By Matt Mackinder/Michigan State Beat WriterMichigan State made people forget about last season's debacle and finished second in the CCHA this year after beating Bowling Green on Senior Night and then tying the Falcons on the road Saturday night.
The Spartans finished one point ahead of Ferris State and will host a best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series at Munn Ice Arena in two weeks (March 12-14) after getting a first round bye next weekend.
Friday night, MSU skated to a 5-2 win on the strength of goals from Jay Sprague, co-captain Nick Sucharski, Zack Josepher, Brett Perlini and Daultan Leveille.
Corey Tropp pitched in two assists and Drew Palmisano made 13 saves in 50:40 of work and also had the second assist on Sucharski's goal. Bobby Jarosz played the final 9:20 and stopped all three shots he saw.
Then last night, the two teams played to a 2-2 tie, but BGSU earned the extra point by winning the shootout.
Chris Forfar and Andrew Rowe scored for MSU (19-11-6, 14-8-6-2 CCHA), while Palmisano finished with 32 saves.
The Spartans, who finished 10th last season in the CCHA standings and were picked to finish eighth and ninth in preseason polls, unleashed the biggest one-season turnaround in CCHA history by improving eight spots in the conference standings.
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