The junior forward and alternate captain of the Spartans watched in agony as his team gave up high-scoring second periods on two consecutive nights to be swept out of the quarterfinal round of the CCHA Tournament by Miami (Ohio).

In the fashion of a matchup between the junior varsity and the varsity squad, the Spartans were physically dominated for six straight periods and now have the future of their season up in the air.

With a week of game action to play for many other teams across the country and the PairWise Rankings constantly shifting, the Spartans currently sit in a tie with Merrimack and Western Michigan for 14th — 16 teams are selected for the NCAA Tournament — and are forced to wait to see if their name is called to extend the season into late March.

For the time being, MSU edges out the other teams in the three-way tie by just percentage points, but that likely will change with another week to play for others and the eternal jockeying for position happening in the PairWise at the end of the season.

“If things fall in line, there might still be a shot,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “If that’s the case, we’ll continue to practice and be hopeful, you know. We want to play on.”

If the Spartans are snubbed from the NCAA Tournament — Anastos said his team is a “long shot” at this point — it will be the fault of their own for not being there.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of moral victories to take away from this season, even if the way it ended isn’t one of them. But the Spartans fumbled far too many chances to be confused if they are on the outside looking in.

Even as the Spartans overachieved for much of the season and earned a four-win improvement from a season ago, they couldn’t escape the fact that they’re an undersized and very average hockey team in a rebuilding phase. It happens to every team, and the Spartans were not one to define the exception.

Against a physically larger and more athletic Miami team, the Spartans were exposed in every facet of the game in a way that only the RedHawks were able to do this season.

“We kept competing and even though we had such a poor effort (Friday), we showed up tonight and gave it our all, which is a positive,” junior forward Kevin Walrod said. “In just a rebuilding thing for us, we try to stay positive.”

The clock hasn’t hit midnight just yet for the Spartans, and they still might fulfill a season-long mission to secure the program’s first playoff win since 2008. It could happen.

Win or lose, the team has taken a positive step in Anastos’ first season.

Next year could be tough and will test the patience of Anastos and his staff. Losing nine seniors and potentially junior defenseman Torey Krug to the NHL will test whether Anastos has the pieces to make a CCHA Tournament run in the immediate future.

This year, it just wasn’t the case.

But NCAA Tournament bid or not, the Spartans now have a fresh sting in their loins that should fuel an interesting second year under Anastos. And you can bet, they’ll be chomping at the bit for a taste of redemption sooner rather than later.

Dillon Davis is the hockey reporter for The State News. He can be reached at davisdi4@msu.edu.