The 2026 NCAA men’s hockey tournament got underway Thursday afternoon with Flyers prospects Porter Martone and Shane Vansaghi and the Michigan State Spartans taking on the UConn Huskies. UConn controlled much of the play and finished with a 42-22 edge in shots, but goals from 2025 first-round NHL draft picks Ryker Lee and Porter Martone, combined with a 41-save performance from Trey Augustine, were enough to lift Michigan State to a 2-1 win.
With the victory, the Spartans advance to the regional final, where they’ll face the winner of Wisconsin vs. Dartmouth.
Michigan State 2, UConn 1
The Spartans found themselves in penalty trouble almost immediately, as Cayden Lindstrom was whistled for an early cross-checking minor. The penalty helped UConn settle into the game, and after controlling much of the play over the next 10 minutes, the Huskies got another chance on the man advantage when Eric Nilson was called for tripping. Michigan State successfully killed off both penalties, but UConn opened the scoring shortly after the Nilson penalty expired.
What looked like a harmless rush quickly turned dangerous when Joey Muldowney fired a shot off Augustine that bounced directly to Tabor Heaslip, who was left with an empty net. It was a pretty bad rebound for Augustine to give up, but it turned out to be his only mistake of the game as he was incredibly sharp the rest of the way — and needed to be.
Things got worse for Michigan State later in the period when Lindstrom took his second penalty, this time for checking from behind, giving UConn a huge opportunity to double the lead. Unlike their earlier power plays where the Spartans largely locked things down, the Huskies generated several quality looks this time, with the best coming on a cross-crease one-timer from Alexandre Blais. But they couldn’t solve Augustine, who bounced back well after a tough break on the opening goal.
After successfully killing off all three penalties, the Spartans earned their first power play when Ethan Gardula was called for roughing, and Michigan State’s always-dangerous man advantage went to work. After a couple of missed chances, Lee tied the game with a slick individual effort.
The most entertaining man in college hockey!
Ryker Lee ties it up at 1-1 on the power play!
Tune in now on ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/Me6tqv0k78
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 26, 2026
After it looked like Lee might be forced out of the zone, he managed to turn back and turn what could have been a clear into a game-tying goal. The Nashville first-rounder has put together an excellent season and may end up being one of the steals of that draft class. Martone picked up the primary assist on the play.
Aided by three first-period power plays, UConn held an 18-8 edge in shots through 20 minutes. It wasn’t only the penalties driving this, either. The Huskies were legitimately the better team for most of the opening frame.
The second period played out much more evenly, though Michigan State once again found itself shorthanded early. This time it was Charlie Stramel heading to the box for goaltender interference, but another strong penalty kill kept the game tied.
A dangerous turnover right in front of Augustine nearly broke the deadlock, but the Spartans netminder came up with two huge saves on a pair of grade-A chances. After the whistle, coincidental slashing minors sent the game to four-on-four, and Michigan State quickly took advantage of the extra open ice. Martone jumped on an attempted drop pass and connected with Tiernan Shoudy for the Spartans’ second goal of the afternoon.
Porter Martone takes advantage of the UConn turnover and scores his 25th of the season to give us a 2-1 lead!
Tune in now on ESPN2! pic.twitter.com/MOaqrZWtuO
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 26, 2026
After the giveaway on the intended re-group, Martone found Shoudy entering the zone on the opposite side. The Huskies lost track of Martone as he drifted into position for a one-timer, and Shoudy was able to deliver a pass right back to him.
The Spartans were forced to kill yet another penalty later in the period when Gavin O’Connell was called for hooking, but Michigan State actually generated the best chance during the sequence. Daniel Russell was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway, though Tyler Muszelik came up with the stop. Even so, the bigger story, and maybe the story of the game, was that the Spartans’ penalty kill had gone a perfect five-for-five.
The third period opened with another push from the Huskies, who out-shot the Spartans 7-0 through the first nine minutes. However, a hooking penalty to Jake Richard gave Michigan State a chance to get its offense going. While the Spartans didn’t convert, they generated plenty of pressure that continued after the power play expired. In the middle of a long offensive-zone shift, Vansaghi got a look from the high slot, but his shot was blocked.
UConn pulled its goalie with just over two minutes remaining, and on the ensuing faceoff, Vansaghi nearly hit the empty net from the defensive zone, but his long attempt drifted just wide. Tommi Mannisto then won a race to negate an icing and had a chance at the empty cage, but his shot also missed. Another long-range attempt from Russell failed to find the net as well, but the missed opportunities didn’t come back to haunt Michigan State, as Augustine and the Spartans held on for the one-goal win.
Martone’s impressive season continued with the game-winning goal and the primary assist on Lee’s first-period tally. While Michigan State as a team had plenty of issues with penalties, it was encouraging to see Martone stay out of the box while still playing with the edge we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him.
With the win, Michigan State moves on in the NCAA Tournament and will face the winner of Wisconsin vs. Dartmouth. No Big Ten team has won the national title since the Spartans did it back in 2007, a drought they’ll now try to end themselves.
