Sault Ste. Marie - The only constant with the MSU hockey team this year has been its inconsistency.
The Spartans (9-9-1 overall, 5-6-0 CCHA) went 3-3 in their six games during semester break, including a split at woeful Lake Superior State (4-15-1, 1-13-0) this weekend. Time and time again, the Jekyll-and-Hyde MSU squad is terrible one night and great the next. Or vice versa.
The good from the last month: A 6-2 win at first-place Ferris State on Dec. 6, a 6-2 rout of Michigan Tech Dec. 29 and a 6-0 demolition of Lake Superior on Saturday.
The bad: A 5-3 home loss to Ferris on Dec. 7, a 6-1 thrashing by Boston University Dec. 28 and a 7-1 embarrassment at Lake Superior on Friday.
It's tough to predict which MSU team will show up on any given night. But it's clear the Spartans are talented enough to beat most teams, while also being inconsistent enough to lose to anyone in the nation.
This weekend's trip to the Upper Peninsula started well for the Spartans - they led 1-0 in the first period Friday - but things quickly unraveled.
Freshman goaltender Justin Tobe let in a couple of soft goals, which deflated the team. Before all was said and done, Lake Superior had posted seven goals - its most since 1999 - and had beaten the Spartans for the first time in three seasons.
Tobe (2-4-0) allowed the first four goals in less than a period and a half. Sophomore Matt Migliaccio (7-5-1) surrendered the final three to the Lakers, who had been averaging 1.3 tallies a game.
But MSU has bounced back from shocking losses all season and, as usual, Saturday was better for the Spartans. Migliaccio made 21 saves for his second career shutout, sophomore forward Mike Lalonde scored twice, and four different freshmen contributed a goal apiece.
The Spartans out-shot the Lakers 19-1 in the first period and 40-21 for the game.
"We really gelled as a team tonight," said Migliaccio, who also shut out the Lakers on Oct. 24. "We haven't been getting good goaltending, and I wanted to solidify that tonight. They're not a pushover team."
MSU now is 2-7-1 in the first game of a series and 7-2-0 in the second game.
"We came here looking for four points - we needed four," sophomore center Jim Slater said. "To leave with two is a little bit of a letdown. If we're going to contend, we have to start getting these games on Friday nights."
Although the Spartans are buried in 10th place in the league race - 10 points out of first - there is a bright side. The Lake Superior series capped a seven-week stretch in which MSU played 10 of 11 games away from Munn Ice Arena.
The Spartans went 4-6-1 during the run, including a loss in their only home game. Now MSU is looking forward to hosting six of its next eight games, starting this weekend against seventh-place Alaska-Fairbanks.
"When you play the last-place team that doesn't have any wins, of course you're disappointed with a split," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "Obviously, the difference between the two games was goaltending. We rallied tonight.
"We've got a chance now to go home more than we travel, and maybe these young guys can pull it together a little bit and get some consistency."
