Detroit — The MSU hockey team’s 11-game winless streak was finally put to rest on Saturday during the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena.
 
In MSU’s 2-1 victory over No. 18 North Dakota, the Spartans also managed to spoil another trend — North Dakota’s four-game winning streak.
 
After such a long spell without the taste of victory, MSU head coach Rick Comley was ecstatic with the result of the game which will send the Spartans to the championship game of the Great Lakes Invitational against arch-rival Michigan on Sunday.
 
“It was a good win,” Comley said. “I think it was as hard as we’ve fought. I think that we’ve worked hard and I think we’ve had some tough losses. But I think that was a really good effort.”
 
Senior forward Matt Schepke tallied both goals for the Spartans (5-11-3 overall) and he believes the time over Christmas break benefited the team by allotting time to reflect on the dismal 4-11-3 start to the season.
 
“The guys went home and thought about the first half really hard and just came back with a different attitude,” Schepke said. “The last two practices we had were very high intensity and guys really worked. We spoke to the guys before we left and that’s what we talked about — hard work coming back in the second half. We can’t erase the first half, but we’ve got to get past it and work hard.”
 
Despite being outshot 39-30 in the game, senior goaltender Jeff Lerg was very pleased with the defensive effort of his team.
 
“From the first shift we came out hitting and we were throwing pucks at the net and crashing the net,” Lerg said. “It was a great defensive game and we blocked shots from all over the place. That’s the kind of team we need to be.”
 
Comley agreed and said sophomore defenseman Jeff Petry played his best game of the year in the much-needed victory.
 
“I thought (Petry) did less and did a lot better,” Comley said. “He’s been trying so hard to help this team win. A lot of times he leads the rush and he gets tired and he stayed at home more (tonight). He moved the puck well and he defended well.”
 
The Spartans opened up the game with two quality scoring chances within the first three minutes — one of which dinged off the post.
 
Five of the Spartans 11 shots in the first period were recorded by Schepke and he was rewarded with a power play goal at the 7:14 mark. 
 
Schepke was camped out at the top of the left crease and received a pass from sophomore forward Corey Tropp right onto his stick. The puck jumped on Schepke and he wasn’t able to get much on his shot, but it was enough to sneak under the stick of North Dakota goaltender Brad Eidsness and slowly slide over the goal line.
 
Schepke said the early goal gave his team a big jump that they were able to carry throughout the period.
 
“It felt really good to be able to get the first goal and see the energy on the bench,” Schepke said. “The bench just erupted. That first goal just electrified the bench and guys were ready to go.”
 
MSU was outshot 16-11 in the second period, but it didn’t matter as the Spartans scored the lone goal of the frame when the duo of Schepke and Tropp struck again.
 
The two jumped on the same page as they entered the offensive zone. Schepke battled his way through two North Dakota defenseman and Tropp slid him the puck. Schepke wasn’t able to get his stick on the pass, but he was able to redirect the puck back to Tropp with his skate. Tropp proceeded to take three strides down the right side of the ice to lure Eidsness out of his lair in the crease.
 
Then when the bait was set, Tropp fed the puck back to Schepke who simply had to fire a wrist shot into the wide-open net, giving the Spartans the 2-0 lead.
 
But the Fighting Sioux weren’t about to surrender the game to the Spartans.
 
North Dakota’s Matt Frattin beat Lerg from a sharp angle on the power play with 3:24 remaining in the game to bring the Sioux within a goal.
 
From then on, Lerg stole the show. He made two big saves with under two minutes left to put the game, and the streak, on ice.
 
The win gives the Spartans a spot in the championship game of the Great Lakes Invitational on Sunday at 6:35 p.m. where they will face the defending champion Wolverines. North Dakota will play Michigan Tech in the consolation game at 3 p.m.
 
MSU lost both of its previous meetings against U-M earlier this month, falling 6-1 in Ann Arbor and then 5-3 at home.
 
The Spartans will play the Wolverines two more times during the regular season, but Lerg said he wants to find revenge for the two heartbreaking losses already suffered at the hands of the Maize and Blue.
 
“Last series was frustrating but hopefully this is a new mentality,” Lerg said. “We’ve been waiting and saying that we just need one win to get over the hump and get some momentum going. It’s a big name and a big stage here at Joe Louis and we want our name up on that banner. Hopefully we can carry that same intensity over (to tomorrow).”