“I think at that point you just have to bear down and we had that second shift there and we knew we had to create something,” Hirose said. “Even if we didn’t score, we had to create something to get the next line to score to build momentum off of. It was good to get the win tonight.”

In the second period, freshman forward Mitchell Lewandowski put the Spartans up on the board to create a lead for his team. Later on in the period, he would scored another goal to make it 2-0.

On his second goal, he got help from his linemate Hirose who got an assist on the second goal. 

“For the second one, we were coming out of the zone and Taro made a really nice play,” Lewandowski said. “Going on a 2-on-1 I have to be open for Taro so he can make those plays and such.” 

Lewandowski is currently leading all freshman in the country in goals and points with eight goals and eight assists. This week, he was the Big Ten third star of the week. 

The freshman plays along with Hirose and sophomore forward Patrick Khodorenko who head coach Danton Cole compared to some of his former players back at the USANTDP. He likes the way they move the puck and he knows they work well as a unit.

“It’s a lot of fun to watch them play,” Cole said. “It’s a bit contagious.”

Before the win, the first line produced 45 percent of the team’s current points this season. Tonight, Hirose and Lewandowski both had goals and all three players had an assist.

To Lewandowski, he believes that the line works so well because they play the same style of hockey.

“The way we play we want to hold on to the puck and that was a hard team to hold on to the puck to just because they play so far up on the blue line,” Lewandowski said. “We kind of switched it up a little bit. We haven’t dumped puck like we like to, but it all worked out in the end.”

During the second intermission, the team honored the 2007 National Championship team for their ten year anniversary since they last won the title. Former players and staff were announced after watching old highlights leading up to the championship win against Boston College.

For Cole, he honoring the championship team felt great and his team would end the game in a similar style the champions were used to.

“They played a lot of games that we’re kinda like that,” Cole said. “Maybe that was a fitting way to end the game tonight.” 

The Spartans will head to Big Rapids to take on Ferris State for a 7:05 puck drop where they look to take the series to look for their first win on the road. 

Hirose thinks if the team can play a full 60 minute game, then the team can come out with a win to improve their road record. Heading into Ferris State’s arena will give them another push.

“We have a young team and playing in these rinks, I know Ferris is probably going to be packed tomorrow and they are going to be all over us, so I think it will be a good atmosphere for us,” Hirose said. “We’re really looking forward to getting that first road game win.”