Clary and King Lift Spartans past Lakers

After being off for an entire month over winter break, the Lady Spartans took to the ice this weekend against the Grand Valley State University Lakers in a home-and-home series.

On Saturday, Michigan State was able to sneak away with a 5-3 victory on the road against the Lakers.

After stealing a win on the road against the No. 6 GVSU Lakers, No. 9 MSU was looking to sweep the series and start the new semester on the right foot.

Grand Valley came out strong against the Spartans and dominated the play offensively through the first two periods, outshooting MSU 27-9.

The third period was a different story.

Just over three minutes into the final period, forward Kendall Clary found the back of the net for the Spartans, lifting her team to a 1-0 lead.

“I aimed for the corner,” Clary said. “I think it went off the goalie’s shoulder, so it was kind of lucky.”

Not even two minutes later, Clary found the back of the net again for her second goal of the game. Clary skated down the left side into the GVSU zone and registered a shot on net and followed up on her rebound for a wrap-around goal to make it 2-0.

“I really don’t do wrap-arounds,” Clary said. “She was down, so you might as well go for it.”

GVSU added a late goal to make it 2-1, but the Spartans held off the Lakers for the win and a weekend sweep.

Goaltender Julia King stopped 31 of 32 shots and was the deciding factor in the Spartans’ victory.

“We have two great goalies and Julia really stood on her head today,” MSU head coach Jeff Wilson said. “Both of our goalies play great, but every now and then one of them will make a big run and steal a game for us. It was pretty much one of those games where Julia stole the game for us.”

“I did what I could for them and they did what they could for me,” King said. “It’s huge for us. We needed these wins to increase our chances of going to nationals and we’re looking to carry this momentum into the rest of the season.”


David Defever is host of Behind the Mask for Impact Sports.

Photo: David Defever/ImpactSports


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