MSU hockey coach Rick Comley knows his team is in need of wins, not to mention some goal production from players other than those with "Slater" stitched on the back of their uniform.

In four games, MSU has notched nine goals - five coming from junior captain Jim Slater.

The Spartans (1-3-1 overall, 0-2 CCHA) enter the weekend in a home-and-home series against Western Michigan (2-1-1, 2-1-1) starting at Munn Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Saturday's contest in Kalamazoo has been bumped back to 8:05 p.m. because of the Broncos' 2:30 p.m. football game against Marshall.

With no wins in CCHA play, the Spartans not only have been dropped from the national rankings, but they rest at the bottom of the conference - the bigger of the two offenses.

But the Spartans still stick with the idea that there is enough talent in their lineup to boost their position in the conference standings and build confidence toward their preseason goal of CCHA contention.

That's why some changes were made in practice this week. Comley has asked his players to press more on defense and skate closer to the net in scoring sequences.

"We're kind of caught between a tight spot now, because you don't want to give up goals because we're not scoring goals," Comley said. "So we've tried to almost tighten up defensively a little bit and stress the urgency for guys to spend more time near the net. Because I think when you're not scoring, you need to play near the area where you're going to get goals."

The moral - there is a sense of urgency around Munn. With very few games away from the Spartans' home ice - 12 away and 4 neutral, to be exact - complacency is a suspect involved in the lack of goals seen in the season's youth, Comley said.

Junior goaltender Matt Migliaccio said unlike MSU, where most fans hold the title of season ticket-holder, Lawson Arena's main demographic is made up of students, who take pride in their seats with rowdy behavior and thundersticks.

"It's going to be hostile, so we need to go in there and understand they're going to be fired up to play in their own place," Migliaccio said.

But Saturday's road contest could cure the comfortable feeling the young MSU team has the right to enjoy.

"I think (road games) are good for you for one thing," Comley said. "I think it brings you together as a team - you're in a hostile environment. Sometimes there's too much of a comfort zone being in your own environment, so I think Saturday's game will be a healthy game for us."

Still, the Spartans see the CCHA standings each day they walk through their locker room. They're dead last.

"We know we need to get things going and we don't want to be there," junior forward Mike Lalonde said.