Despite the "exhibition" title in front of the Jan, 5 game, the Michigan State hockey team battled with as much vigor as ever against the U18 United States National Development Team Program.
Scoring was opened quickly by MSU commit Austin Baker, just 2:29 into the first period as the Spartans tried to kill off a penalty. In spite of the quick start by the USNTDP, Michigan State quickly gained its bearings and fought to a 5-2 victory.
Michigan State went into Friday's game knowing it was facing a formidable opponent and treated this game just as the Spartans would any other.
Each of the five goals belonged to a different Spartan, with the first being scored by freshman defenseman Austin Oravetz, his first goal of the season. Notably, the Spartans were missing four of their players due to the IIHF World Junior Championships, including Isaac Howard (forward) and Trey Augustine (goalie), who won gold medals for Team USA.
Jon Mor's debut
Nearing the end of the third period, Michigan State fans saw a change between the pipes for Michigan State. Senior goaltender Jon Mor saw his first career action for the Spartans as he made three saves against the U18s.
In the postgame presser, head coach Adam Nightingale praised Mor, calling him "a guy who does it right every single day."
Nightingale also mentioned that being the third goalie is the "toughest position on our team."
A glimpse into the future
The three Michigan State commits from the development team received a warm welcome from the crowd as they were announced in the lineup, Lthough the crowd was notably less quiet when Austin Baker scored on the power play in the first period.
In addition to Baker, MSU commits Lucas Van Vliet and Shane Vansaghi both played well and got to give fans a taste of what's to come for the future of Michigan State hockey.
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