Going into the weekend, the No. 8 MSU hockey team's major question was whether or not it could keep up its solid play with all of the injuries it has suffered.
After 10 goals and two completely different styles of wins, the Spartans walked away from their weekend series against No. 14 Northern Michigan with an answer.
"Our confidence is growing with each game," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "We had two very good wins this weekend and we will only continue to get better."
After a hard-fought 5-4 overtime victory on Friday night, the Spartans (5-1-1 overall, 2-0-1 CCHA) came out Saturday and took control from the start on their way to beating Northern Michigan (5-3-0 overall, 2-2-0 CCHA), 5-0, and completing the weekend sweep.
On Saturday, the Spartans were given a five-minute power play midway through the first period when the Wildcats were called for checking from behind.
After having a goal disallowed a minute into the power play, MSU came right back when senior forward Colton Fretter fired a shot from the point that beat goalie Bill Zaniboni.
"The early (power play) put them into a hole and made them play from behind, something they are not used to doing," Comley said.
The Spartans found the net two more times in the second, including sophomore forward Zak McClellan's first collegiate goal.
"It is a great feeling to be able to go out there and contribute to this team," McClellan said. "Hearing the rest of the guys say that we are helping out is one of the best feelings to have."
After the Spartans scored their third goal, Northern pulled starter Zaniboni in favor of Derek Janzen. He did not have much more luck, as the Spartans got him for two more goals in the third period.
Junior forward Drew Miller notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season on the power play just two minutes into the third.
Freshman forward Tim Crowder finished the scoring for the Spartans with his fourth goal of the season with just over three minutes left.
MSU junior goalie Dominic Vicari only faced 15 shots on the night and credited his teammates in front for limiting Northern's offense.
"Anytime you have guys putting their bodies on the line for you, it makes your job 100 percent easier," Vicari said. "They don't have the equipment that I wear and they always come back with bumps and bruises. It shows a lot about our team and their willingness to go down and block shots all the time."
The Spartans blocked 18 shots on the night and outshot Northern, 21-15.
MSU also held the Wildcats to no goals on eight power play opportunities, while converting two of their own five.
"Our special teams really won this game for us tonight," Vicari said. "Northern had a lot of opportunities tonight and our penalty kill shut them down."
Friday night did not go as smoothly for the Spartans.
The Wildcats took a 3-1 lead into the third period after scoring two power play goals in the first two periods.
The third period saw all the momentum change though, as MSU started the period on the power play and got the game to within one goal just 52 seconds in.
Junior forward Chris Lawrence got the equalizer midway through the third, and senior defenseman Corey Potter scored 30 seconds later to give the Spartans their second lead of the night.
Northern would tie the game and sent it into overtime, where Crowder took a pass at center ice, got in behind the defense and beat Zaniboni to give MSU the win.
"Northern has given us some trouble the past couple years," Miller said. "So it was great to come out here and get a sweep and put that behind us."
