MSU Hockey Completes Sweep of Penn State with Dominant Win
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — No. 1 Michigan State dominated No. 3 Penn State during a 5-0 victory at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday evening.
MSU (7-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) led 3-0 after two periods and was able to cruise to the end. Center Charlie Stramel scored two goals and picked up two assists to get a four-point day. Trey Augustine put up a shutout, stopping all 36 shots that he faced.
This victory extends the Spartans’ win streak to seven ever since they were upset by New Hampshire during the season opener. Michigan State picked up five of six possible points this weekend, with the Nittany Lions (9-3, 2-2) getting one during the 2-1 overtime loss on Friday.
Next up for MSU is a trip to Notre Dame for two games on Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15.
First Period
After both teams struggled to find the back of the net on Friday, it only took Michigan State 2:31 to get on the board on Saturday. Charlie Stramel let a wrister go from the top of the circles that beat Penn State goalie Josh Fleming. It was Stramel’s fourth goal of the year, with assists going to Porter Martone (7) and Matt Basgall (4).
PSU got a nice opportunity on the power play not long after when Gavin O’Connell was called for interference. Star freshman Gavin McKenna hit the post while the Nittany Lions had the man advantage, and the Spartans killed it off without much other trouble.
Michigan State got its own power play chance, and got close to making it 2-0 several times. The puck felt like it was in Penn State’s offensive zone for pretty much the entire zone, which makes sense, as MSU put seven shots on net and another draw iron during those two minutes.
The two teams kept feeling each other out a bit more during the first. It wasn’t quite as fast-paced and up-and-down as Friday, but the Spartans still looked like a cleaner, more methodical team. Eventually, they struck again with 1:23 to go in the first period on a Porter Martone goal, his fourth of the year, with a great primary assist from Stramel (4), and a secondary assist from Ryker Lee (3).
Second Period
Momentum from Martone’s goal extended into the middle period a bit. The Spartans had a few 1-on-1 opportunities with Fleming and had another good-looking one-time shot that was stopped, as well.
With about eight minutes to go in the second period, defenseman Colin Ralph tossed the puck at the net from the blue line, and it snuck through. The goal was Ralph’s first of the year and just his second in 43 career games. Assists went to Stramel again (5) and Daniel Russell (4).
Both teams were also whistled for multiple penalties during the period, too. MSU and PSU played 4-on-4 two different times, and calls ranged from roughing to cross-checking to embellishment. There was even a 10-minute misconduct call on Penn State’s Lev Katzin with just 5.2 seconds remaining.
Even with some other power-play opportunities, Ralph’s goal stood as the only goal of the period.
Third Period
Penn State actually looked like the harder team at the start of the third, but some of that could have been the desperation that sets in with a 3-0 deficit. MSU and Augustine were able to stave off several early attacks to keep the ongoing shutout intact.
Michigan State, understandably content with trying to get the clock to zero, did not seem as aggressive in its attack during the third. There was plenty of aggression between whistles, though, as players from both teams were tossed for misconduct towards the end.
The Nittany Lions emptied their net with a little more than five minutes to go in a last-ditch effort to make things interesting. It didn’t work.
Stramel got his second goal and fourth point of the day with the vacated net with 4:20 to go; assists went to Russell (5) and Sean Barnhill (2). A few minutes later, Anthony Romani made it 5-zip, with assists from Russell again (6) and Basgall (5).
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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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