Jan. 11, 2003

Final Stats

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Alaska Fairbanks goaltenders will not look forward to returning to Munn Ice Arena any time soon. After scoring five goals last night, Michigan State did one better as they crushed Alaska Fairbanks 6-2 on Saturday (Jan. 11) to complete a two-game sweep of the weekend series in East Lansing.

"We had a lot of people step in and contribute this weekend," said Spartan Head Coach Rick Comley. "That is exactly what we needed."

The first Spartan to contribute tonight was senior defensemen John-Michael Liles. Liles got the Spartans on the board midway through the first period when he capitalized on an UAF turnover in the neutral zone. Liles took possession of the puck at center ice and skated untouched through the right face-off circle where he beat UAF netminder Preston McKay on the short side. The shorthanded goal by Liles was his first of the season and gave the Spartans a 1-0 at the 7:20 mark.

Just after the crowd began to quiet after Liles's goal, Colton Fretter buried a rebound into a wide-open net giving the Spartan a 2-0 advantage. Fretter's fourth goal of the season came after he weaved through the Fairbanks defense and fed freshman linemate Nenad Gajic in the slot. McKay turned Gajic's shot away, but the rebound found its way to the right side of the goal crease where the opportunistic Fretter was standing to put the puck past McKay at the 10:40 mark of the first period. Gajic was credited with the only assist on the goal giving him 10 points for the season.

Alaska Fairbanks cut into the Spartan lead when senior Blaine Bablitz took the puck in between the face-off circles and whistled it past sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio to make the score 2-1. Bablitz's power-play goal came at 1:42 of the second period after Liles took a tripping penalty at the 1:20 mark.

"Individual success comes with team play," said Lalonde "And we did that all weekend."

At 14:07 of the second period, the Munn Ice Arena crowd erupted again when Gajic put the Spartans on top 4-1. Gajic took a pass from Fretter just to the right of the goal and drew the Nanooks netminder out of the position with a spectacular fake, and all that was left for him to do was slide the puck into an open net. Gajic's fourth goal of the season was assisted on by Fretter and sophomore Ash Goldie extending Goldie's point streak to five games.

Before UAF could make it to the locker room for the second intermission, Lalonde scored his second goal of the night at 19:46 of the second period, giving Michigan State a very comfortable 5-1 lead. Lalonde's breakaway goal came after Slater poked the puck away from two UAF skaters at their own blue line. Once the puck trickled through to Lalonde he rushed towards the goal and beat Lance Mayes on an inside-out fake tapping the puck just past his outstretched left pad.

At 1:00 of the third period, the red light behind the Fairbanks goal lit up for the sixth time as Goldie blasted a rebound into the net from just outside the goal crease. His goal giving the Spartans a 6-1 lead was assisted on by Liles and Gajic.

UAF got its second power-play goal of the contest at 11:21 of the third period when Bablitz squeezed the puck behind Migliaccio for his second goal of the night making the score 6-2.

Bablitz's goal was UAF's last of the game as Migliaccio and the defense stifled the Nanooks' attack for the remainder of the night. UAF held a slim 35-to-33 edge on shots on goal for the game.

"A lot of credit has to go to our defense," said Migliaccio "(Junior defenseman) Joe Markusen saved a couple goals out there."

Michigan State (11-9-1 overall, 7-6-0 CCHA) returns to the ice to face Nebraska-Omaha next Friday-Saturday (Jan. 17-18) at Munn Ice Arena. Friday's contest will begin at 7:35 p.m., while the puck will drop on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.