BREAKING: Spartans Seal Second-Straight Big Ten Title
The No. 3 Michigan State Spartans (24-6-4) achieved history on Saturday night as they earned their second ever Big Ten regular season title while doing it in back-to-back seasons. A 5-2 road win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish would seal the deal and earn the Spartans another championship.
Going 0-1-1 in their final home series of the year against the No. 15 Penn State Nittany Lions (18-11-4) last weekend, the Spartans needed a pair of road wins against Notre Dame to clinch the conference. They outscored the "Golden Domes," 10-2 to run away with their second-straight title.
Spartans freshman forward Shane Vansaghi and junior forward Tiernan Shoudy led the charge with two goals each in game two to help complete the two-game road sweep over the Fighting Irish. Friday night featured another 5-2 final with the Spartans recording five different goal scorers.
The win improves the Spartans to a 15-5-4 conference record, earning them 50 total points. They just scrape by the pesky No. 2 Minnesota Gophers, who finished one game back of first place at 14-6-3 in Big Ten play. Minnesota plays Penn State on Saturday, but the result will not impact the Spartans.
Michigan State is just the second Big Ten program to win back-to-back conference titles as the Gophers had most recently done it from 2021-'23. They are also the only program in the state of Michigan that has won a regular season title in the Big Ten. Green and White seems to own the ice.
Junior forward Isaac Howard was the Big Ten's best player this season, leading the Spartans to greatness. In 24 conference games, Howard posted a league-high 16 goals and 17 assists for a total of 33 points. He earned three power play goals and six power play assists.
Before last season, the Spartans had seven-straight years of sub-.500 hockey. They have completely changed the face of Michigan State hockey and have become one of the marquee programs in the country. Immense credit goes to third-year head coach Adam Nightingale.
With the regular season coming to a close, the Big Ten tournament is less than a week away. The Spartans raised a conference tournament trophy last year as well, looking to occupy the past four conference championships over the past two seasons. Quarterfinals begin March. 7 on B1G+.
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