“It’s going to be a big weekend for us, a test,” junior forward Dean Chelios said. “They’re coming in here and Michigan State has a lot more tradition than a Robert Morris would, and like (head coach Tom Anastos) said, that’s in the past. It’s a big two games for us coming up at home.”

In the previous home series, the Spartans earned an important conference split against CCHA rival Ohio State. Senior goalkeeper Drew Palmisano provided his best effort of the season to earn a 3-0 shutout. The following night, the results were very different, as late goals would doom MSU — who entered the third period tied at two — and they would fall 5-2.

As their record will indicate, there’s still plenty of room to grow for the Spartans (2-4-0, 1-3-0 CCHA) as they turn their attention to Robert Morris (2-3-0, 0-1-0 AHA) at home. Looking ahead, MSU will look to find a pair of wins in the program’s first ever meeting against the Colonials.

Although each team shares the same amount of wins early in the season, the Spartans have theirs against Air Force and Ohio State while Robert Morris has played lesser-known competition with wins against Quinnipiac (Pittsburgh) and Mercyhurst.

“This game will be a game I would think on their schedule would be an important game,” Anastos said. “They’re playing a CCHA team with a school of Michigan State’s profile. Their team will be very geared up.”

On offense, the Colonials’ leading goal scorers early in the season are Trevor Lewis (10 goals in 2010-11), Adam Brace (12 goals in 2010) and Tom Brooks (four goals in 2010). Between the pipes, the position has been split this season between Eric Levine (2-0-0) and Brooks Ostergard (0-3-0).

For the Spartans, a dominant scorer has yet to emerge on offense. Offensive diversity has been the name of the game in 2011, as the team has 10 players with at least one goal but doesn’t have any players with more than two.

In the net, Palmisano (1-3-0) is expected to see some playing time after his strong weekend showing against OSU.

“You just got to go out there and work hard and focus on what I can control, which is stopping all of the pucks I can in practice and challenging the forwards and making them better every day,” Palmisano said.