No. 4 Michigan State welcomed No. 2 Boston College for an early season top five showdown in the Spartans home opener for the 2024-25 season.
Friday's home opener marked the 50th season for MSU hockey at Munn Ice Arena. Former players and coaches from the first MSU team to play at Munn were honored before the game.
While the Spartans already played their first series of the season last weekend, sweeping Lake Superior State, this was Boston College’s first game of the season.
As for the game, the Eagles defeated the Spartans 3-0 courtesy of a three-goal second period.
Both teams went scoreless in the first period with impressive defensive stops on both ends. Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale expressed his concern about how the Spartans could’ve come out stronger to start the game.
“Early on, it looked like we wanted to be cutesy and that’s not our game, there’s a time and a place,” Nightingale said. “We’re a blue-collar hockey team and if we try to play white-collar hockey, we’re not that good of a team.”
The Eagles came out strong in the second period with two goals by sophomore forward Will Vote to open the period. In the waning moments of the period, junior forward Oskar Jellvik scored to cap off a three-goal period for the Eagles which was ultimately the deciding factor in the game.
In the third period, MSU created some chances with nine shots on goal, but Boston College’s defense was just too much for the Spartans.
“I liked our response in the third (period)," Nightingale said. "I thought we started to get to our game a little bit. Give BC some credit. They did a really good job making it hard on us and putting us in tough spots. It’s an opportunity to learn and grow from our group.”
Red Savage, the captain of the Spartans, addressed what the message was in the locker room during the second intermission.
“The message after the second was go wake up," Savage said. "We’re playing in front of our home crowd for the first time in six months. It’s embarrassing going into the third period down 3-0. We just got to play our game. We got way too cute out there, way too white collar, and when we play like that, they’re a better team than us."
Boston College sophomore goaltender Jacob Fowler was impressive. He ended with 24 saves in the win.
Despite the 3-0 loss, MSU sophomore goaltender Trey Augustine had some outstanding saves in the net, keeping the Spartans in the game early on.
The Spartans will look to bounce back tomorrow in the second game and split the series. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. at Munn.
