Road To Frozen Four Still Open for State

If it's NCAA Tournament time, it's time for goaltender Jeff Lerg to shine. The Spartans leaned on their net-minder and beat Colorado College 3-1 to advance to the regional final vs. Notre Dame tonight at 10 p.m. ET (8 p.m. MT)

Facing a tough test on the road in Colorado Springs in the NCAA tournament, the Michigan State hockey squad prevailed 3-1 over Colorado College. This will be the third consecutive year the Spartans have advanced to the regional final.

Jeff Lerg was the hero on the night, making 41 saves and putting on the kind of display that catapulted the Spartans to a national championship last season. His career goals against average in hockey's big dance is 1.42.

Lerg kept the Green and White in the game while the Spartan offense found their legs. The Green and White were out-shot 12-2 in the first period, but soon began to bury CC. Forward Tim Kennedy lit the lamp first just before the halfway mark in the game, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

Then the Green and White let loose. As the second wound down, defenseman Jeff Dunne upped the score to 2-0 with just under two minutes remaining. Soon after, forward Chris Mueller put the game out of reach with seven seconds remaining, making the score 3-0.

Colorado managed to erase their own goose egg with a third period goal from Derek Patrosso, making the score 3-1, but could not pull any closer.

Michigan State has a great opportunity to move onto the Frozen Four as they face CCHA rival Notre Dame, a 4-seed that upset the 1-seed New Hampshire. The Spartans were 1-0-1 against the Fighting Irish during the regular season. The puck drops tonight at 10 p.m. ET (8 p.m MT).