As the final minute ticked down for the No. 10 Spartans in their 3-1 Saturday win over No. 2 Miami (Ohio), MSU head coach Rick Comley sent his five seniors onto the ice to a standing ovation from the Munn Ice Arena crowd.
Forwards David Booth, Colton Fretter and Chad Hontvet along with defensemen Corey Potter and Jared Nightingale — who were honored in a Senior Night ceremony prior to the game — capped off an emotional night with a weekend sweep against Miami (21-7-4 overall, 18-6-2 CCHA) in MSU's final regular season home game.
This means the Spartans clinched a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs as well as a guarantee top-four finish in the conference.
"It was so nice to have the opportunity to put them out there at the end," Comley said. "We have five seniors — we'll miss them badly. They've been super for us."
The weekend sweep was the first time that the RedHawks had lost two consecutive contests all season. The Spartans (19-10-7, 13-7-6), who are now unbeaten in the past seven games, are in second place in the league with two regular-season games left.
"We wrapped up home ice and that was a preseason goal for us so we've accomplished that," Comley said. "Now we have a chance to finish second and that's what we want to do.
"I don't think we've even come close to peaking yet."
Freshman forward Tim Crowder scored on a rebound at 5:04 of the opening period Friday to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead in a series that promised to be physical.
Sophomore forward Chris Mueller threw a pass to Bryan Lerg early in the second and the sophomore slammed the puck past RedHawks goaltender Charlie Effinger for the 2-0 lead.
"He (Mueller) just busted through the two defensemen with a lot of speed and I just followed up the play," Lerg said of his 12th tally of the season. "He did all the work, I just tapped it in."
Freshman forward Nick Sucharski deflected a wrist shot from Potter in the third period to put the Spartans up 3-0 and despite a late flurry from Miami, MSU skated away with a 3-2 win.
On Saturday, the RedHawks struck early when forward Ryan Jones beat freshman goaltender Jeff Lerg early in the first period.
Junior defenseman Chris Snavely tied the game on a five-on-three power play at 14:33 of the period on a slapshot from the high slot that beat Miami goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.
"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and the puck just came right to me," Snavely said of his first goal of the season.
Junior defenseman Tyler Howells put the Spartans up 2-1 at 18:12 of the second. On his next shift, Howells gained the zone and threw a pass to junior captain Drew Miller for a slam-dunk goal with 13.9 seconds left in the same period.
"I saw Miller, I just threw it there," Howells said. "I have no idea how it got through or how Miller put it through between the goalie's legs."
Miami almost made it a one-goal game midway through the third when forward Nino Musitelli skated in on a breakaway. But Lerg made one of his 20 stops of the night on the point-blank save, drawing the Munn Ice Arena crowd to its feet in applause once again. Lerg earned second-star honors for his play in the 3-1 victory.
"It's a team I still think has to get better, but I think can get better," Comley said.
"I'm very proud of them, I thought they worked their tail off. They feel good right now and they should."
The Spartans resume play Thursday night at Lake Superior before closing out the regular season Saturday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena.
