After raising the 2007 National Championship banner before the game, the Spartans came out and set a furious pace.

“I was really worried about the first ten minutes after the long, long process,” Comley said. “We played very well in the first period.”

MSU, led by the trio of junior Matt Schepke, senior Bryan Lerg and freshman Dustin Gazley, put three goals on the board in the first period.

After Schepke gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead, Gazley struck twice.

Lerg won a face-off straight back to Gazley, who snapped a quick shot that beat Colgate goaltender Mark Dekanich.

Then, with under a minute to play in the period, Gazley gathered a rebound of a Schepke shot at the side of the goal, patiently dragged it around Dekanich and gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

“I didn’t even think I had that much time,” Gazley said. “I just did it and it turned out for the best.”

But the trio wasn’t done yet, as Schepke gave MSU a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Lerg picked up his fourth assist of the night on the goal.

The move back to center paid off for Lerg, who had been playing wing.

“I just feel more comfortable at center,” Lerg said. “I think I’m more effective and I think I’ll help the team more.”

Junior forward Nick Sucharski gave the Spartans a 5-0 edge shortly after the Schepke goal, but after that, the Raiders seemed to settle down, playing MSU tough for the remainder of the contest, putting one on the board in the second period and two in the third for the final margin.

“They didn’t give up the whole game,” Lerg said. “They bounced back with a couple goals and luckily the time ran out, but overall, we played a good game and that’s what we needed.”

Junior goaltender Jeff Lerg stopped 22 shots for the Spartans.