EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey program (0-1) fell on the road to the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans (1-0) in a hard fought matchup between old CCHA rivals by a final score of 5-2 in their season-opener on Saturday. 

Both defenses started off strong in the opening period, but at the 18:25 mark, Nicolas Muller would open up the scoring for the Spartans as Michigan State took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Isaac Howard was able to extend the Spartan lead to 2-0 with a power play goal 1:44 into the second period, taking advantage of a three-on-five situation, and a little over five minutes of game time later, Nash Nienhuis pushed Michigan State's advantage to 3-0. However, the Lakers would spring to life in the latter half of the second period as senior Tyler Williams (South Lyon, Mich.) scored the first goal of the season for LSSU with assists from Timo Bakos (Augsburg, Germany) and freshman Carter Batchelder (Savage, Minn.). Then, at the 15:50 mark, captain Harrison Roy (Lakeville, Mass.) was able to draw a penalty on a breakaway, and he would not be denied after being granted a penalty shot opportunity, bringing the Lakers back within one after having once trailed 3-0.

Both teams would continue to battle in the third period, but both Red Savage and Viktor Hurtig were each able to slot home difficult goals to close out the game as the Spartans would go on to win the season-opener by a final score of 5-2.

The Lakers will be looking for the series split on Saturday, Oct. 8 with the first puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m.