Michigan State Survives Wild Battle with UConn, Advances to Elite Eight with 2-1 Win

The Michigan State Spartans men’s hockey team held on for a gritty 2-1 win over UConn in a wild, high-pressure battle Thursday, punching its ticket to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans will now face the winner of Wisconsin and Dartmouth, who square off Thursday night.

And make no mistake — this was not a clean win for Michigan State. If anything, it was an adversity win.

For 60 minutes, UConn brought wave after wave of offensive pressure, and the Spartans struggled to ever fully control the puck or dictate the pace. But at the end of the day, hockey only asks one question: who put more pucks in the net? Michigan State answered it.

For the first time all season, the Spartans allowed 40-plus shots, as UConn outshot MSU 42-22. But when you have the best goaltender in the nation in net, sometimes that’s enough.

Trey Augustine was sensational.

The Red Wings’ second-round pick looked every bit like a future pro, but before he gets there, he has one job left in East Lansing — and Thursday was another huge step toward finishing it.

Michigan State had already been waiting a while to get back on the ice after its early exit in the Big Ten Tournament nearly two weeks ago. Then, before the game even started, the wait got even longer when a piece of plexiglass had to be replaced, delaying puck drop by about 20 minutes.

But once things finally got going, it was chaos from the jump.

It was electric right away.

Both teams came out flying, playing with pace and edge. Bodies were being thrown early, including one massive hit on Ryker Lee that sent him crashing to the ice. Augustine had to come up with a huge save early on a hard-charging UConn chance, and the game was getting chippy before it was even five minutes old.

The biggest issue for Michigan State in the first period was discipline.

The Spartans looked like they had moved into the penalty box and signed a lease. UConn got three separate power plays, meaning MSU spent more than a quarter of the period killing penalties. To their credit, the Spartans did a solid job containing the Huskies on those chances, but eventually the pressure cracked through.

Right after UConn’s second power play ended, the Huskies kept the momentum rolling. Augustine made the initial stop, but a rare rebound kicked right back into danger and UConn buried it into a wide-open net for a 1-0 lead.

That felt big in the moment.

But late in the period, Michigan State finally got a power play of its own — and Ryker Lee made sure it counted.

After getting absolutely rocked earlier in the period, Lee responded with one of the nastiest goals you’ll see all tournament. He carried the puck behind the net, turned the corner at the last second, pulled it back in tight, and flipped it over the goalie’s left shoulder in one ridiculous motion.

It was vintage Ryker Lee. He’s been a magician with the puck all season, and he put the full bag on display there.

Just like that, the Spartans tied it 1-1, and both teams headed into the locker room right back where they started.

The second period picked up right where the first left off — with Michigan State marching straight back to the penalty box.

Again, though, the Spartans survived.

In fact, right after another successful kill, MSU nearly flipped the game completely. Daniel Russell jumped a pass and got loose on a breakaway, only to be slashed on his way in. That led to a penalty shot, but Russell was denied as the UConn goalie stuffed it with the right pad to keep the game tied.

At the halfway point, UConn held a 23-10 shot advantage, and frankly, Michigan State did not look comfortable.

Outside of one burst on the power play, the Spartans looked overwhelmed. They were getting out-hit, out-skated, and pushed around for long stretches. At times, it looked eerily similar to the Ohio State loss in the Big Ten Tournament.

But again, Michigan State had the best answer possible in net.

Augustine was absurd.

It didn’t matter what UConn threw at him — point-blank looks, traffic, rebounds, chaos — he kept turning it away. He was stacking up saves like a man trying to drag his team into the next round by force.

Then came the swing.

Michigan State got another power play chance, and just like in the first period, it cashed in. A bad UConn turnover led to a beautiful feed from Tiernan Shoudy to Porter Martone, and the freshman phenom did the rest.

Martone, while nearly parallel to the ice and dropping to a knee, somehow one-timed it home for his 25th goal of the season.

It was a ridiculous finish from the Spartans’ leading goal scorer and point producer, and suddenly Michigan State had a 2-1 lead.

You could feel the air start to leave the arena.

Still, in a one-goal game, the next goal always feels like the biggest one.

And Michigan State kept making life harder on itself. The Spartans took yet another penalty before the period ended, giving UConn its fifth power play through two periods. That is usually a pretty reliable way to lose a tournament game.

The chaos kept building. Chances kept coming. But Augustine kept answering.

With under two minutes left in the period, both teams ended up taking penalties, setting up 4-on-4 hockey to close things out. It only added to the exhaustion and pressure Michigan State was already dealing with.

The third period opened with urgency.

UConn knew its season was down to 20 minutes, and it played like it. The Huskies were throwing everything they had at Michigan State — pucks, bodies, pressure, desperation.

And for a while, the Spartans had almost nothing offensively.

Michigan State went eight full minutes before recording its first shot on goal of the third period. It simply could not generate much of anything at 5-on-5, and once again Augustine was being asked to play superhero.

He did.

Eventually, around the halfway point of the period, the Spartans finally started to settle in. For really the first time all game, they were able to control the puck for stretches, create chances, and make UConn defend instead of attack.

That mattered.

As the clock bled into the final minutes, UConn’s desperation only grew. Every scramble, every rebound, every weird bounce felt dangerous. But every time the Huskies created something chaotic, Augustine was there making save after save — the kind of saves that make you wonder if he’s even from this planet.

Alien-level stuff.

UConn pulled its goalie with two minutes left and made one final push. Then, with just three seconds remaining, the Huskies got one last desperate chance and jammed the puck toward the middle of the crease.

But Augustine slammed the door one final time.

Ballgame.

Michigan State survives, wins 2-1, and moves on to the Elite Eight.