Spartans swept at home by Mavericks

It's a pretty safe bet Michigan State will not be ranked No. 6 in the nation after last weekend's home sweep at the hands of Nebraska-Omaha.

"We've scored quickly the last three games and we haven't been able to get that second one in," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "It's funny because sometimes you play well and are confident and sometimes you don't. It's been a good stretch for us and then we've had these two games go the other way. Again, we looked sluggish, physically and mentally tired and we've got to get through this stretch."

Friday night, the Spartans dropped a 7-4 decision to the Mavericks.

The Spartans (5-2-2 overall, 2-2-2 CCHA) entered the third period down 3-2 and with hope, but three goals by Nebraska-Omaha's fourth line negated any chance of an MSU comeback.

Colton Fretter, Jim McKenzie (pictured above), Ethan Graham and Dan Sturges (first collegiate goal) scored for MSU. Goalie Dominic Vicari made 22 saves.

The game was also a homecoming of sorts for UNO forward Nenad Gajic, who played at MSU from 2001-2003.

Saturday night, Nebraska-Omaha forward Bill Thomas scored with 27.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Mavericks a 3-2 victory.

McKenzie and Chris Mueller scored MSU's goals and Jeff Lerg finished with 29 stops.

"I thought we played better tonight than last night," said Comley. "Last night was really a struggle and I thought the kids worked hard tonight. We still were very sluggish and we had some people really struggle. I thought (Jeff) Lerg played well for us in goal. It was a weird kind of game with a lot of long chips and flips. But again, I thought the kids worked hard."

Michigan State heads on the road to Ohio State tomorrow night for their fourth game in seven days. Faceoff from the Value City arena in Columbus, Ohio, is at 7:05 p.m. The Spartans then play a home-and-home with Western Michigan this weekend.