In holding mixed feelings about his team’s performance Friday, head coach Tom Anastos said his team put together a much more complete effort in the win to close out the series.

“Very tough hockey game tonight,” Anastos said. “I was real pleased with the 60-minute effort of the team. We were obviously pleased with the result against what we thought was a very good team. I was real proud of how hard we played defensively tonight — that’s how we have to play to give ourselves a chance to win regularly against good teams like this.”

After a first period slugfest on Friday that included seven combined goals, Saturday’s matchup started in a much more modest fashion.

Sticking to Friday’s script, it was NMU who got the scoring going early in the first. Forward Matt Thurber sent a shot at the net that would be deflected in for a goal at 4:48 to put NMU on top.

Late in the period, it was freshman forward Matt Berry — who scored MSU’s lone goal to win the shootout and an extra point in the standings Friday — to get the Spartans on the board. At 15:48, Berry fired a shot at Wildcat goalie Jared Coreau that trickled in after Coreau made the initial save and a NMU defender inadvertently knocked it past him to knot the game, 1-1.

The scoring would subside until the midpoint in the second period. Junior defenseman Torey Krug’s shot from the slot would cause a scramble in front of the net. Krug’s linemate, senior defenseman Brock Shelgren, collected the puck and cleaned it up to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead, which would be enough to come away with the victory.

“It’s just another thing that just proves if we play the whole 60 minutes, we’re going to put ourselves in a position to win the game,” Krug said. “Guys absolutely battled the whole 60 minutes, I don’t think we had any mental lapses. … There’s no question they were working as hard as they could, and it’s just a testament to how hard we work.”

In a game where offense can be the biggest ally, the Spartans found a way to grind out a defensive struggle and pick up five points on the weekend against a physically opposing Wildcat roster. A night after the Spartans gave up three critical goals late in periods, MSU’s defense locked down the Wildcats to stave off a late rally and pick up a victory on its home ice.

“The third period was great for us defensively,” said sophomore goalie Will Yanakeff, who made 23 saves in an strong effort. “In zone, it’s one thing we’ve been stressing the past couple of weeks is the defensive zone. I think it’s been paying off. The third period, they didn’t have that many shots, you had guys blocking shots and moving guys out from in front of the net. The third period was great.”

Next up for the Spartans comes a rematch with another CCHA opponent with Lake Superior State. Earlier in the season, the Spartans were swept by the Lakers, and the team will look to pick up a pair of victories and continue the team’s ascent in the CCHA standings.