No. 2 MSU Hockey Upset by New Hampshire in Season Opener, 4-3
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EAST LANSING — The second-ranked Michigan State hockey team opened its season with a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss against New Hampshire on Thursday night, as UNH’s Marty Lavins scored a game-winning goal with 5.2 seconds left.
The Spartans outshot the Wildcats 37-26, but fell short in several other categories. New Hampshire had more blocked shots, faceoff wins, and 15 fewer penalty minutes.
"Tough start to the year, for sure," MSU head coach Adam Nightingale said after the game. "I thought the crowd was great.
"I thought it was a pretty normal start of the year. Hockey was a little bit helter-skelter. I thought the second we kind of got to our game --- but, give UNH credit --- I thought they did a lot of good things. I thought they were heavy at the puck, competitive in front of their net, and did a heck of a job."
It was a chaotic day in college hockey in general. The Spartans are not the only team to be upset by an unranked foe. No. 1 Western Michigan lost to unranked Ferris State and No. 4 Penn State fell against Clarkson.
Game Recap
Freshman Anthony Romani was the one who started things off, getting a great look off passes from Gavin O’Connell and Maxim Strbak during a power play. That put MSU up 1-0 with 8:28 left in the first period. Romani is a 2024 sixth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks and is one of 15 draftees on the Spartans’ roster.
The Wildcats had a quick response to that. UNH’s first goal of its season came just a few minutes later, when captain Morgan Winters, who was the one in the penalty box during Michigan State’s first goal, deflected one over MSU goalie Trey Augustine’s glove on New Hampshire’s own power play.
UNH really caused trouble in this one. The Spartans had more shots on goal throughout the game, but the Wildcats were better at blocking shots, face-offs, and were much better at avoiding penalties.
Just 24 seconds into the second period, Winters struck again to give the road team a 2-1 lead.
Michigan State center Charlie Stramel was able to level things at two apiece with just over 12 minutes left in the second period off. Porter Martone, the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, picked up his first collegiate point on that play with a secondary assist. The 2-2 deadlock remained into the third period.
With about 14 minutes to go in the third period, MSU junior defenseman Patrick Geary received a five-minute major penalty and received a game misconduct for cross-checking. About mid-way through the penalty, UNH converted and took a 3-2 lead when Cy LeClerc got one past Augustine right near the crease.
Even though the Spartans weren’t able to convert on a minor power-play chance shortly afterward, Michigan State got a big equalizer from Tommi Mannisto with 4:21 left. Assists went to Sean Barnhill and Tiernan Shoudy.
After that, MSU seemed like the one in control and with the momentum, having a couple of chances in the final minutes, but New Hampshire had the final possession with the puck as time ticked away. The Wildcats got some cracks at it near the net, and one deflection away from Augustine behind the net was enough of an opportunity for UNH’s Marty Lavins to put in the game-winning goal with 5.2 seconds left.
Michigan State and New Hampshire will play the second game of their series on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be available for streaming on B1G+.
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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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