Lakers to Open Second Half in East Lansing

SAULT STE. MARIE – Lake Superior State picked up its first two Central Collegiate Hockey Association points of the season with two ties at Nebraska-Omaha in early December and has waited almost a month for a chance to add to that total. The Lakers (2-11-3 overall, 0-8-2 CCHA) return from a 3 ½ week break to take on Michigan State (12-5-2 overall, 8-2-0 CCHA) at 7:05 p.m. Friday and 5:05 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena in East Lansing. Saturday’s game will be televised live on FSN Detroit. Both games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 and simulcast on www.lssulakers.com. A week before tying UNO 1-1 and 3-3 in Omaha, the Lakers lost a home series to Michigan State, 3-2 and 5-2. During the Friday contest, MSU jumped to a 3-0 lead, but LSSU closed the gap on a power-play goal by Nathan Perkovich and an extra-attacker goal by Rick Schofield. The Lakers out-shot the Spartans, 27-22. During the Saturday game, MSU pulled away from a 2-2 tie with three unanswered goals during the final 25 minutes of play. Five of the Spartans’ eight power-play chances occurred in the third period. Sophomore forward Nathan Perkovich, who has a goal in three of the Lakers’ last four games, leads LSSU in points with 10-1—11. He is ranked 10th in the CCHA in average goals per game, tied for sixth in power-play goals with six and second in game-winning goals with five. Senior forward Dan Eves is second on the team in scoring with 4-6—10, while junior forward Troy Schwab, with 1-8—9, leads in assists. Highlighting LSSU’s recent effort is the improved play of sophomore goaltender Pat Inglis. After getting off to a rough start, he has made strong showings in back-to-back games, totaling 36 saves in the 1-1 tie with UNO and 5-2 loss to MSU. He is 1-5-2 with a 3.93 goals-against average. Freshman Brian Mahoney-Wilson, who has been fairly consistent in net all season, is 1-6-1 with a 2.94 gaa. Michigan State ended a six-game unbeaten streak by losing both games at last weekend’s Great Lakes Invitational. The Spartans dropped a 4-1 decision to Michigan Tech in the semifinals and lost 5-3 to Providence in the consolation game. MSU is led in scoring by junior forward Tim Kennedy (13-8—21), who is ranked 10th in the CCHA in overall scoring and tied for fourth in power-play points with 7-4—11. MSU has two high-scoring defensemen in sophomore Mike Ratchuk (3-11—14) and senior Daniel Vukovic (2-12—14). Michigan State is ranked 10th and LSSU 12th in the CCHA in penalty killing, so look for special teams to be a factor in this weekend’s series. Both teams, however, are among the least-penalized teams in the league along with Notre Dame. With the GLI losses, MSU will likely drop down in the rankings from its No. 5 spot. The Spartans, however, are the first of three straight nationally-ranked opponents the Lakers will play in 2008. LSSU, which is 1-8-1 against nationally-ranked teams this season, returns from its trip to East Lansing and plays host to Bowling Green State on Jan. 11-12, then travels to Miami Jan. 18-19.