EAST LANSING – The Michigan State Spartans leave the 59th annual Great Lakes Invitational as champions, earning their 14th GLI title in their 50th year of participation.
The field saw Michigan State, Ferris State University, Miami (Ohio) and Michigan Tech, which have appeared in every GLI since the tournament started in 1965. The University of Michigan has the most titles in GLI history with 17. However, the Wolverines have not participated since 2021, when they forfeited before playing Western Michigan due to health concerns. With Michigan not present in the 2025 field, the Spartans had another chance to claw away at the Wolverines’ lead.
Night One
On Sunday night, the Spartans took on the Ferris State Bulldogs in the first round. The Spartans were heavy favorites heading into this contest, as the Bulldogs had recorded only four wins in 18 games played so far this year.
Michigan State started off strong, scoring just under eight minutes into the first period. Junior defenseman Patrick Geary fired a shot from the blue line, and freshman forward Cole Burke, in his first game as a Spartan, was able to deflect the puck into the net to give Michigan State a 1-0 edge.
Shortly after, freshman forward Anthony Romani intercepted a puck in the Bulldogs’ zone and had a free lane to Ferris State’s net. After a nice move against sophomore goaltender Martin Lundberg, Romani slid the puck into a wide-open net to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Michigan State set the tone early in the second period, with senior center Charlie Stramel scoring on a tip-in off a shot from senior forward Daniel Russell. Ferris State pulled Lundberg after Stramel’s goal and turned to junior goaltender Hobie Hedquist for the remainder of the game.
Minutes later, senior forward Tiernan Shoudy found himself winning a race for a puck deep in the Bulldogs’ zone. Shoudy quickly passed the puck across the slot to an open junior forward, Tommi Mannisto, who put a nice move on Hedquist and scored to give the Spartans a 4-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs weren’t done yet, however, as junior forward Carter Rapalje was able to deflect a shot from senior forward Gavin Best past junior goaltender Trey Augustine to make the contest 4-1 with time winding down in the second period.
The third period was quiet until senior forward Josh Zary scored a power-play goal early on. This goal was the 30th power-play goal of Zary’s career, which leads the nation. The Bulldogs were right back in the contest, as the Spartans now had only a 4-2 lead with over half of the period remaining.
The Bulldogs’ offense halted despite having momentum, leading to a frustration penalty that put the Spartans on the power play. Stramel tacked on a power-play goal off an assist by Romani and senior captain Matt Basgall to give Michigan State a 5-2 lead.
Head coach Adam Nightingale had praise for Augustine and Stramel after the game. “Ferris did a really good job and made it hard on us and obviously had some chances where Trey (Augustine) had to make some saves,” Nightingale said. “Charlie (Stramel) really drove us in the game, and I think that’s one of the things he’s done a heck of a job here.”
Night Two
With a victory over Ferris State, the Spartans moved on to face Michigan Tech on Monday night after its victory over Miami for the championship game.
The contest remained quiet throughout the first period, with both teams failing to find the back of the net through the first 20 minutes. Michigan State left the period with a 14-10 shot advantage and a 15-5 advantage in faceoffs and dominated the Huskies in time of possession.
The game remained even until Romani was able to deflect a shot from sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph past junior goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead halfway through the second period.
With two minutes left in the period, junior defenseman Patrick Geary put a shot on net and raced after the puck to collect a rebound to try again. Before he could, Stramel poked at the puck with his stick and was able to sneak it by Bartoszkiewicz to give Michigan State a 2-0 edge.
Just a few minutes into the third period, Michigan Tech had a sloppy giveaway behind its own net that Romani collected before firing to an open Stramel in the slot. Stramel, on one knee, fired a one-timer past Bartoszkiewicz while sliding to finish off a pretty 1-2 play. Stramel and Romani celebrated in front of a strong Spartan crowd after a great weekend from both players.
The Huskies weren’t throwing in the towel just yet, however, as sophomore forward Carson Latimer was able to tip a shot in from senior defenseman Jack Anderson to make it a 3-1 contest.
Michigan Tech was quickly running out of time and had no choice but to add an extra skater with a few minutes remaining. They could not break through, however, as Mannisto was able to intercept a pass at the blue line and skate ahead past the Huskies’ back line to slot an empty-netter and give the Spartans an insurmountable 4-1 lead.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Spartans celebrated their 2025 GLI title, going back-to-back for the first time in more than three decades.
Augustine, Romani, Stramel and Geary were all named to the GLI All-Tournament Team. Michigan State also swept the Big Ten Three Stars of the Week honors, as Augustine earned Second Star of the Week, allowing only three goals through two contests, and Romani earned Third Star of the Week after a four-point weekend.
Stramel was named the 2025 GLI MVP and Big Ten First Star of the Week after scoring four goals in two games over the weekend and dominating the faceoff dot with a win percentage of .605.
The Spartans will look to three-peat at the 2026 Great Lakes Invitational, with a field including Notre Dame, Western Michigan and Michigan Tech.
Michigan State will continue play on Jan. 4, taking on the U.S. National Team Development Program in an exhibition match at Munn Ice Arena.
