It was a difficult weekend of play for the MSU hockey team as the Spartans were unable to pick up any points on their trip to Alaska-Fairbanks and were swept courtesy of the Nanooks for the first time in history.

After a heartbreaking 6-5 overtime loss Friday, and a 1-0 loss the next night, the Spartans are left in a tough spot in the CCHA standings, where they are tied for eighth place, and would have to go on the road for the playoffs if the postseason were to start today.

"We play hard, we work hard and the positive is that we're not going to quit playing," MSU head coach Rick Comley said after Saturday's game.

"The one thing we've done all year is play hard. I thought they played hard up here, and they certainly played well enough to win last night (Friday), and they did again here tonight (Saturday)."

The Spartans (13-13-4 overall, 8-11-3 CCHA) jumped out to a 2-0 lead Friday on goals by sophomore defenseman Ethan Graham and freshman forward Jim McKenzie, but then surrendered five unanswered goals, giving the Nanooks a 5-2 lead in the third period.

MSU was able to mount a dramatic comeback and set an MSU record in the making when freshman forward Bryan Lerg and junior forward David Booth scored five seconds apart, cutting the Nanooks' (11-12-3, 10-11-3) lead to one.

MSU junior forward Colton Fretter scored the equalizer at 10:26 of the third, but the Spartans fell into overtime when Alaska-Fairbanks forward Ryan McLeod beat MSU sophomore goaltender Dominic Vicari for the game winner.

Unlike NHL hockey, no point is awarded to each team just for getting to overtime.

"I think if you're going to take a team into overtime, you should get at least a point," Graham said. "But you have to deal with it."

Following Friday's offensive explosion, goals were scarce Saturday, in a much more defensive game.

The lone goal came when Nanooks forward Jared Sylvestre followed a fluke bounce in front of the net and batted the puck out of midair past Vicari.

Despite several chances throughout the entire game, the closest MSU was able to come to finding the back of the net were two goal posts hit by Graham, as goaltender Wylie Rogers stood tall for the shutout, stopping all 39 shots fired by the Spartans.

Aside from making the long journey to Alaska and adjusting to the Olympic-size ice surface and the four-hour time difference, the Spartans still were hampered by illness.

"I think overall the guys went through it really well and played as well as they could for how they felt," sophomore forward Drew Miller said. "It's good (for the series) to be over and go on home and regroup for next weekend."

MSU will return to action this weekend battling Ohio State in a two-game series at Munn Ice Arena.

Source: CCHA