Preview: Regional semifinal vs. No. 3 Michigan State

How to watch

Date: Thursday, March 26

Time: 1:30 p.m. ET 

Location: DCU Center, Worcester, MA

Watch: ESPN2

Stream: ESPN.com/watch

No. 3 Michigan State Spartans

Record: 25-8-2 (16-6-2 Big Ten)

Location: East Lansing, MI

Head coach: Adam Nightingale (Fourth season)

NPI: No. 3

USCHO Poll: No. 3

Scouting the Spartans

The UConn men’s ice hockey team clinched its second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in a second consecutive season. Despite falling to the Merrimack Warriors in the Hockey East title game, the Huskies nabbed the final at-large bid and now stare down a regional semifinal matchup with No. 3 overall seed Michigan State. 

The Spartans will have to travel a little over 700 miles to make the trek from East Lansing to Worcester, whereas the Huskies have about an hour bus ride up I-84 East. Filling out their region are ECAC champion Dartmouth and Wisconsin, one of three at-large recipients from the Big Ten. The winners of Thursday’s game will meet Saturday with a Frozen Four berth on the line.

Michigan State has been a mainstay in the big dance, entering the field for the third consecutive season. The historic program has seen 11 Frozen Fours and hung three national championship banners. A force atop the USCHO poll and NPI rankings all season, the Spartans have all the pieces in place to capture title No. 4. 

The Spartans opened as the No. 3 team in the country and has closed in the same positioning thanks to consistent, dominant play. As explosive as they are offensively, they are just as sound defensively. Michigan State ranks inside the top 10 nationally in both goals per game (3.7) and goals allowed per game (2.1), a differential of more than a goal-and-a-half. On the power-play, the Spartans convert nearly 30% of the time, ranking third in the nation with a 28.4 successful conversion rate. 

Freshman Porter Martone is the big name to watch. While there are several high-flyers on this Michigan State roster, none has racked up points like Martone. The sixth-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Flyers sent Martone to college for some extra seasoning and he responded with nearly 50 points. He leads the Spartans in points (47) and goals (24). Martone’s Achilles heel is his susceptibility to penalties, tied for the team lead with 22 and second in minutes served with 76.

For as good as Martone’s season has been, he was left off the Hobey Baker Award finalists list. There is still a chance for a Spartan to keep the award local, following Isaac Howard’s campaign last year, as senior Charlie Stramel and junior goaltender Trey Augustine both cracked the list. 

Centering the Spartans’ top line, Stramel sits three points behind Martone for the team lead, with 19 goals and 24 assists. Good things seem to happen when Stramel takes the ice, as his +30 plus/minus rating ranks tied for second nationally. He leads the nation in game-winning goals with seven, tied with Michigan’s Will Horcoff. 

Senior Daniel Russell leads MSU in assists with 28, pitching in 11 goals as he closes in on a 40-point season. Freshmen Ryker Lee (14-14–28) and Anthony Romani (14-13–27), as well as junior Tommi Männistö (12-8–20) round out the roster’s top scorers. 

In net is one of college hockey’s best in Augustine. The Red Wings draft pick followed up a Mike Richter Award finalist campaign in 2024-25 with a dominant junior season, to which he has posted a 2.09 goals against average and a .929 save percentage in arguably the most scoring-dominant conference in the country. His three shutouts are tied with Michigan’s Jack Ivankovic and Wisconsin’s Daniel Houser for the most in the Big Ten.

While Michigan State is elite in just about every category, the penalty kill is an exception. The Spartans sit outside the top 30 teams, fending off opposing man-advantage chances at an 81.3% clip.

Series history

Thursday will mark the first-ever game between UConn and Michigan State. 

By the numbers

1 — Michigan State has lost two consecutive games just once this season when it was swept by Wisconsin in East Lansing in late November. Now, the Spartans enter NCAAs coming off a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. 

3 — UConn’s top line of Richard-Tattle-Muldowney tallied three points in two NCAA tournament games last year. Muldowney scored in both games, Richard tallied an assist in the loss to Penn State, while Tattle stayed off the score sheet. 

All three were held out of the point column in the loss to Merrimack on Saturday. If the Huskies want to advance, it is the responsibility of this trio of upperclassmen to lead the charge.

5 — The Huskies have been excellent in rebounding after losses. In games following a loss this season, UConn has lost in regulation just twice. They are 5-2-4, with two shootout wins and two shootout losses.

11 — Michigan State is one of the youngest teams in the nation with an average player age of 21.1 years old. Adam Nightingale rosters 11 freshmen, all of whom are set to play their first NCAA Tournament game on Thursday. 

50 — The Huskies’ Hockey East final loss was not for a lack of trying. UConn posted 50 shots on net, its second-most shots in a game this season, nullified by a heroic 49-save effort from Merrimack’s Max Lundgren.