Marquette - It was a struggle all weekend for the MSU hockey team as the Spartans limped through a sweep at the hands of Northern Michigan.

The Wildcats improved their record to 7-3 over the Spartans since MSU head coach Rick Comley left the Wildcats for East Lansing.

Comley was critical of his team after the 4-1 shelling Saturday night at the Berry Events Center.

"We needed some leadership out of some older kids to get something done in a tough game, and it didn't happen," he said.

"Players just can't play well when they're scoring. I'm very disappointed in the older part of this team. I thought (senior captain Jim) Slater was good. He worked very hard. The other seniors were very mediocre. It's their turn to be the best players, and right now they're not."

Wildcats goaltender Tuomas Tarkki stopped MSU dead in its tracks Saturday as he made 37 saves. The Spartans pummeled Tarkki with 15 shots in the second period, but could not get one by him as he stood on his head late in the stanza.

"Tarkki was excellent," Comley said. "Everybody for several years said he couldn't play, but he can play."

MSU's power play was once again nonexistent, as they went 1-10 with the man advantage, while Northern Michigan converted two 5-on-3 opportunities and another 5-on-4 chance. In Friday's game, MSU went 1-12. It was a key to the game.

"The games are decided on power plays right now," Comley said. "And we don't have one."

The Wildcats' power play jumped on the Spartans early and often Saturday, as they netted two first-period goals with the man advantage.

Wildcats forward Patrick Murphy took control of a rebound and took a shot that barely squeaked past sophomore goaltender Dominic Vicari. Forwards Andrew Contois and Jamie Milam assisted.

Then, with the Spartans down two players and with just more than one minute left in the period, Milam ripped a shot from inside the point that flew past the glove of a screened Vicari for a 2-0 Wildcats lead.

MSU cut the deficit in half just 45 seconds into the third period when Slater popped in a power-play goal from junior forward Colton Fretter and sophomore defenseman A.J. Thelen.

But, any chance MSU had to mount a comeback was quickly squashed when, just less than four minutes later, Milam, on another 5-on-3 man advantage, had a near carbon-copy of his first goal, once again blowing the shot past a motionless Vicari.

Then, after an MSU giveaway, Wildcats forward Mike Santorelli put the game on ice with his second goal of the season, with less than seven minutes to go in the game.

"We need a lot of work on special teams," sophomore defenseman Chris Snavely said. "I'm sure, starting Monday, we'll hammer away at those."

In the story of the game, MSU was unable to capitalize on a five-minute major, assessed to Northern Michigan, as the game wound down to another Wildcats victory, sending the over-capacity sell-out crowd of 4,163 into a tizzy with chants of "overrated" and "warm up the bus."

"We just got outplayed," Snavely said.

"I don't want to say they wanted it more than us, but they played like they wanted it more than us. They won."

Tarkki made 37 saves for his first victory of the year, as Northern Michigan swept MSU for the first time since the 1982-83 season. Vicari made 29 saves as he fell to 1-2-0 on the year.

"You get what you deserve," Comley said. "We need some people to look in the mirror. It doesn't matter what jersey you're wearing, it's work that pays off. I thought we had a very poor effort out of a lot of players."

On Friday, the Spartans fell to the Wildcats 3-2. Fretter had another outstanding game, scoring his third goal of the year in the first period, but MSU was thwarted by Wildcats goaltender Bill Zaniboni, who made 27 saves.

MSU had a chance to tie the game after an embarrassing display of sportsmanship by the Northern Michigan fans, as they threw their "spirit shakers" on the ice, earning the Wildcats a delay of game penalty. This helped put the Spartans in a 6-on-3 advantage with less than 10 seconds to go. Fretter knocked three of his nine shots in the game on goal during this period, but Zaniboni stood tall to seal the deal.

The team returns to the ice for a weekend set with Nebraska-Omaha on Friday and Saturday at Munn Ice Arena.