After a long holiday break the Spartans head back to the ice in the 59th Great Lakes Invitational on December 28 and 29. This will be the Spartans 49th time in the tournament and will be looking to repeat
as champions. This will be another tough go as they will be without freshman forward Porter Martone (Canada team captain), freshman forward Ryker Lee (USA), freshman forward Eric Nilson (Sweden) and sophomore forward Shane Vansaghi (USA) who are participating in the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships for their respective home countries. The championships are held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Minneapolis and St.Paul, Minnesota. MSU will face off against Ferris State first and if they win will take on the winner of Miami vs Michigan Tech. For a refresher on GLI history click here. Let’s take a look at each potential opponent.
Ferris State
The Bulldogs will coming in having lost their last two games and three of their last 5. The most recent losses were to Michigan Tech. The season has been a tough one for Ferris as they have only managed 4 wins all season and two of those in overtime. Obviously with a 4 win season it is no shock that MSU leads all the major head to head statistics. Ferris ranks in the 50’s in penalty kill, power play, faceoff win percentage, scoring offense and scoring defense. The one category that Ferris does rank better is in blocks per game as they do a nice job breaking up shots. MSU is averaging almost 40 shots per game which will be a lot for Ferris to defend. Josh Zary, the senior forward leads the Bulldogs in scoring and will be one to keep an eye on along with defensemen Christopher Lie. MSU should not have any trouble in this one as they have such great depth that even missing the key players to World Juniors they are still superior in talent. Interesting item to keep an eye on will be Travis Shoudy facing off against his previous team in which he was the captain of. Opportunities will arise in this one for some players that have been a bit quiet this season to perhaps get momentum into the New Year.
Michigan Tech
Tech serves as the host school and has played tough all season. They are very good on the penalty kill and are also no stranger to pulling off the upset having opened the season upsetting then #8 Minnesota. Stiven Sardarian ranks #6 nationally in points with most of those coming from assists will be the key player to defend. Teydon Trembecky, Max Koskipirtti and Isaac Gordon are all in double digit points this season and will likely factor in to any tournament success for the Huskies. Owen Bartoszkiewicz has made 17 starts in goal for Michigan Tech with a 2.23 goals against and a .920 save percentage. If Tech and MSU find themselves facing off in the finals it will be a rematch from 2023 where MSU lost the title in a shootout. Otherwise MSU could be going for a three peat this year.
Miami
Miami is an interesting team that is coming in winless since November 29. They actually score more goals per game than MSU but their penalty kill and inefficient power play has hurt their overall record. Miami is no stranger to quality opponents having already faced Denver, Colorado College and Union. The Red Hawks will look to get their season back on track in their opening game against Tech. Miami is led by the Matteo’s. Matteo Giampa, who has 19 points on nine goals and 10 assists will lead the attack. His nine goals are a team best. Matteo Drobac has made all 18 starts in goal for Miami this season posting a 3.14 goals against average and a .898 save percentage between the pipes. A matchup against Miami would also have a fun connection as former Spartan Vladislav Lukashevich leads Miami in assists with 12 this season.
Predictions
I think MSU has a very good shot at walking out as repeat champions. MSU should take care of Ferris and I am going to say a 4-1 victory for the Spartans. Tech and Miami should be a good game as the two matchup well against each other. I am going to go with Tech 3 Miami 2 in this one. For the title, MSU will get its revenge against the Huskies 3-1 with Trey Augustine winning tournament MVP.
Your turn, leave a comment on your predictions and we will also be having a tournament Game Thread.
