Michigan
9-2-1, 7-1-0CCHA
Michigan State
5-6-1, 3-5-0CCHA
Michigan Completes Weekend Sweep of Michigan State
11/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A season-high 6,921 fans packed into Yost Ice Arena as the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team completed a weekend sweep of Michigan State, 5-4, on Saturday (Nov. 20). T.J. Hensick (Howell, Mich.) had three points (2-1-3) to tie a season high in the offensive battle. The sweep of the Spartans is the first for the Maize and Blue since Feb. 21-22, 1992.
Michigan State opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the contest. Jim Slater, on a two-on-one, fired a shot from the top right circle into the upper corner of the U-M net.
The Wolverines stormed back at the Spartans as Brandon Kaleniecki (Livonia, Mich.) tied the game at one less than two minutes later after a scramble down low. MSU netminder Dominic Vicari lost the puck, looked back, and reached with his trapper, knocking the puck across the goal line at 2:15.
Milan Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) gave Michigan its first lead of the game at 4:09 as Vicari let Kaleniecki's rebound slide away, and Gajic stuffed it into the net. Drew Miller would end the Wolverines' lead two minutes later as he beat Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill.) from the left down low at 6:12.
While skating with an extra attacker, Michigan State's Miller struck again at 14:44. He took a shot from a bad angle on the left, and the puck trickled along the goal line behind Montoya before stopping inside the net, giving MSU the 3-2 lead.
It was Hensick who answered back, tying the match at three with an end-to-end rush late in the period. Hensick faked Vicari and beat him stick-side while the goalie was down at 16:14. State took the final lead of the period at 17:43, as Ash Goldie capitalized on the power play and beat Montoya on a screened shot. The action-packed first period ended with Michigan State on top, 4-3.
After back-and-forth scoring throughout the entire first period, the second frame remained scoreless through the 10-minute mark. Hensick rallied the second-period scoring at 10:48 with his second goal of the game. Eric Werner (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) fed him at the blue line, and Hensick found the seam down the middle to tie the game at 4-4.
Taking their second lead of the night, the Wolverines broke up the tied game on a rocket from Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.) at 12:21. Jason Ryznar (Anchorage, Alaska) carried the puck through the neutral zone, with Nystrom chasing to create a three-on-two. Ryznar dropped the puck back to Nystrom, who found the hole high above Vicari's shoulder.
With under a minute to go in the second stanza, Montoya was forced to make two sliding saves as MSU attackers fired on him, holding the U-M lead of 5-4, and Michigan's two-goal second period run held up through the third.
Michigan will compete in the 12th annual College Hockey Showcase next weekend (Nov. 26-27), with games at Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
