Lebster finished with a goal and two assists for the sixth-ranked Spartans (22-8-3 overall, 16-5-2 Big Ten), who also got a goal and an assist apiece from Tiernan Shoudy and Artyom Levshunov. Jeremy Davidson tallied twice for MSU, including one of two empty-netters in the final three minutes of play. David Silye set up two goals for the host Badgers (24-9-2, 15-7-1), who also got 21 stops in net from Kyle McClellan. No. 4 Wisconsin also outshot MSU, 46-26, and won 47 of 71 faceoffs on the night.
MSU claimed its first conference regular-season title since 2001 in the original CCHA, when the late, legendary Ron Mason was at the helm as head coach. The Spartans also advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four that season. With Friday's MSU victory, all seven current Big Ten schools (except Michigan) have won a regular-season championship since the conference began play in 2013.
The first-place Spartans and second-place Badgers meet again tonight at the Kohl Center in Madison to close out the series and the regular season. Wisconsin will host seventh-place Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals next weekend, while MSU will have a bye next week before hosting a semifinal the following week at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
No comments:
Post a Comment