Prior to this season, the Spartans last saw themselves in the Frozen Four in 2001.

Anchored by the goaltending of All-American goaltender Ryan Miller, the Spartans earned a No. 1 seed and easily defeated Wisconsin, 5-1, to earn a trip to the Frozen Four in Albany, N.Y.

The Spartans got goals from five different players in the game, while going 3-for-8 on the power play.

The national semifinal game matched a defensive MSU team against the offensive North Dakota squad, which happened to be the defending national champions.

Behind two first-period goals, the Fighting Sioux were able to defeat the Spartans, 2-0, to move on in the tournament.

"I still remember the kid from North Dakota coming down the left wing, and it looked like an innocent shot, and it hit (MSU defenseman) Jon Insana's stick, and it changed direction. We were down one real quick," MSU assistant coach Tom Newton said.

Despite firing 30 shots on North Dakota goaltender Karl Goehring, the Spartans never found the back of the net.

"Every time we had a good scoring opportunity, it probably wasn't one of our better scorers that got it. It was guys that were lower in the scoring columns. Just that day, nothing seemed to go our way," Newton said.

The Spartans finished the season with 33 wins and five losses on the season.

"It was a tough game because that was a great team," Newton said.