EAST LANSING, MI – The 2022-2023 college hockey season has begun and with it, a whole new era of Michigan State hockey. Head Coach Adam Nightingale coached his first game for the green and white Saturday along with an entirely new coaching staff. Despite the 4-3 exhibition game loss to the United States National Team Development Program U-18 (USNTDP) the Spartans, who have 12 new additions to the roster and 16 returning players, showed a lot of potential. Here are three takeaways from the game. 

New faces on the MSU roster bring excitement

Tiernan Shoudy, a freshman left winger from St. Clair, Michigan, tallied a goal and an assist in his first collegiate action. Shoudy gained control of a loose puck in front of the net and shift it past USNTDP goalie Trey Augustine. Freshman right winger Karsen Dorwart also scored a goal in his first collegiate game. He took a cross-ice pass from his freshman linemate Daniel Russel and roofed it short side on Augustine. 

Michigan State is going to be resilient 

The Spartans found themselves down 4-1 after a flurry of goals late in the second period by the USNTDP, the third period was a very different story. The Spartans outshot the USNTDP 18-4 in the last frame and came within a goal of tieing the game. Nightingale said after the game, “We learned that we were resilient… and I think we could’ve easily rolled over. I thought from the second half of the game we were the better team.”  

MSU has a great goalie in the pipeline 

Trey Augustine, the starting netminder for the USNTDP, had 34 saves on 37 shots faced including a plethora of close-range rebound chances granted to MSU. Augustine had previously committed to the University of Michigan but flipped to MSU earlier this past summer and is poised to bolster the Spartans lineup in the 2023-2024 season. 

This exhibition game did not count towards MSU’s overall record as it will open regular season action at home on Friday, Oct. 7, against Bowling Green.