Game 15 – Michigan State University vs. Florida International University

Michigan State Univeristy opened up a 6-0 halftime lead and coasted to an 11-5 win over Florida International University at the 2006 National Collegiate Club Championship Tournament hosted by Miami University (OH).

The Spartans put the game away in the first period as Jon Haga (6:38), Evan Perry (6:05) and Dan Liebling (3:10) scored even strength goals before Perry tallied a man-up goal for a 4-0 lead.

Michigan State inched the lead out to six goals by the end of the second period as Haga scored on an exclusion at 3:04 and Perry finished off a natural hat-trick with a goal at 1:05 for a 6-0 halftime lead.

Liebling tallied back-to-back goals at 6:37 and 5:20 to open the third period and give the Spartans an 8-0 lead, but the Golden Panthers pounced for three goals over the remaining five minutes of the period as Jason Casanova (3:28), Danny Martinez (2:45) and Chris Arias (00:15) found the back of the cage with shots to pull Florida International back to within five goals with seven minutes to play.

MSU responded as Matt Schaffer (6:14) and Perry (5:35) scored at even strength in the fourth period for a 10-3 lead as FIU would get no closer than six goals the rest of the way.

Between the pipes, Jared Swider made two saves for Michigan State as the Spartans will continue the tournament at 9:50 p.m. on Saturday, November 18 in a showdown for a spot in the national title game versus the winner of a matchup between the University of Arizona and the University of Texas.

For Florida International, Alex Martinez registered 14 saves as the Golden Panthers will face the loser of the Arizona-Texas game at 7:30 p.m. with a berth in the fifth place game at stake.

Team
1
2
3
4
Final
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
0
0
3
2
5
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
4
2
2
3
11

MSU Goals: Dan Liebling (4); Evan Perry (4); Jon Haga (2); Matt Schaffer;

FIU Goals: Chris Arias (2); Jason Casnova; Danny Martinez; Alex Mendoza

MSU Goalie Saves: Jared Swider (2)

FIU Goalie Saves: Alex Martinez (14)

Ejections: MSU 8, FIU 6

Sprints: MSU 2, FIU 2

FIU's Alex Mendoza defends against a Michigan State player