On Friday night, the Spartans were able to record the first goal of the game, but only 15 seconds later Northern Michigan answered to tie the game and never gave up the lead again en route to a dominating 5-3 victory over MSU at Berry Events Center.

Northern Michigan now leads the best-of-three series 1-0.

“That was a killer,” Comley said of giving up the vital one goal lead right away. “If you get the lead and play with it for a while then that helps you.”

After the Wildcats tied the game up, they went on a tear and scored three more goals before the Spartans could get back on the board.

Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle said his team did an excellent job of generating traffic in front of MSU senior goaltender Jeff Lerg.

“You have to generate shots to have any chance to score on Lerg,” Kyle said. “And you are probably going to have to score on second chances or third chances. We were able to do that.”

The Spartans (10-22-5 overall) now have to win back-to-back games if they are going to extend their season. MSU has only won four games away from Munn Ice Arena all year.

A bright spot for the Spartans on the night was their special teams – as they went 2-for-7 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. It was the first time the Spartans scored two power play goals in a game since Oct. 17 against UMass-Lowell.

But the overall theme of the game was the Spartans inability to clear the puck in the defensive zone to alleviate the Wildcats pressure which came in waves throughout the game.

“We have to work on getting it out of our end,” freshman forward Daultan Leveille said.

“We can’t get trapped in there for more than a minute because they will get two changes to our one and it wears us down. It’s a bigger sheet so we have to work more in our end.”

On the Spartans’ first power play of the night, freshman forward Brett Perlini netted his second goal of the season to give MSU the 1-0 lead.

Perlini won the faceoff in the offensive zone to set up the Spartans power play and after some cycling of the puck, Perlini was able to corral a rebound off Northern Michigan goaltender Brian Stewart and smack it home.

“(Sophomore defenseman) Jeff Petry got a good shot through and I was able to get a good bounce right on my stick,” Perlini said. “Then I just buried it.”

But only 15 seconds later, the Wildcats responded and tied the game back up.

Northern Michigan defenseman Ben Lindemulder took a wrist shot from the high slot that deflected off the stick of MSU junior forward Jay Sprague as he tried to block the shot. The deflection threw off Lerg, who was expecting a high shot. Instead, the puck stayed low to the ice and before Lerg could react it was by him.

The Wildcats continued to buzz in Spartans zone for the rest of the first period and eventually took the 2-1 lead at 17:50.

Northern Michigan’s Blake Cosgrove took a shot from the left circle that was tipped by a Wildcat teammate in front of the net. Lerg made the initial save, but Northern Michigan’s Tyler Gron was there to clean up the trash and slam the puck home.

Two minutes into the second period, Lerg kept the Spartans in the game by making a spectacular blocker save on a Wildcats deflection from the right hash mark.

But at 15:05 Northern Michigan’s leading goal scorer Mark Olver gave the Wildcats a two goal lead.

Northern Michigan’s Gregor Hanson took a wrist shot from the right boards through traffic. Lerg made the save but Olver came streaking in from the left boards and tapped in the rebound which laid behind Lerg to his right.

Then the Wildcats pushed in the dagger.

While shorthanded with only 17 seconds remaining in the second period, Northern Michigan’s Billy Smith sprung lose on a breakaway. He pulled off a double move and beat Lerg to his glove side.

Kyle called the goal “huge” for the Wildcats because it allowed them to go into the second intermission with a comfortable three goal lead.

Although the Spartans were down three, they continued to battle in the final frame.

It took senior forward Kurt Kivisto two tries, but he eventually brought the Spartans back within two goals with just under 15 minutes left to play.

On Kivisto’s first try, he made his way around the net and tried to elevate the puck on Stewart. When Kivisto fanned on the attempt, he kept his head up and freshman forward Ben Warda was able to send the puck back to him moments later at the right hash.

Kivisto didn’t make the same mistake twice, and instead of going for the deke, he fired a perfectly placed wrist shot over the shoulder of 6-foot-4 Stewart.

Just when it seemed the momentum might be going in favor of the Spartans, the Wildcats again responded on a deflected shot off the stick of Northern Michigan’s Jared Brown to take a 5-2 lead at 10:51.

The Spartans fought hard in the dwindling minues and outshot the Wildcats 9-7 in the third period.

At 19:12, during a delayed penalty call on the Wildcats, Leveille lit the lamp for the Spartans to bring the game back within two.

But it was too little, too late for the Spartans.

The horn sounded and Northern Michigan took the pivotal first game.

“We had a lot of kids work hard,” Comley said. “You can’t fall behind and we know that. But I thought we battled in the end and played better in the third so we can build on that tomorrow.”

The two teams will meet again, with the Spartans’ season on the line, at 7:35 p.m Saturday.