EAST LANSING – No. 9 Michigan State hockey opened its season on Saturday afternoon against the Lake Superior State Lakers for the first of a two-game series at Munn Arena. MSU held a rink dedication ceremony to honor Ron Mason, who served as head coach at MSU from 1979-2002, leading the Spartans to the Frozen Four six times in his coaching career.

The Spartans took the ice for the first time this season in front of a sold out crowd.

For the first time this season from Ron Mason Rink … #VictoryforMSU pic.twitter.com/liXJlC9vVE

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 8, 2023

Michigan State dominated on the faceoff front in the first period and continued to do so for the remainder of the game. “Faceoffs are crucial to playing the game,” MSU junior transfer Red Savage said after the game. “It’s always a great feeling to win draws, and we’ve been really working on it as a team.”

The Spartans opened up scoring with a goal from Muller in the remaining two minutes of the first period after dominating offensively for the majority of the period. 

MSU scored two more in the second period, the first a power play goal by sophomore transfer Issac Howard, after a holding penalty called on LSSU in the opening minutes of the period. Not six minutes later, Nienhuis secured the Spartans with a 3-0 lead leading into the later half of period two. 

Senior right-winger Tyler Williams and the Lakers quickly responded with a goal just past the midpoint of the game. With new momentum the Lakers pressured MSU’s defense and goaltender Augustine until he eventually let in his second of the period to a penalty shot taken by Lake Superior State’s Harrison Roy after a slashing call on Artyom Levshunov.

After a high scoring second period, both teams returned with a new hunger. For the Spartans it was to maintain their lead, and for the Lakers, to close the goal differential. After a period of both teams struggling to hold possession, the Spartans were eventually able to make a push into their offensive zone, where forward Red Savage was able to net a goal to give MSU a three goal lead. 

Despite valiant attempts by the Lakers to get shots past Augustine, the 6 ‘1 freshman was able to lock down the net. Eventually sophomore defenseman Viktor Hurtig was able to find Langenegger’s net with his puck to secure a 5-2 win in MSU’s season opener. 

Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale addressed MSU’s new core after the game. “We’ve got a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys, and they’ve got to keep growing their game, and we’ve got to help them, that’s our job,” said Nightingale.

“The fans out there cheering for us, it’s super nice, but it’s felt like that all the years I’ve been here,” said Muller. “The fans have been awesome, it’s just nice we can win now.”

The Spartans will look to sweep the series with Lake Superior State on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET.