Lakers Skate to 2-2 tie and 6th place in the CCHA

Lake Superior State battled back in front of 8000 fans at the Joe Louis Arena on Saturday afternoon to secure home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. Trent Campbell opened up the scoring for the Lakers with his team leading 13th goal of the season at 9:11 of the first period, with assists going to Nathan Ward and Troy Schwab. Michigan State was able to maintain momentum for much of the first two periods surrendering 26 shots while only recording 9 shots themselves. Junior goaltender Jeff Jakaitis made several spectacular saves to keep the Lakers lead at one. Michigan State’s Colton Fretter was able to tie the game at 1-1 when he knocked in the free puck during a scramble in front of the Laker net. MSU’s Drew Miller scored what appeared to be the game winning goal on the power play at 12:29 of the third period after the Lakers again failed to clear the puck from the net. Eight seconds after Miller’s goal Dan Eves skated in on MSU goaltender Jeff Lerg after Jeff Rainville won the ensuing faceoff and roofed the puck in to tie the game at 2-2. Referee Mark Wilkens swallowed his whistle after the Lakers scored the game tying goal, preventing LSSU from going on the power play despite two obvious interference-holding penalties committed on Schwab and Rainville in the last five minutes of the game. Coach Jim Roque declined to comment on the officiating after the game, referencing a fine imposed on him by the CCHA earlier in the season. Neither team was able to score again in the third period nor in the overtime period. Thanks to wins by Alaska Fairbanks and Northern Michigan the Lakers finished in 6th place in the in the CCHA and will host Western Michigan, Friday night at the Taffy Abel Arena. Coach Roque said the being home for the first round of the playoffs “would be good for us, because we have been on the bus every weekend in February… it would really help us to be home one weekend to get the juice back.”