Anthony Romani Has Turned Into the Spartans’ Elite Scorer

The Michigan State Spartans are currently riding a three-year streak of winning the Big Ten regular-season title. However, this season seemed more in question than ever after the Spartans were depleted of players who joined their NHL teams and prepared for the next chapter of their careers.

Michigan State brought in a litany of young, talented players who were expected to take the nation by storm and help lead the Spartans back to where they belonged and beyond.

As good as the freshmen have been, it’s the wily veterans returning to the team who have truly helped lift the Spartans, most recently in a massive Halloween night victory over the No. 8 North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

Of those veterans making noise for the Green and White, one player in particular has stepped up in a massive way.

Sophomore Anthony Romani.

The Spartans were in need of a new sharpshooter after last year’s freshman phenom, Porter Martone, left to play for the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL. But who would step up in the Green and White and take over as the team's go-to goal scorer? Well, Romani has taken it upon himself to fill that role, and it’s been paying dividends.

Through six games played, Romani leads the team with seven goals (1.167 goals per game). The next-highest player is part of a five-way tie with two goals, meaning Romani has nearly quadrupled the production of anyone else on the team. On the same note, you can’t score if you don’t shoot the puck, and that has been easy for Romani, who leads the team with 27 shots on goal so far (4.5 shots per game).

Romani has added three assists as well, which ranks him in a three-way tie for fourth on the team. Once again, he leads the Spartans in total points with 10 (1.67 points per game).

His seven goals are good enough to rank him tied for fifth in the entire nation. However, among all the players with as many or more goals than Romani, he is the only one to have played just six games. Needing less time to accomplish what others have done in more games proves just how elite Romani has been and how impressive his numbers could be when the season is all said and done.

Romani also ranks third in the Big Ten in goals this season, while his 1.17 goals per game ranks second in the nation. The only player ahead of him is Michigan’s Jayden Perron (1.25), who has 10 goals through eight games, also leading the nation.

Michigan State has been leaning on Romani to help guide the team through the early part of the season while the influx of freshmen who joined the Green and White find their footing. Luckily, it seems Romani is more than willing and excited to be the player the Spartans can lean on.

With seven goals through the first six games and the nation's second-best goals-per-game average, Romani is proving to be more than just an elite scorer for the Spartans. He is establishing himself as one of the most elite goal scorers in the nation.