Niagara didn’t make either poll, and it will travel to East Lansing this weekend to take on MSU.

But after getting swept in the opening weekend by Minnesota and getting outscored 12-2 over the span of two games, MSU senior defenseman Matt Grassi said the team is in no position to take another team lightly.

“Regardless who we’re playing this weekend, whether it’s Niagara or we’re playing Boston College, our game needs to be better in almost every aspect ­— from goaltending to defense to offense,” Grassi said. “I don’t really think our opponent this weekend really matters because we haven’t earned it where we can even have the thought in our head that ‘Oh, this is a lighter team.’”

Senior forward Chris Forfar joked that a good thing about being a hockey player is they all have bad memories, so Minnesota already has been pushed to the back of their minds.

Although head coach Tom Anastos said this weekend will be a different matchup than last series, he doesn’t expect any game to be an easy win.

Some of that might be due to the fact that so many new faces make up the MSU roster this season — 10 freshmen and two transfers, and MSU still is figuring out a way to gel.

“I think our team is finding our way of putting the pieces together,” Anastos said. “We’re going to have to scratch and claw against everybody that we play to win games all season. I don’t think anything will come easy, and I don’t think our team will anticipate anything will come easy.”

The series will be the first between the two opponents.

Niagara currently is coming off a 1-1-1 start to the season, with a tie against Bowling Green, 10-2 loss to Colgate and 2-1 win over Mercyhurst.

This weekend also will be one of MSU’s few homestands during the first half of the season — 10 of its first 16 games are on the road.

“You have to perform well; you have to make it a tough place for an opponent to win,” Anastos said of home games. “For us, I think that’s really important to establish in the culture. Last year, we were pretty good at home, and we have to build on that … there’s an expectation that if somebody comes here, they’re really going to have their hands full to beat you.”