MSU sweeps No. 2 Miami at home

Michigan State earned a huge sweep of first-place Miami last weekend at Munn Ice Arena and in the process beat the No. 2 team in the country.

Tyler Howells, named the CCHA's Defensive Player of the Week Monday, tallied a three-point night (goal, two assists) and classmates Chris Snavely (pictured) and captain Drew Miller added goals to propel MSU, then ranked No. 10, to a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Miami on Saturday night.

The win closed out a sweep of the RedHawks and the Spartans (19-10-7 overall, 13-7-6 CCHA) clinched a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs. Miami had already clinched the top seed in the conference playoffs, while MSU is battling with Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha for the second seed. MSU currently sits in second place with 32 points.

"It was a very good series and we feel good about it," said Spartans head coach Rick Comley. "We played so well for two periods last night and tonight it was more up and down, but we persevered. Again, we're still getting better and I think we're moving the right way."

Bryan Lerg added two assists for MSU while Jeff Lerg stopped 20 shots in net.

The previous evening, Tim Crowder, Bryan Lerg and Nick Sucharski scored in a 3-2 victory. Jeff Lerg made 18 saves and had his shutout broken in the third period by brothers Matt and Nathan Davis.

"Miami's a good team, but we didn't expect to lose," defenseman Corey Potter said. "We didn't sit back and play defense. We took it to them."

The Spartans, now No. 5 in the country, wrap up the regular season this weekend with a two-game series against Lake Superior State. LSSU hosts Thursday's game at 7:35 p.m., while the teams will play the second game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday.