Michigan State moved one game closer to winning its CCHA first-round playoff series against Alaska-Fairbanks as the Spartans posted 11 goals during an 11-1 drubbing of UAF at Munn Ice Arena. <\/p>\n
The 11-goal outburst is the best offensive production by MSU in the CCHA playoffs, Spartans coach Rick Comley made sure his team started focusing on Saturday’s Game 2. <\/p>\n
“This doesn’t matter in playoff hockey,” Comley said of the lopsided result. “The next night is a whole new game. This time of year, it has to be one game at a time.” <\/p>\n
For the first five minutes, it looked like the Spartans were in for a dogfight with the CCHA’s hottest team, but a 2:27 span in which MSU pumped in three goals ended any notion of a close contest. <\/p>\n
“I thought they [UAF] played great for the first four or five minutes,” said Comley. “Matt [Migliaccio] made a couple of good saves, and we snuck a couple goals in that rattled their goalie a little bit.” <\/p>\n
A tally by sophomore Brock Radunske at 6:32 of the first period marked the beginning of a three-goal blitz by the Spartans. Radunske wrapped around the UAF net and fired the puck from a bad angle just over Keith Bartusch’s glove giving MSU a 1-0 lead. The goal was Radunske’s first since a Jan. 1 contest vs. Miami. <\/p>\n
Just 59 seconds later, at 7:39 of the first stanza, sophomore Kevin Estrada put the Spartans ahead 2-0 on a shot identical to Radunske’s. Again, Bartusch’s deficient glove hand was exposed as Estrada drilled it into the short side of the net from a bad angle. <\/p>\n
The Spartans took a 3-0 lead when Radunske blistered a slap shot past Bartusch at 8:59 of the first. Initially, it looked as though Bartusch made the stop, but the puck found its way through his pads and into the net for the third time in a span of 2:27. <\/p>\n
Down 3-0 with 11:01 still remaining in the first, the Nanooks brought in back-up netminder Lance Mayes. He did not fair much better than his counterpart as sophomore Ash Goldie slipped a well-placed slap shot past him at the 12:58 mark of the first giving MSU a 4-0 advantage. Goldie’s power-play marker was his sixth of the campaign and MSU’s eighth power-play goal in the last five games. All-America candidate John-Michael Liles extended his point streak to eight games with an assist on the Goldie tally. <\/p>\n
Goldie said he loved his goal, but would love a win Saturday night as well. <\/p>\n
“We wanted to get a win and we need to make it in a short series,” Goldie said. “[Saturday], we need to come out and play our game, and hopefully come out with the same results.” <\/p>\n
Freshman Colton Fretter, who is coming off a three-point weekend against Western Michigan, continued his fine play at 15:10 of the first when he flipped a back-hander over Mayes’ right shoulder to give his team a gaudy 5-0 lead. <\/p>\n
“When you get up 5-0 in the first period, it’s pretty tough for a team to come back.” Comley said. <\/p>\n
The Nanooks finally got on the board early in the middle stanza. Center Scott Vockeroth took a feed from Corbin Schmidt and stuffed it past sophomore netminder Matt Migliaccio, cutting the MSU lead to 5-1 at 3:09. <\/p>\n
MSU re-applied its five-goal stranglehold at 7:51 of the second when freshman David Booth found the back of the net for the 17th time this season. Booth’s goal came after he took a pass from Slater and blasted a slap shot from the middle of the left faceoff circle, making it a 6-1 affair. <\/p>\n
Booth was the Spartans’ leading goal-scorer until Slater notched his 17th goal of the season at the 13:46 mark of the second. While on a 3-on-2 rush Mike Lalonde slung a pass across the crease and onto Slater’s stick where he buried the puck into an open net opening up a 7-1 lead. Also, assisting on the play was All-America candidate Brad Fast. The assist extended Fast’s point-streak to 12 games, while Slater moved into a tie with Fast for most multiple-point games with 13. <\/p>\n
Only 35 seconds into the final period, Radunske completed his first career hat trick with a magnificent back-hander from short range putting his team ahead 8-1 with 19:25 still to play. Working from the behind the net again, Radunske skated to the front of the net with a burst of speed, until he finally hit the breaks and beat Mayes. <\/p>\n
Radunske said after his second goal the thought of a hat trick crossed his mind, but he was more focused on what his team was doing. <\/p>\n
“Obviously I think about it. I didn’t want to take any chances though,” Radunske said. “My roommate [Goldie] and I both had a pretty good night. Actually the team had a pretty good night. All of our lines came through with really balanced scoring.” <\/p>\n
With the Spartans on the power play, Slater netted his second goal of the contest at 3:48 of the third. It put MSU ahead 9-1 and sent Mayes to the bench. The last time MSU team showed such offensive prowess was on Dec. 29, 1994, in a 9-4 victory vs. Cornell. <\/p>\n
At 11:11 of the third, UAF’s third netminder, Preston McKay, got his first taste of the relentless Spartan offense when Goldie skated between the face-off circles and flicked the puck pas him for a 10-1 MSU lead. Goldie’s second score of the game marked the first time in his career he has achieved such a feat. <\/p>\n
Sophomore Lee Falardeau capped the night when he netted the final score for the Spartans, ending the game with an 11-1 mark. The goal also marked the first time since a Dec. 6, 1991 MSU has scored 10 or more goals. In that game MSU defeated Ohio State 12-4. MSU’s effort from sophomore was over the top tonight with nine of the eleven goals coming from sophomores. <\/p>\n
Radunske said he will take a win in any fashion, but is more expectant on a sweep of the series. <\/p>\n
“We can enjoy it, but it doesn’t really matter if it’s 2-1 or 11-1,” remarked Radunske. “We need to expect the same results for tomorrow, and we have to be on top of our game.” <\/p>\n
The teams meet in game two of the CCHA first round playoffs series Saturday with a 7:05 p.m. face-off at Munn Arena. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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