The team overcame Boston University, Notre Dame, Maine and the Eagles on the road to victory. And they were looking to do the exact same this year by taking down the Terriers and the Cornell Big Red en route to a national title. 

The goal was to return to St. Louis 18 years later and claim the title after a 26-6-4 Big Ten season, back-to-back regular season titles, and tournament championships.

After a strong first and second period, MSU faltered in the third as Cornell mounted a strong push. The Big Red kept the puck in their offensive zone, firing shots and capitalizing on the only power play of the game with 1:39 left. Sullivan Mack’s goal sealed the 4-3 win for Cornell.

"I thought we did a lot of good stuff. I thought we weren’t surprised at all, I knew what we were getting into," head coach Adam Nightingale said. "I thought that was as solid as we played for about 53 minutes. I thought we controlled a lot of the play, we had some opportunities to extend the lead."

The downside of single elimination

Junior defenseman Matt Basgall, a key figure on MSU’s power play and penalty kill, took a tripping penalty that ultimately allowed Cornell to win. It was just his fourth penalty all season.

In single-elimination games, anything can happen. You can face a goalie having their best or worst night, a team off its game for the first time all season, or a team letting emotions take over.

The Spartans played some of their best hockey in the first two periods. MSU held Cornell off the shot count until the 12-minute mark of the second period, playing strong defense and backchecking hard. But in the third, the Big Red fired 12 shots on goal and controlled the offensive zone for most of the period.

"We needed to settle down a bit," junior forward Daniel Russell said. "We were chucking pucks around too much and needed to be a little heavier on pucks. Obviously they had a power play and made a good play and they scored."

And though MSU finished the Big Ten season with five trophies to count for it with wins at the Duel in the D, the Great Lakes Invitational, the Frozen Confines the conference regular season and the Big Ten tournament, MSU fell short in the trophy game that mattered most. Though it is tough to understand for players, coaches and fans, the sting of the loss goes away with time and the appreciation of the regular season will be one that continues to stick.

"I got into coaching 18 years ago and that took me 30 seconds to understand that I don’t really care what anyone thinks," Nightingale said. "I care about the guys in the room and I told the guys I’m super proud. They’ve done everything we asked. We won the GLI, got a chance to play for six trophies this year, won five. This is the one we really wanted and obviously fell short."

High expectations, game in and game out

While the loss came at the worst possible time, eliminating MSU from the chance to hoist another trophy, the Spartans still hold high expectations — and will continue to do so as long as Nightingale is at the helm. The standard remains the same for current and future players. 

"All of our guys on the team, it’s a high standard," Nightingale said. "Expect to be great in the classroom, expect to be great in the community, expect to do things the right way, expect to be a team guy, expect to lose yourself in the team. That’s our standard and that’s how we recruit."

MSU knew after last season’s finish they’d be the hunted team. Though the chip remained on their shoulder after their 2024 NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan, Nightingale knew the expectations for this season. The Spartans worked hard to be the last team standing — but they fell short.

"These guys have put a ton into it, a ton of sacrifice. This year was a little bit different for our group. I think last year we snuck up on some teams and this year wasn’t the case," Nightingale said. "I think we were picked to finish first in our league, we did that, we ended up winning our conference tournament and we had a target on our back the whole year."

Though the season came to an end in the one-and-done game against the Big Red, the team knows that their regular season was a special one at that and Nightingale, his coaching staff and his squad know one thing going into next season.

"We’ve still got room to grow," Nightingale said. "...Like I said, we will be back."

While the season ended earlier than hoped, the Spartans’ strong performance and growth throughout the year sets a promising tone for the future.