Marquette — It was déjà vu for the MSU hockey team Saturday night.
Northern Michigan scored three goals — tallying the first goal in the first period — and blocked nearly every shot the Spartans took.
Wildcats complete sweep of Spartans, 3-0
Stewart makes 32 saves for Northern Michigan
Forward Mark Olver puts the puck past junior goaltender Jeff Lerg for the final goal of the Wildcats 3-0 victory over the Spartans. Lerg had 26 saves during Saturday’s game at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.
Except this time, the Wildcats blanked the Spartans 3-0 — stealing four much-needed points from MSU on the weekend. It was the first time MSU has been shutout since Oct. 13, 2007 against North Dakota.
“We just didn’t execute,” senior defenseman Daniel Vukovic said. “We had our chances. We didn’t execute on those chances, and they did.
“They played their game to perfection, and we didn’t play our game. We went away from our game.”
A quick MSU run in the third period boosted the Spartans, however it proved to be too little, too late.
It was the first time the Spartans had been swept on the road since February 2005 in Alaska.
“It’s a very disappointing weekend,” Vukovic said.
Northern Michigan’s Matt Siddall scored two goals on the evening, with one in each of the first and second periods. Both appeared to have been deflected off of senior defenseman Jeff Dunne. The first goal tipped off of Dunne’s stick and changed direction while the second one went off his skate.
The Spartans head back to the drawing board before a home-and-home series against Western MIchigan.
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