Lakers come up short against Spartans

In the midst of a dogfight to gain home-ice advantage in the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, the Lake Superior State Lakers suffered a setback in their plans on Thursday night.

With the Michigan State University Spartans in town, the Lakers dropped a tight 3-2 decision in their last regular season home game of the year. The game was also the last regular season home game for the clubs 12 senior players who were honoured following the game.

The Lakers fell behind early on as Chris Mueller got the Spartans on the board just 1:43 into the opening frame, although the Lakers held a decided advantage in play in the period. Despite outshooting the Spartans by an 11-3 count, the Lakers could not solve goaltender Jeff Lerg.

The middle frame saw the Lakers finally manage to solve Lerg as junior forward Trent Campbell re-directed a point shot by Alex Dunn to tie the game at one. In a matter of seconds the Lakers went from being tied to being down a pair of goals as Bryan Lerg and Drew Miller scored goals 23 seconds apart for Michigan State to put the visitors ahead.

A third period shorthanded goal by Nathan Ward at 13:57 was not enough for the Lakers as, despite a number of chances, they could not beat Jeff Lerg again as they dropped the one-goal decision, 3-2.

"I thought we played really well," said Lakers coach Jim Roque. "I liked our effort. Michigan State's been on a pretty good roll and they got some bounces. If we play like that every game we'll be fine. If we play like that on Saturday I'll take my chances.

"I have no complaints about tonight," Roque continued. "I thought the guys did a great job."

Following the game, the Lakers honoured their 12-player senior group, who will all be graduating in the spring. The group – forwards Mike Adamek, Jon Booras, Steve McJannet, Colin Nicholson, Eric Hill, Nathan Ward, and B.J. Pelkey; defencemen Mark Adamek, Kory Scoran, Ren Fauci, and Alex Dunn; as well as goaltender William Ciccone – represents the largest senior class the club has seen. The group took their final skate around the Taffy Abel Arena ice in what was an emotional ceremony for some.

"They're the reason why we've been in the top ten in the country defensively," Roque said of the group. "We've been in the polls, in and out of the top twenty all year and they're the reason. The amazing thing about them is, you look at guys like Colin (Nicholson) and Steve (McJannet), they play every game but they don't play a lot of power play. A guy like Eric Hill just works hard and doesn't complain. B.J. Pelkey, whenever we need something, he does it.

"They're a lot of guys that have been unselfish. They've accepted it and done a great job. And their parents too, not one parent called me and said 'Why is my son not playing?' I've never ran into that type of problem and that just tells you what type of people they are. There's no doubt that group has established something for us to build on."

The loss does little to help the Lakers in their quest for home-ice in the opening round of the CCHA playoffs. With the top four teams in the standings getting first round byes, teams ranked five through eight host the opening round of the playoffs. The Lakers currently sit in sixth spot, although Ohio State sit one point back with a game in hand. Three teams find themselves tied for the eighth spot as Alaska-Fairbanks, Ferris State, and Notre Dame all sit tied with 24 points, two behind the Lakers.

The Lakers can do themselves a favour by picking up a win or a tie on Saturday, the final day of the regular season. On Saturday, the Lakers travel to Detroit to take on the Spartans at Joe Louis Arena in a 2:05 p.m. Start.

After that, next action for the Lakers will be Mar. 1st, although their opponent and the site have yet to be determined.

*** AROUND THE CCHA:

In the only other Thursday night game in the CCHA, Miami forward Ryan jones scored a pair of goals to lead the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons.