Philadelphia Flyers prospects Porter Martone and Shane Vansaghi’s season kicked off in an unexpected way; a loss. The no. 2 ranked Michigan Spartans were heavy favorites coming into this series against New Hampshire, but a buzzer-beater on Thursday night secured the upset victory for the Wildcats. However, the Spartans took the victory in game two, improving to 1-1-0. While the final score doesn’t show it, they had complete control on Friday night, out-shooting the Wildcats 38-13.
Statistically, Martone had a strong series overall with three assists, including an absolute beauty of an assist from behind the net in the second of the two contests. Vansaghi was held off the scoresheet, but made his presence felt on the forecheck and was, as expected, involved in what was a very physical two-game series. From the start of the series, Martone made his presence felt and was seemingly everywhere on the ice. He threw his body around, created scoring chances, and added an assist, showing flashes of why there’s so much around him.
In game one, discipline was an issue for Michigan State. They gave the Wildcats plenty of time with the man advantage, resulting in two power play goals against. Despite the loss, the Spartans were arguably the better team, as was expected, but the Wildcats were more opportunistic and made use of those man advantage situations. They seemingly resolved their discipline issues in game two, taking just two minor penalties; a far cry from the 21 minutes in penalties from game one.
Martone’s assist helped tie the game at two, when he won a puck battle along the boards and sent it to the point for a shot that would be re-directed by Charlie Stramel. Retrievals are an area of the game we’re expecting Martone to excel at (one of many) and it’s nice to see this lead to a goal early in the season.
After a lot of back and forth play, it looked as if this game was going to require extra time. However, a scramble in front of Michigan State’s net led to Marty Lavins scoring the game-winning goal for New Hampshire with just over five seconds remaining in regulation.
3.8 SECONDS LEFT FOR THE WIN FOR @UNHMHOCKEY 😱#NCAAHockey x 🎥 B1G+ pic.twitter.com/qzfkcs5sLV
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) October 10, 2025
Game two carried on the physical tone of game one, if not enhanced it. The first period especially was very physical, with Martone getting involved, even getting rocked at one point. Fans in attendance were calling for a penalty on the play, but it was deemed a clean hit. It seemed as if Martone was a bit of a target for the Wildcats in the first, and this isn’t our Flyers bias showing — the commentators made note of this as well. New Hampshire surely won’t be the only team to focus in on Martone this season, so we’ll be expecting more of that. He can certainly hold his own, though.
This was a standout defensive performance from Michigan State, allowing just 4 shots through the first twenty minutes and change. Martone’s first real standout chance came about midway through the game, when he took a pass from the point around the right faceoff dot and took a shot from just in front of the goal line. Wildcats goaltender Kyle Chauvette, who was the standout in this game with 36 stops, got just enough of the shot while sliding to his left to keep Martone off the board.
The Spartans first power play opportunity of the game would come shortly after, with Martone setting up on the left board to start. They moved the puck around well enough, though a lot was on the perimeter, minus one dangerous chance from Stramel in the slot. Martone did drive to the net at one point looking for a pass, and eventually settled into a net-front role midway after a minute along the wall. Vansaghi was on the second power play unit, though they never got set up in the zone.
The Spartans were finally able to solve Kyle Chauvette, opening the scoring at the 14:12 mark of the second period. After a quick touch-up to avoid an offside call, Martone received a pass moving down the middle of the ice and directed the puck into the corner. He retrieves his own chip, and finds Stramel in the left faceoff circle. Stramel then found captain Matt Basgall sneaking in from the point for the snipe.
Later, Vansaghi popped offensively when he set up 2024 first rounder Cayden Lindstrom up for a great cross-ice chance off the rush, but the two couldn’t connect as Lindstrom couldn’t get the shot off.
The third period opened with a bang, with Martone setting up Patrick Geary from behind the net to give the Spartans a two goal lead — a lead that would eventually hold as the final score.
Martone with a beauty of a setup for his second assist of the game tonight. He now has three points in his first two NCAA games (so far). pic.twitter.com/FrnIDWyhKX
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 11, 2025
Now that’s a sight we would love to get used to; behind the net passes. Martone pulls Chauvette towards him before dishing it to Geary on the opposite side for the one-timer. With how locked in Chauvette was in this game, it was going to take a play like this for them to beat him for a second time.
The Spartans were given a huge opportunity to increase their lead when Reid Conn was given a five-minute major for crosschecking. However, Stramel was called for tripping just ten seconds into the power play, killing the first two minutes of the major, with the remaining 2:49 not resulting in many chances. Towards the end of the man advantage, Martone did come close to his fourth assist in two games, setting up Ryker Lee for a high-danger scoring chance right in the middle of the slot that he rang off the bar. Martone has created a ton of offense for the Spartans through the first two regular season games.
An early goalie pull gave New Hampshire a chance, but they were ultimately unable to get on the board. Trey Augustine finished with a 13-save shutout, as Michigan State improved to 1-1-0 on the season. It would be a bit dramatic to say that the second game of a season was a “must win,” but given expectations, starting 0-2 would have been a concerning start. Instead, they’re walking away with an even record and an impressive bounce back performance in the back half of the back-to-back.
Up next for the Spartans is a series with Boston University, the no. 3 ranked team in the country.
