The win gave the Spartans their first weekend sweep since March 1, 2008.

“We are going to be in a lot of close games with our young team,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “We had chances to get going and we hurt ourselves with some avoidable penalties. It was a little bit sloppy that way, but it was a hard-fought opening weekend that gives us something to build on.”

The Spartans (2-0-0) went 2-for-6 on the power play, upping their weekend total to five power play goals. MSU took eight penalties tonight and only allowed Clarkson to capitalize once with the man-advantage.

The Golden Knights got on the board first and took their first lead of the weekend series 1:49 into the first period. Clarkson defenseman Mark Borowiecki took a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that beat MSU senior goaltender Bobby Jarosz to his blocker side.

But the Spartans responded at 7:13 in the first period on the power play when freshman forward Derek Grant charged into the Golden Knights’ zone and played a drop pass to senior forward Nick Sucharski. Sucharski took a high wrist shot from the top of the slot to tie the game at 1-1.

The Golden Knights again took the lead at 14:29 of the first frame on the power play. Clarkson forward Louke Oakley took a slap shot from the right side through traffic that found its way into the net.

When the Spartans were on the penalty kill with under two minutes remaining in the first period, junior forward’s Andrew Rowe and Dustin Gazley sprang free on a 2-on-1. Rowe took the puck low and passed it straight across the crease to Gazley, but Clarkson goaltender Paul Karpowich made the save.

At 3:25, MSU tied the game at 2-2 on the power play. Junior defenseman Jeff Petry took a shot from the point and Grant was able to find the rebound and bang it home.

The Gazley-Rowe connection almost banked on another shorthanded opportunity five minutes into the second period. Gazley sent Rowe a lengthy stretch pass that sprang Rowe on a breakaway. Rowe took a low wrist shot that Karpowich was able to stop with his right pad.

The Spartans took their first lead at 9:36 of the second period when sophomore forward Daultan Leveille flew down the right wing and received a cross-ice pass from Petry. Leveille walked in and released a quick shot in the top shelf of the net to give the Spartans the 3-2 lead.

At 4:29 in the third period, Jarosz was run into his own net and there was confusion on whether the puck went into the goal. The light didn’t go on and the referee immediately signaled no goal, yet the play was reviewed. When the referee left the penalty box after reviewing the play, his first move was to extend his arm and point into the Spartans defensive zone – a move that resembled the sign for a goal. The Clarkson bench started celebrating but quickly discovered that the referee’s signal actually meant no-goal, and the faceoff was to be in MSU’s defensive zone.

“We could hear them, so we knew it wasn’t a goal,” Comley said. “But the signal certainly was confusing.”

At 7:31 in the third period, the Golden Knights got on the scoreboard for real and tied the game at 3-3. The puck bounced around the slot and Clarkson forward Matt Beca fired a quick snap shot into the net.

Then it was time for the freshmen line to take over. At 17:11 freshman forward Zach Golembiewski took a shot and Forfar was waiting at the side of the net to clean up the trash. The puck bounced up in the air and Forfar swatted in into the net. The referee immediately called it no goal, but after reviewing the play, overturned his call and said Forfar’s stick was under the crossbar.

Although the call went upstairs, Forfar was confident he had scored the game-winner.

“I can’t take too much credit,” Forfar said. “I was just being lazy at the side of the net and my linemates were doing all the work. I ended up being in the right place at the right time and my linemates did a good job getting the puck to the net.”