Michigan State men's hockey celebrates after a win over Ohio State in the second game of a two game series, hosted at Munn Ice Arena on Nov. 11, 2022. The Spartans defeated the Buckeyes 4-3.
Michigan State hockey proved itself a competitor not only in the Big Ten, but nationally after defeating No. 10 Ohio State 4-3, successfully completing the weekend sweep.
MSU upset OSU, 4-2, Thursday night in a nail-biting finish after struggling a bit in the first part of the game. Two different Spartans scored goals in the final three minutes of the game, while graduate transfer goaltender Dylan St. Cyr recorded 32 saves.
The Spartans got off to the best start possible Friday night, thanks to a goal from graduate forward Miroslav Mucha, less than a minute in, bringing his season total to four. The Buckeyes appeared shaken as MSU came out of the gate looking like the better team.
At the 6:39 mark, Ohio State’s Michael Gildon put one in the back of the net to get the Buckeyes on the board and tie the game, 1-1.
A pass from junior forward Jeremy Davidson allowed senior forward Nicolas Müller to put up MSU’s second goal of the night, as he skated around OSU’s goaltender Jakub Dobeš and found an opening in the lower right corner of the net.
OSU suffered a major infraction after Stephen Halliday was whistled for a contact to the head call leaving them with one less player for five minutes.
The Buckeyes were whistled a second time in the first for a roughing call on Cam Thiesing, sending the Spartans into another powerplay.
Müller was able to capitalize on the PP earning his second goal of the night, with just 4.4 seconds remaining in the first period, to put the Spartans up 3-1 at first intermission.
Fifth-year defenseman Cole Krygier was sent to the penalty box for two minutes on a holding call, causing an OSU powerplay, its first of the game. The Buckeyes were able to capitalize with Travis Treloar scoring his first goal of the game and OSU trailing MSU by one, 3-2.
Michigan State got on the board for a fourth time on the night after freshman forward Tiernan Shoudy scored an even strength goal, with assists from his line mates: sophomore forwards Tanner Kelly and Jesse Tucker. That point put MSU up 4-2 at the 8:44 mark in the second.
The Spartans kept their 4-2 lead as both teams went into the locker room for the second intermission.
The third period was rather quiet compared to the first two with neither team scoring until the 6:29 mark when Ohio State’s Davis Burnside got a high shot that flew past St. Cyr, and the Buckeyes trailed by one 4-3.
The Buckeyes opted for an empty net 18 minutes into the third to put an extra skater on the ice and try to increase its chance of tying the game. Their efforts were unsuccessful utimately, as they ultimately fell to the Spartans by one.
OSU outshot MSU 36-32 and won ten more faceoffs (38) despite losing the game. As for power plays, the Spartans were 1-4 while the Buckeyes were 1-3.
Michigan State will hit the road next week to face No. 8 Penn State, who took down No. 1 Minnesota Thursday night. Puck drops in University Park on Friday at 7 p.m.
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