RedHawks sweep MSU during weekend play

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When the No. 15 MSU hockey team was swept by Lake Superior State earlier in the season, Tom Anastos wasn’t pleased. But considering the team had the benefit of only two weeks of practice in a new system under a new coach, Anastos could deal with it.

That was then, this is now.

After being swept by Miami (Ohio) 2-1 in overtime on Friday and 4-0 on Saturday, Anastos and the Spartans are licking their wounds after being physically dominated at both ends of the ice in the weekend series at Munn Ice Arena.

“We got humbled in every phase of the game — offensively, defensively, blocking shots, winning one-on-one battles, physical toughness, special teams, goaltending — every phase of the game,” Anastos said. “So I give all the credit to Miami, and we have to learn from the experience and use the experience to get better.”

Coming off a 2-1 loss in overtime that came on a goal by forward Jimmy Mullin on Friday, the Spartans viewed Saturday as an opportunity to salvage the weekend and the start of a six-game home stand. After all, the Spartans competed stride-for-stride with Miami for nearly three periods before losing junior defenseman Matt Grassi to a concussion after a hard hit in the middle of the final frame of regulation.

However, the story of the series between the Spartans and Miami was a bottled microcosm of the first two periods of Saturday’s game.

The Spartans had four powerplay chances in the two periods — 13 total on the weekend — and were unable to convert any of them for goals. Not only did the Spartans not score, but the team managed only single-digit shot totals in each period of the game and managed to find very few legitimate scoring chances.

“Obviously we were a little frustrated not being able to bury in the first period with all of the chances in the first period,” senior defenseman Brock Shelgren said. “We were confident we were going to get one, (and until) we got one, we would continue going for it.”

Conversely, the RedHawks — who had just one powerplay goal in eight chances this weekend — found the back of the net on a five-on-three in the second period to open the flood gates and send MSU into the third trailing by a goal. Miami would add three more in the third period to send the Spartans home empty-handed for the weekend.

“We give a lot of credit to the Miami penalty kill. They did a great job of shutting us down there for a bit,” senior forward Trevor Nill. “We need to get more shots on net and make sure we have a better net presence. There were a couple of pucks that we left laying there in the crease, and that comes down to mental toughness as well.”

The losses drop the Spartans’ record to 11-9-2 and 6-7-1-1 in conference play, with rematches upcoming against Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State.

Earlier in the season, MSU split with the Wildcats in Marquette, Mich., and found similar team struggles on the powerplay — no goals in seven chances on the weekend. After swallowing the facts of the series with Miami, Anastos said his team has plenty to work on.

“In any game when you get as many opportunities as we had on the weekend and come away with nothing that’s just not going to be good enough — it leads to lots of frustration,” Anastos said.

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