The game lacked flow for both sides, as 40 penalties were called, most of which came from scrums that took place after the whistle.

Plus, it didn’t help the Spartans that the RedHawks power play caught fire and converted on 3-of-6 opportunities.

With Miami’s power play being so dominant, sophomore forward Corey Tropp admitted the Spartans have to find a way to stay out of the box and not take worthless penalties.

“For our team instead of going in (the scrums) after every whistle — unless they are running (senior goaltender Jeff Lerg) – we need to stay out of it,” Tropp said.

MSU head coach Rick Comley said his team played well throughout the first period, but lost their concentration in the second.

“I thought we started OK then the special teams obviously took over,” Comley said. “It’s just a team you can see that doesn’t have a lot of confidence and if things start to go bad then it just snowballs.”

The four goal spread was the biggest loss for the Spartans all season but Comley thought his team had a lot of chances but couldn’t seem to get the puck past RedHawks goaltender Cody Reichard.

Comley credits Miami for physically dominating his Spartans – something he said will have to change tomorrow night.

“I thought they competed better and they were stronger,” Comley said. “There’s a lot of work to do.”

The Spartans scored their lone goal of the night halfway through the first period. Senior forward Dan Sturges layed on a hit that took out two Miami defenseman directly to the left of the net and caused the puck to bounce out to the top of the crease. Senior forward Matt Schepke picked it up and dragged it to his backhand to beat Reichard.

Fourteen seconds later, though, the RedHawks tied the score on a goal that was reviewed by the officials. Miami forward Jarod Palmer tried a wrap-around on Lerg and the puck ramped off Lerg’s blocker and went above his head. As Lerg scrambled to try and find the puck, it found its way across the vacant goal line off a light shot from Pat Cannone.

MSU was on the power play with five minutes left in the period when it
appeared the Spartans had taken the lead. Freshman forward Andrew Conboy received a pass and made an aggressive move to the net. Conboy was unable to get a shot off, but the puck slid under Reichard when Conboy crashed into him. The referee immediately called it no-goal and Conboy was sent to the penalty box for charging the goaltender.

Immediately after exiting the penalty box, Conboy found himself in the back of the net again. After a tape-to-tape breakout pass to sophomore forward Dustin Gazley, Conboy charged to the net looking to receive the pass back from Gazley. But he had his stick lifted and once again plowed into Reichard.

The RedHawks took the 2-1 lead on the power play two minutes into the second period when defenseman Ray Eichenlaub fired a shot from the point that made its way through a crowd in front of the net. Lerg had the angle cut, but the puck had eyes as it whizzed over his left shoulder and into the top shelf of the net.

Brian Kaufman gave the RedHawks the two goal lead with 5:03 left in the second period. Lerg had to leave his net to make a play on the puck to prevent a RedHawks breakaway. However, Lerg was unable to clear the puck from the top of the circles and it went right to Kaufman who played a backhand that beat Lerg as he was trying to get back into the net.

Tropp thought this goal was when the wheels fell off for the Spartans.

“It was a flukish goal,” Tropp said. “And I think after that we stopped battling (after that).”

Just over a minute later, the Spartans fell behind by three goals. The RedHawks were on the power play and found Justin Mercier wide open in the slot. Mercier took a hard wrist shot that beat Lerg up high.

The Spartans had a great chance to get a goal back 22 seconds into the third period. Senior forward Tim Crowder received a cross-ice pass from senior forward Nick Sucharski and fired a shot that appeared to be a sure goal. But Reichard went post-to-post and snagged the puck with his glove.

The RedHawks extended their lead to 5-1 with 10:51 left in the second period when Andy Miele was left open in front of the net. When the puck came to Miele, he made a quick move past Lerg and slid the puck into the net after brining it to his backhand.

Tropp said he is happy that the Spartans will get right back on the ice tomorrow to try and put forth a better showing against a team they will see three more times this season.

“I wish we could start the game right now,” Tropp said. “I think everyone in our locker room has that competitive nature. No one likes losing and we just have to work harder (tomorrow).”

Saturday’s game is set for a 7:05 p.m. start at Munn.