At a time of year when the MSU hockey team is in dire need of a sweep, the Spartans were only able to take three of the available four points their home weekend series had to offer against Lake Superior State.

In a season where goal scoring has been hard to come by for the Spartans, they were able to score a total of 10 goals in the series. The only problem was that eight came in Friday's game, making goals a rarity again Saturday.

After a satisfying 8-0 blowout in Friday's contest, including a hat trick off the stick of freshman forward Bryan Lerg, the Spartans (13-11-2 overall, 8-9-1 CCHA) faced off against a more physical, more determined Lake Superior team the next night and were only able to salvage a 2-2 tie.

"It was a hard fought game," MSU head coach Rick Comley said of Saturday's game. "It's a tough league, it's tough week-to-week and you're always expected to win as we all know, but the kids tried hard.

"We weren't as sharp, we tried to make it happen too quickly sometimes, and they trap a lot and do some things that make it hard and that's how they've played all year."

MSU started Saturday similarly to the previous night, scoring quickly into the game when senior forward Ash Goldie scored a power-play goal, but the tally was matched by Lake Superior (7-13-4, 6-7-3) and the Spartans found themselves deadlocked at two heading into the third period.

The Spartans came close in the closing moments of the third when senior forward Mike Lalonde was denied, and MSU came even closer when senior captain Jim Slater fired a turnaround shot in the high slot with six seconds left, only to have goaltender Jeff Jakaitis flash his glove, sending the game to overtime.

Despite a rare overtime power play, the closest MSU was able to come to a game-winner was a crossbar hit by junior forward David Booth.

Although the Spartans took three points in a series crucial in the CCHA standings, sophomore defenseman A.J. Thelen called the inability to sweep "disappointing."

"Nobody is coming out of here with smiles," Thelen said. "It's just disappointing.

"We're always harping that we got to do better and we got to come out of here and we got to get four points, and I mean it's just not going our way - and it just sucks."

After allowing eight goals the previous night between Lakers goaltenders Jakaitis and Matt Violin, Jakaitis bounced back Saturday, earning first-star honors for his 31-save performance.

Booth, who sat out last weekend because of sickness, made his presence felt in his return to the ice, scoring a pair of goals Friday and tallying one on Saturday.

The additional three MSU points are good for fifth place in the current CCHA standings, but the series remains bittersweet in the minds of the Spartans.

"You can't have the mentality that three points is better than two points," Booth said. "You have to go for four points every weekend. Every weekend, four points is the bottom line from now on."

The Spartans return to the ice Friday in a break from conference action, when they play an exhibition contest against the U.S. National Under-18 team.

Source: CCHA