MSU Hockey Beats Ferris State, Reaches GLI Championship Game
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The three-week hiatus didn't seem to cause that much rust for Michigan State hockey.
No. 3 MSU looked strong against Ferris State on Sunday, brushing aside the Bulldogs, 5-2, during the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids. The Spartans will face Michigan Tech on Monday at 7 p.m. ET to try and clinch back-to-back GLI titles for the first time since the program won four straight from 1997-2000.
Michigan State got a stellar performance from senior forward Charlie Stramel. He scored two goals and dished out an assist for his second three-point performance of the season (the other being four against Penn State on Nov. 8). The Spartans also got two points each from freshman forward Anthony Romani (one goal, one assist), junior defenseman Patrick Geary (two assists), and sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph (two assists).
This victory improved MSU to 13-4-0 overall on the season. Ferris State dropped down again to 4-15-0. The Spartans' next opponent, Michigan Tech, rose to 11-6-2 on the year after beating Miami (OH), 5-2, earlier in the day Sunday.
More on Sunday's Game
The result of this game was never in much doubt. Michigan State had quickly jumped out to a multi-goal lead at the first intermission and netted the game's first four goals before Ferris State had any sort of response.
What should also be noted is that MSU is playing this weekend without several of its top skaters due to the ongoing IIHF World Junior Championships. The absences include top goal-scorer Porter Martone, who is captaining Canada, Ryker Lee (USA), Shane Vansaghi (USA), and Eric Nilson (Sweden).
Those players off playing World Juniors opened up spots for those who normally don't play to see ice time. It did not take long for Michigan State to get something out of one of those players.
Cole Burke, in his MSU debut, drew first blood at 7:41 in the first when he deflected in a shot from Geary that came from near the blue line. That's a heck of a way to start one's time in college and a way to impress your coaches.
First career appearance in the Green & White? First career goal for Cole Burke!
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) December 29, 2025
We lead 1-0 in the first period pic.twitter.com/TvbcJxBzQh
Romani made it 2-0 less than a minute later. The Vancouver Canucks prospect showed some slick moves on the play, evading the outstretched sticks of multiple Bulldog defenders, and then did the same to the goalie.
Just 35 seconds into the second, Stramel got his first of two goals after he and Daniel Russell went back and forth to one another before an opportunity right in front of the net materialized. Tommi Mannisto made it 4-0 a few minutes later after Tiernan Shoudy found him on a nice backhanded pass from behind the net.
Ferris State scored the next two goals to trim the deficit in half. One was late in the second, and another came on a power play in the third period. That only temporarily made things interesting until Stramel got that second goal on MSU's own power play when he capitalized on a rebound from a one-timer from Romani.
That was that in the scoring column, as the Spartans did what they were supposed to do as a national title contender against a team entering at 4-14-0.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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