Icers knock off Broncos 3-1

Freshman Leveille scores twice in win

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In the Halloween matchup between No. 11 MSU and Western Michigan, the Spartans didn’t fall for many tricks and instead earned a handful of treats.

The first was the 3-1 victory over the Broncos. Friday’s game was the third time the two schools have faced off on Halloween, and the Spartans (4-2-1 overall, 2-0-1 CCHA) have won all three meetings.

“I thought (Western) played pretty well,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “But I think we can hurt them if we can get the puck to the goal line (in their zone).”

Secondly, senior goaltender Jeff Lerg broke the MSU career saves record in the second period when he surpassed Dave Versical’s previous record of 3,108.

“It’s a great accomplishment to have,” Lerg said. “I never really expected to be the captain or leaving here with the all time saves. It was just a great feeling for me and I can’t thank the coaches enough for giving me the opportunity (to play) as much as I have.”

And the third treat was the strong performance from the Spartans freshmen. All three of the MSU’s goals came off the stick of the youngsters – with Andrew Conboy netting the first goal and Daultan Leveille scoring the next two.

“We knew we had holes to fill and they are definitely stepping up and making the best of their opportunities,” Lerg said of the freshmen. “We’ve been working really hard to create some more offense in practice. They did a good job and I think they are getting more confidence at home.”

Penalties came in three’s in the first period for both teams – as the Spartans committed the first three penalties of the game and the Broncos committed the next three.

Despite the special teams prominence in the first period, both teams were only able to get on the board once.

“We had too much practice tonight (on the penalty kill),” Comley said. “It’s going to cost us games if we take that many (penalties).”

Conboy gave the Spartans the 1-0 lead with 7:19 left in the first period. He charged the net after Western Michigan goaltender Riley Gill couldn’t seem to get the puck covered up in the crease after facing a long shot. Three Spartans forwards crashed the net, but it was Conboy who was able to get a stick on the puck and beat Gill.

The Broncos responded with a goal of their own less than two minutes later on the power play when forward Max Campbell snuck behind the Spartans defense and received a pass right onto his stick and shot the puck over a sprawling Lerg.

Lerg set the milestone save mark with 10:49 left in the second period. A Western Michigan forward flew up the right boards with the puck and released a wrist shot from the top of the circles. Lerg made the routine save by dropping to his butterfly and squeezing the puck into his body.

With 49 seconds left in the second period, Leveille gave the Spartans the 2-0 lead. Freshman defenseman Brock Shelgren brought the puck deep down the right boards and fired a hard pass to the front of the net. Leveille got on the end of the pass and simply had to get a stick on the puck to beat Gill.

“I was waiting there and just trying to call and hope it gets through,” Leveille said. “Then at the last second when there are two guys in front of you and you can’t see it coming through, (Shelgren) gets it through. It was a relief that it hit my stick and went in.”

With 11 minutes left to play, the all-freshman line of Adam Henderson, Ben Warda and Trevor Nill almost gave the Spartans the two goal lead. They cycled the puck down low and created two solid scoring chances that left Gill scrambling around the crease like a madman.

Leveille recorded his second goal of the night with 6:40 left in the game on a play that was eerily similar to his first goal. Sophomore forward Dustin Gazley skated down the right boards and slid a feather-like pass to Leveille, who was charging hard to the net. Leveille stretched out and got just enough of the puck to have it slide through Gill’s legs and into the net.

“We had the one-goal lead and we didn’t need that offense but it’s good to get that insurance goal,” Leveille said. “(The pass) was a bit ahead but it was still a good pass. I think the goalie was thinking that it might go through or go past me and he started sliding across. So I just had to tip it through his legs.”

Lerg warned the young team of the atmosphere they will face tomorrow when they head to Western Michigan to finish off the weekend series.

“We already told them it will be wild down there,” Lerg said. “It always is and it’s always a tough building to win in. But hopefully we can come out of there with another win.”

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