row.

Notre Dame’s Jordan Pearce, the most unheralded of the regional’s quartet of netminders, stood strong against a UNH offensive attack that averaged close to 3.5 goals a game. The Anchorage native stopped 32 New Hampshire shots, including 15 in the first period.

“If it wasn’t for our power play and Jordan, it would’ve been a different story,” said senior defenseman Brock Sheahan.

UNH senior goalie Kevin Regan, who was named the Hockey East player of the year and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, was less than stellar, surrendering juicy rebounds that led directly to two Notre Dame goals.

“I would never put this on Kevin,” said UNH head coach Dick Umile. “It was the execution of our entire team. It wasn’t Kevin.”

New Hampshire came out determined to live up to its No. 1 billing, as Jerry Pollastrone backhanded home a rebound just over a minute into the game after freshman sensation James vanRiemsdyk won the offensive zone face off and managed a shot on goal that was kicked out to Pollastrone in the high slot.

It took the Irish a little more than a minute to return the favor as freshman defenseman Ian Cole wristed a cross-ice feed past Regan for a power-play marker. After Pollastrone added his second of the game, UNH began to unravel thanks in part to dumb penalties. The Irish made the 'Cats pay as Kyle Lawson converted on a short-side wrister.

Notre Dame scored twice more in the second period, including an unassisted tally by Dan Kissel after the Irish killed off a 5-on-3, and added a pair of empty netters in the third.

“Right after we didn’t score on that 5-on-3, they came down and scored the fourth goal to go up," Umile said. "That was a key moment in that whole exchange.”

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE WORLD ARENA

INCH's Three Stars of the Night

3. Chris Mueller, Michigan State The Spartan senior had the back-breaking goal in the nightcap, and played a key role in helping kill off all five Colorado College power plays. 2. Mark Van Guilder, Notre Dame Van Guilder, a former recruited walk-on, is the lone senior among the Irish's top eight scorers. His leadership showed Friday, as he assisted on three of Notre Dame's first five goals and played an all-around outstanding game. 1. Jeff Lerg, Michigan State Michigan State's diminunitive goaltender is fast establishing a reputation as the best NCAA Tournament goaltender of the decade. He picked up where he left off in the '07 title game on Friday.

• Michigan State came into the Western Regional with a mediocre mark (2-2) on the Olympic-sized ice, while Colorado College was virtually unbeatable (18-2) playing at home on the big sheet, a fact that wasn’t lost on Spartans head coach Rick Comley.

“In a perfect world we wouldn’t have any home sites and we wouldn’t play at altitude and we wouldn’t play on Olympic ice. But that’s the way it is,” Comley said after the Spartans practice on Thursday.

Another step in Comley’s perfect world would be an NCAA tournament where the No. 1 seed would face off against No. 16, and so on.

• Seven New Hampshire players are sporting Mohawks. Compared to the alternatives, it was a pretty tame demonstration of team unity for defenseman Brad Flaishans.

“It’s my senior year and I probably won’t be able to do anything like this again,” says the Glendale, Ariz., native. “Hair grows back. It’s not a tattoo.”

• The New Hampshire Wildcats came to Colorado Springs still stinging from their triple-overtime loss to Boston College (5-4) in the Hockey East semifinals. After winning the regular season crowd by an eight-point cushion, the biggest in the last 14 years, the Cats were looking to get back on the winning track.

“I remember reading a quote from Coach [Umile] in the paper saying, ‘The only thing you learn from losing is that it stinks,’ ” said senior goaltender Kevin Regan. “We took it to heart. I don’t think you learn too much of the X’s and O’s, but you learn that it’s no fun losing. Especially in triple overtime. It’s a tough feeling. We’ve talked about how we don’t want to feel it again.”

It didn’t work out that way.

• The West Regional was billed as the battle of the netminders, featuring some of the top netminders in the country, led by New Hampshire’s Kevin Regan and Michigan State’s Jeff Lerg, who are both Hobey Baker finalists. Richard Bachman, a freshman with Colorado College, was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, and Notre Dame’s Jordan Pearce came in ranked sixth nationally with a 1.94 goals-against average.

• Home is not always where the heart is. The Wildcats tried to look on the bright side of traveling 2,000 miles from their Durham, N.H., campus and their rabid fans.
“Sometimes it’s nice to get away and stay in a hotel,” said Regan. “Last year we hosted our regional and you get second or third cousins calling for tickets. Coming out here it’s just focusing on hockey and nothing else.”

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

Kudos to Colorado College Sports Information Director Dave Moross for seeming to be in five places at once, putting out fires before they started. It’s a good thing for the scribes covering the Western Regionals that this isn’t Dave’s first rodeo.

Thank goodness for the Notre Dame and Michigan State bands for breathing a little life into what was otherwise a fairly dead building. Colorado Springs hockey fans are among the most knowledgeable around, but they’re far from a lively bunch.

To Colorado College senior defenseman Jack Hillen, for leaving everything on the ice and being a dominate force at both ends of the ice.

The kids are all right. Actually, they’re better than just all right. Freshman made their mark on the opening night at the Western Regional. UNH freshman James vanRiemsdyk assisted on all three Wildcats goals, while Notre Dame defenseman Ian Cole had a goal and an assist. And while CC goalie Richard Bachman was on the losing end of a 3-1 decision against Michigan State, the Highlands Ranch, Colo., native kept the Tigers close with 20 saves.

Los Angeles sports fans have always taken their lumps for their late arrivals through the turnstiles. Colorado Springs fans proved to be just as bad as the 7,343-seat World Arena had little more than 1,000 fans in their seats by the time the puck dropped on the first game. Too bad, they missed UNH’s Jerry Pollastrone light the lamp 1:04 into the game.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offensive hockey may put fans in the seats but defense wins championships. Michigan State proved that last year, and the Spartans will be out to prove it again when they take on CCHA rival Notre Dame in the finals of the West Regional on Saturday night.

Two teams who were considered to be handicapped because they don’t play on Olympic-sized ice proved that size doesn’t matter as they handled their heavily-favored opponents.

For Michigan State, it will mark the second stage in what they consider to be a four-step process to win a second straight NCAA title.

“We like being the underdog,” said Brian Lerg. “We know what it takes to win an NCAA title, and we’re just taking it game by game.”

For the Irish, living to play another day just seems like an added bonus to what has been an up-and-down season.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said senior defenseman Brock Sheahan. “After we lost to Northern (Michigan), I thought my career was over. I was pretty emotional. Getting into the tournament is like getting a second chance. It’s been exciting to get to this point, another chance to play another game and a chance to get to the Frozen Four.”