Spartans' Sensational Season: Full Recap

The Michigan State Spartans had their season cut short on Thursday night in a heartbreaking upset loss to Cornell in the national tournament. Despite the defeat, this group has a lot to hang their hats on as one of the best Spartan hockey seasons.

Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans On SI

The No. 2 seed Michigan State Spartans (26-7-4) saw their incredible season come to an abrupt end on Thursday night, falling to the Cornell Big Red (19-10-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Toledo, Ohio. Despite the defeat, this team had an amazing season filled with accomplishments.

Cornell had the final power play of the contest, scoring with just 10 seconds remaining, stunning the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Spartans were the No. 2 overall seed out of 16 teams in the national tournament, suffering arguably their biggest upset of the season.

Taking it back to the beginning of this season, the Spartans had high expectations and delivered on a large majority of those. Back in October of 2024, they split a two-game series with the Boston College Eagles, the only other team that battled with the Spartans for the No. 1 ranking.

They went on to 13 of their first 14 games of the regular season, including a 11-game win streak. They finished with the best conference record at 15-5-4, claiming the Big Ten title for the second-consecutive season. They swept one third of their conference series this year as well.

One of their biggest wins of the season came in early February at Little Caesars Arena for the '"Duel in the D," facing bitter rival, Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans posted a 6-1 slaughter, taking over downtown Detroit and hoisting the event's trophy for the second season in a row.

Conference tournament time came around and one man willed this program to a second-straight conference tournament title. Junior forward Isaac Howard earned game-winning goals in both the semifinal win over Notre Dame, and double overtime championship winner against Ohio State.

Howard earned Big Ten Player of the Year, conference scoring champion, and a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the best player in college hockey that season. Sophomore net minder Trey Augustine deserves equal credit for taking home Big Ten Goaltender of the Year.

Michigan State has claimed the past four conference trophies across the past two seasons, completely dominating Big Ten hockey. Even with their devastating loss in the opening round of the national tournament, this team still has a ton to hang their sweaters on.

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