April 11, 2008

Denver, Colo. - Junior goaltender Jeff Lerg (Livonia, Mich.) added to his impressive list of career accolades on Friday when he was named a Second Team All-America by the American College Hockey Coaches Association. Lerg is the 44th Spartan to earn All-America honors, and earned the program's 52nd all-time honor. Lerg is the first MSU player to earn the honor since Jim Slater and AJ Thelen also earned second-team honors in 2004.

Lerg was joined on the second team by defenseman Chris Butler of Denver and Alec Martinez of Miami and forwards Chad Kolarik (Michigan), Ryan Lasch (St., Cloud) and Chad Rau (Colorado College). The first team all-americans from the west included goaltender Richard Bachman (Colorado College), Tyler Eckford (Alaska) and Jack Hillen (Colorado College) at defense, and Ryan Jones (Miami), TJ Oshie (North Dakota) and Kevin Porter (Michigan).

Lerg was the first team All-CCHA selection by the coaches and was a Hobey Baker finalist this season as well. He backstopped the Spartans to the NCAA Regional Final for the third straight season, and compiled a 2.22 GAA (18th nationally) and ranked ninth among all goaltenders in save percentage (.926). He ranks second in the country in saves, and is among the top 15 goaltenders in saves per game (27.6) - one of just three netminders among the country's top 15 in that category to play on a team with a record over .500.

Lerg was also one of five finalists for the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, given annually to the top amateur athlete in the United States. He has been named to the NCAA All-Tournament team at three of the four NCAA Tournament weekends he has participated, being named to the All-Tournament team at the 2007 Frozen Four and 2008 West Regional, and earning MVP honors at the 2007 Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids.

Lerg backstopped the Spartans to a 25-12-5 overall record in 2007-08, which included a third-place finish in the CCHA regular-season and the NCAA West Regional final in Colorado Springs.