Jan. 23, 2001

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) posted his 16th shutout, matching the NCAA all-time record, leading the Spartans to a 3-0 win over Lake Superior State Tuesday night. Miller tied former Clarkson goaltender Wally Easton, who backstopped the Golden Knights from 1927-31, for the shutout record and extended his scoreless stretch to 207:12 in the process.

"I am excited and will enjoy it for a few hours, but after that it is back to class and starting to prepare for Michigan this weekend," said Miller, who made 21 saves for the night in notching his third shutout in as many starts and fifth this month.

"To have my name up there with all those other great players in history is amazing to me," said Miller. "I have a great defense in front of me and they should get a lot of the credit. We have a great system that allows me to see everything in front of me. Right now, I am coming up with the saves I should."

The sophomore goaltender and favorite to win the Hobey Baker Award tied a record that has been around for 70 years.

"I told our team after the game that they just witnessed the tying of a 70-year-old record, which just does not happen every day," said MSU head coach Ron Mason. "They should all feel a part (the record) as well - I know I do."

Everyone in this building saw something tonight that has not happened in 70 years. That is really an amazing accomplishment and something that Ryan Miller is going to remember the rest of his life."

The win, witnessed by 6,593 fans in the 265th consecutive sellout at Munn Ice Arena, extended MSU's unbeaten streak to a school-record tying 23 games. The Spartans are 20-0-3 since dropping their home opener to Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 19.

MSU drew first blood on the team's first shot of the night 6:09 into the contest. Captain Rusty Dolyny (Fort Frances, Ont.) took a wide-open shot from the point on the Spartans' first power-play of the evening, a blast that got past Lake Superior State netminder Jayme Platt and rattled in off the far post.

The Spartans lit the lamp again a little more than three minutes later. Andrew Bogle (Calgary, Alta.) picked up a rebound off his own shot beat Platt, who was screened, at 9:21 of the opening frame.

Senior John Nail (Brampton, Ont.) notched his 12th goal of the season 6:15 into the final stanza to provide the final margin of victory for the Spartans. Andrew Hutchinson (Rochester Hills, Mich.) slapper from the blue line deflected off Nail and into the net. MSU kept the pressure on the Lakers and off Miller in the third period, outshooting the Lakers 13-4 over the game's final 20 minutes.

"A nice thing about our team is that our kids do not get greedy and they really know how to protect a lead which has helped Ryan Miller in these close games," said Mason.

MSU returns to action this Saturday when the Spartans renew their grudge match with archrival Michigan at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Faceoff at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. EST.