April 5, 2007
2007 NCAA Frozen Four | First Semifinal
Michigan State S-capes
Spartans rally from early two-goal deficit to defeat Maine

By Jess Myers

Michigan State 4, Maine 2
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-UM	Keith Johnson (10)	EV
0:23	J. Soares, M. Léveillé
2-UM	Josh Soares (20)	EV
3:24	T. Ramsey, K. Johnson
1-MS	Chris Mueller (15)	EV
7:25	unassisted
Second Period
2-MS	Chris Snavely (2)	EV
16:32	J. Abdelkader, T. Kennedy
Third Period
3-MS	Nick Sucharski (9)	EV
5:11	M. Schepke, J. Sprague
4-MS	Jim McKenzie (12)	EV
9:46	C. Mueller
Goaltending
UM: Ben Bishop, 58:35, 29 saves, 4 GA
MS: Jeff Lerg, 60:00, 29 saves, 2 GA
Penalties: UM 4/8; MS 3/6
Power Plays: UM 0-2; MS 0-3
Attendance: 18,857
More Coverage
Comprehensive Notebook Some keys to the Michigan State win, our three stars, and much more.

ST. LOUIS – There’s some dispute among folks from East Lansing about whether the green S logo stands for Spartans or State or both. After the Frozen Four semifinals, some might insist it stands for Snavely or Sucharski while others will say it represents Saturday, which is when Michigan State plays next.

Down 2-0 early in the game, the Spartans (22-12-5) rallied with four unanswered goals Thursday afternoon, beating Maine 4-2 and advancing to the NCAA title game for the first time in two decades.

Defenseman Chris Snavely scored just his second goal of the season and Nick Sucharski netted the game-winner as the Spartans became the first CCHA team to win a game at the Frozen since Michigan won the title game in 1998. Sucharski, who centers the team’s “S line” with Matt Schepke and Jay Sprague on his wings, popped in the rebound of a Schepke shot with bodies flying in front of Maine goaltender Ben Bishop.

The play typified the Spartans’ offensive work all game, as they made a habit of crowding Bishop and taking away the hulking goalie’s eyes whenever possible.

“That’s how we score. If you look at all our goals, we don’t score pretty,” said Spartans coach Rick Comley. “We’re not going to come down and take a 35-foot slap shot and score, not very often. We have to get rebounds in traffic. Some teams get mad at us because we spend a lot of time in the goal crease, but that’s what we have to do."

Down 2-1 and being out-shot in the second, Snavely, who didn’t even crack the MSU lineup for the first month of the season, tied the game after a backhand drop pass from top-line center Justin Abdelkader. Using Maine defenseman Bret Tyler as a screen, Snavely blasted a low shot from the top of the right circle and celebrated after the puck slid just inside the left goalpost.

Chin up: MSU goalie Jeff Lerg looks skyward as Maine's Keith Johnson celebrates a goal by linemate Josh Soares. The Black Bears opened a 2-0 lead 3:26 into the game.

“I never saw the second goal,” Bishop said. “That’s Michigan State’s game. They get people and pucks to the net and they try to get those dirty goals. They got those goals again tonight, knocking pucks out of the air and a scrum in front of the net. They stuck to their game plan.”

After allowing two goals on Maine’s first four shots, Spartans goalie Jeff Lerg stood as tall as his 5-foot-6 frame permits, turning aside the Black Bears’ last 27 shots for his 25th win of the season.

Just 23 seconds into the opening period, Maine (23-15-2) got on the board when top-line wing Keith Johnson scored his career-best 10th goal. With Josh Soares battling the Spartans’ Sucharski behind the net, Soares managed to shovel a backhand pass to Johnson, who was waiting at the top of the crease. Johnson snapped off a quick shot that beat Lerg five-hole.

It was Johnson’s first goal since a 4-2 win at New Hampshire on Feb. 2 and snapped a streak of six straight games in which he’d been held without a point. Johnson helped double the Black Bears’ lead three minutes later, getting the second assist when Soares lifted a wrist shot from the high slot that sailed into the upper left corner of the net.

“We played a perfect first five minutes, and it’s tough to play perfect for a full game,” said Bishop, who hails from nearby Des Peres, Mo., and was greeted with a rousing ovation during the pre-game introductions. He finished with 29 saves in the loss.

The Spartans survived a Maine power play later in the first, in which the Black Bears’ scary good man-advantage unit moved the puck at will and fired four shots on Lerg. One key to Michigan State’s comeback was staying out of the penalty box. Maine’s power play, which was best in the nation this season, got just two cracks at the Spartans and couldn’t solve Lerg.

“They did a good job of staying out of the box,” said Johnson. “If they gave us a few more opportunities we’d probably get one, but we had our chances.”

Sparty’s comeback began with an eye-popping individual effort by second-line center Chris Mueller. Battling the Maine defense at the right side of the net, Mueller tried a backhand centering pass that deflected off Bishop’s paddle and into the air. Mueller then swatted the puck out of mid-air and through Bishop’s five-hole to pull the Spartans back within one.

“We do this a lot,” said Mueller of the comeback. “We definitely don’t want to do it a lot. But there was no panic.”

After a lengthy review to determine that the puck had not been played with a high stick, there was a buzz among sizable contingent of Michigan State fans filling one corner of the Scottrade Center, comfortable in the knowledge that the Spartans were 12-0-0 in games where Mueller had scored this season

Full extension: Maine goalie Ben Bishop dives to make a save in the Black Bears' 4-2 loss to Michigan State.

After Snavely tied the game in the second, Maine’s power play got a chance early in the third to re-claim the lead. Lerg’s most impressive save of the day came with the Spartans down a man, as he dove along the goal line to smother a Michel Leveille shot that looked like it was headed for the back of the net. Less than two minutes later Sucharski gave State its first lead, and Jim McKenzie knocked another puck out of the air past Bishop near the midway point of the third for the final margin.

“To be able to come back after letting those two early goals in shows a lot of character,” McKenzie said.

After beating Harvard for the NCAA crown in 1986, the Spartans returned to the final the next year, falling 5-3 to North Dakota in the title game played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Comley, now in his fifth season behind State’s bench, has coached in a title game more recently, guiding Northern Michigan to an 8-7 triple-overtime win over Boston University in the 1991 final. Comley’s 1980 Northern Michigan team fell 5-2 to North Dakota in that year's title game.

“I’m so proud of these kids, because nobody gave them a chance, and rightly so, and now they’ve got a chance,” Comley said. “We’ll play a team that has more talent than we have. We know that. But only two teams are playing Saturday night, and we’re one of them.”