EAST LANSING — Michigan State’s men’s hockey team announced Friday that its planned season finale against the Michigan Wolverines on March 10 has been cancelled.

The Big Ten Hockey Tournament had previously been rescheduled to start on March 14 instead of March 18, and the teams agreed to cancel to ensure adequate rest in line with other schools in the conference ahead of the tournament. All other teams end their regular season schedules on March 6.

The March 10 match was to be the third between the Spartans and Wolverines, rescheduled from Feb. 9 after an outbreak of the highly contagious B.1.1.7 strain of COVID-19 paused athletic activities at Michigan. 

The teams split the season series at 1-1. Michigan pummeled Michigan State 9-0 in Ann Arbor on Jan. 8 with a 44-21 shooting advantage and goals scored by nine different players. The following day, the Spartans took the match in East Lansing 3-2. MSU junior goalkeeper Drew DeRidder made 38 saves in the rematch to help the Spartans come back to win.

The Spartans (7-15-2) will now end their season with a two-game home series against No. 5 Wisconsin (17-8-1) on March 5-6.