The Spartans (1-2 overall) returned from a west coast trip that saw losses to California on Friday and Stanford on Monday evening. The team got their lone win against Pacific on Sunday, 7-0.

Head coach Helen Knull said team conditioning, or lack thereof, was a major factor in the weekend losses.

“Three games in four days is a lot of hockey, a lot of games, and our fitness showed throughout the weekend,” Knull said. “We have a lot of players who played a lot of minutes.”

The players also acknowledged a lack of fitness during the weekend.

“It was definitely a challenge, but I think it’s good to know where you are at the beginning of the season,” senior midfielder Kristen Henn added. “Coming out of preseason, you should be in really good shape and it definitely showed that it’s something that we need to work on.”

In their first game, MSU led the game 1-0 until the final four minutes, when California scored a clutch goal of its own. The Spartans proceeded to lose, 2-1, in a penalty shootout.

As MSU faces an opportunity to pull above .500 this weekend, Barker hopes that the team will use the last two losses as a learning experience.

“It was definitely a tough test physically and mentally,” Barker said. “We came out with one win, which is always good. It was pretty tough, especially the two games on two games right on the end.”

MSU will face Syracuse at 6:15 p.m. Friday, followed by an 11 a.m. game against Monmouth on Sunday.