Big Rapids - After a convincing 6-2 win over first-place Ferris State on Friday at Ewigleben Ice Arena, MSU players and coaches asserted they have turned the corner on their season.

"I thought we played really well," sophomore left wing Kevin Estrada said. "It's really starting to click for us right now. We had a tough schedule to start the season, so I think it's going to be a good year the rest of the year for us."

Those statements came moments after the Spartans (7-6-1 overall, 4-4-0 CCHA) dismantled the ninth-ranked Bulldogs on the road. Freshman right wing Colton Fretter scored his first two collegiate goals and sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio made 36 saves for the win.

Ferris (11-4-0, 9-2-0) comes to Munn Ice Arena for the second game of the series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

MSU looked quicker than it had all year, generating 44 shots on goal. Ferris goalie Mike Brown, who came into the game with a 1.86 goals against average, allowed all six goals.

"Scoring makes you feel so much better," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "We got to Brown a little, and it was a very good road win. We're working hard and getting rewarded.

"I think the transition's over - I really believe that. I feel very comfortable behind them on the bench, and I think they're comfortable with me."

Friday's penalty-free first period had a frenetic, pinball-like feel in Ferris' tiny rink.

But despite a slew of rushes both ways, nobody scored until Fretter tallied his first career goal with 10.4 seconds left in the first period. Sophomore left wing Brock Radunske carried the puck behind the net and centered it to a wide-open Fretter at the top of the crease. From there, Fretter one-timed the puck between Brown's legs.

MSU took a stranglehold on the contest with a four-goal spurt in the second period. Fretter notched his second goal of the game at 1:53 by depositing the rebound of a shot from junior defenseman Brad Fast past Brown.

Estrada then chipped in his first goal of the season at 5:17. A loose puck squirted to Brown's left, where Estrada was lurking. There, the hard-luck forward easily lifted the puck under the crossbar to put MSU up 3-0.

"Relief," Estrada said. "It's been a long time coming. I've been working hard in practice, and I finally got a bounce and I ended up finally putting one away.

"It was a rough start, but it's good to see Colton and myself getting into the action offensively because that's what we were brought here to do."

The Spartan lead swelled to four when Fast ripped a shot from the point that deflected off a Ferris player and over Brown at 10:25. Fast leads the team with seven tallies, but the goal was his first since Oct. 25.

"I couldn't tell you how it went it," Fast said. "All I did was put it on net and it hit a bunch of guys in front and went over Brown's shoulder."

Just 97 seconds later, the Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard. Center Mike Kinnie notched his eighth goal of the year, by flicking a rebound past a way-out-of-position Migliaccio.

MSU struck back when sophomore forward Mike Lalonde, skating in on a 2-on-1 with sophomore center Jim Slater, connected on a pretty one-timer from the slot. That made it 5-1 late in the second.

The Spartans' final goal was a solid individual effort by freshman left wing David Booth at 6:35 of the third. During an MSU line change, Booth attacked the Ferris zone by himself against two Bulldog defenders. His initial shot from the left circle was stopped by Brown, but Booth got his own rebound and beat Brown with a backhand for his sixth goal of the year.

Neither team had a power play until midway through the third. On Ferris' only man-advantage opportunity, center Jeff Legue was credited with a goal that

MSU center Lee Falardeau appeared to put into his own net.

On the play, Migliaccio made a save, but he didn't realize that the puck wound up under the butt of his stick near the goal line. As Migliaccio searched for the puck, Falardeau came in and tried to knock it out of the way, but accidentally pushed it in to make it 6-2 with 10:16 to play.

The Spartans didn't convert on either of their power play chances Friday.

Personnel: Freshman defenseman Evan Shaw replaced injured freshman defenseman Corey Potter (shoulder) in the lineup Friday. On the official line chart, Shaw was with freshman Jared Nightingale on MSU's third defensive pairing.

But Shaw played only four shifts in the first period and none in the second. He returned to action late in the third when MSU had the game in hand.