Spartans Down USNTDP In Exhibition

East Lansing, Mich. – No 8/7 Michigan State skated to a 5-2 exhibition victory over the US National Team Development Program on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.

The Spartans got five goals from five different players – but freshmen defensemen Austin Oravetz (goal, assist) and Artyom Levshunov (two assists) had multiple-point games. Karsen Dorwart, Joey Larson, Gavin O'Connell and Daniel Russell had the other Spartan scores. Luca Di Pasquo made 17 saves in 50 minutes of action, and was replaced by senior Jon Mor – a USNTDP alumnus who saw his first career action in a Spartan sweater and made three saves in the balance of the game.

MSU commit Austin Baker had the first goal for the US NTDP, which also got a goal from Brody Ziemer in the waning moments of the third period before MSU iced it with the empty-net goal from Russell. Goalie Nick Kempf made 42 saves for Team USA.

The Spartans fell behind 1-0 early but rallied with a pair of goals in the balance of the first, added one in the second, and two more in the third. The Spartans had a 47-22 edge in shots on net, and went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

MSU returns to Big Ten play next weekend, hitting the road to State College to take on Penn State.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

MSU improved to 11-7 all-time against the U18 team, earning its first win since 2019 in the series. MSU had lost two straight. It was the most goals MSU has scored against the NDTP since an 8-2 win in January of 2010.
Austin Oravetz had a goal and an assist.
Artyom Levshunov had a pair of assists.
Six of MSU's nine assists were credited to defensemen.
MSU's current team features four USNTDP alumni: Jon Mor, Red Savage, Trey Augustine and Isaac Howard . Augustine and Howard missed the game due to their commitment to the World Junior Championship
Augustine and Howard won a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship earlier on Friday. Howard tied for the tournament lead in goals (7), and scored twice in the gold medal game. Augustine made 24 saves in the finals and finished the tournament with a 1.75 GAA and .936 save percentage. Tommi Männistö (Team Finland) and Maxim Štrbák (Slovakia) were both voted among their team's top three players at the tournament.
The USNTDP U-18 roster features three Spartan commits: In addition to the goal scorer Austin Baker, both Lucas Van Vliet and Shane Vansaghi are committed to play their college hockey at MSU.

First Period: Spartan commit Austin Baker opened the scoring with a power play goal 2:29 into the game, but the Spartans countered with a pair of goals over the balance of the period – a shot from the left circle by Austin Oravetz at 11:34, and the redirection of a bouncing puck at the top of the crease by Karsen Dorwart – to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room. MSU outshot Team USA 15-7 in the period, and took two penalties to USA's one.

Second Period: MSU tacked on a third goal in the second period. USNTDP alumnus Red Savage went in on Kempf on a semi breakaway, and the goalie made the stop; the rebound came out to Kempf's left, and Joey Larson was there to bury the rebound. The Spartans outshot their guests by a 13-7 margin.

Third Period: MSU posted a goal early in the third period to make it a 4-1 game. Matt Basgall's blast from the right point was tipped in front by Gavin O'Connell. MSU made a goalie change just past the halfway mark of the third period, bringing on senior Jon Mor; the USNTDP alumnus made three saves in his time in net. Team USA had an a goal in the waning minutes of the game as Brodie Ziemer took advantage of an MSU miscommunication to bring the score to 4-2. Daniel Russell got the goal back with an empty netter at 18:33 to re-establish the three-goal lead. MSU had 19 shots in the final period and held Team USA to eight.