Hockey Surges Past No. 12 Boston College, 5-2, In Exhibition

Friday, October 2

East Lansing, Mich.

5 PM

Michigan State University

0-0-0

Boston College (Exh.)

0-0-0

Team	1	2	3	F
Boston College	0	1	1	2
Michigan St.	2	1	2	5

Joshua Ravensbergen makes a glove save against Boston College

Photo by: Michael Caples

Hockey Surges Past No. 12 Boston College, 5-2, In Exhibition

10/2/2026 9:37:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State hockey got its 2026-27 season underway on Friday night with a 5-2 victory over No. 12-ranked Boston College inside Ron Mason Rink at Munn Ice Arena.

"Good to get out there and play a game," said Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale. "I was thankful, BC, you get to play a quality opponent. I think they're a really good hockey team. I thought they were the better team tonight. I thought the second period they kind of put us on our heels, and I thought we got back to our game in the third. But, I think that's really important for our group. You want to play a real opponent here early and find some things out about you and obviously, we got a lot to work on, and that'll start on Monday."

Sophomore forward Eric Nilson had a breakout performance with four points on the night (two goals, two assists), and his line produced eight points in total. Freshman forward Ethan Belchetz contributed two assists in his first action as a Spartan and sophomore forward Anthony Romani had two goals of his own. Freshman forward Mason West added an empty-netter for MSU late in the third period.

Freshman goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen made his much-anticipated debut in goal for the Green & White making 16 saves in 29:43 before swapping spots with junior goaltender Quentin Sigurdson who made 20 saves in 30:17.

"It was a lot of fun," said Ravensbergen. "I thought I was able to read the play really well today. Felt like I was seeing the puck pretty well. A couple of two-on-ones, felt like I was anticipating it really well and got my feet and moving pretty quickly."

Michigan State found another gear in the third period out-shooting Boston College 17-9 over the final 20 minutes of action. Boston College out-shot MSU 38-31 overall. The Spartans won .569 percent of their face-off attempts led by 10 face-off wins each by sophomore forward Cayden Lindstrom and junior forward Cullen Potter.

How It Happened

Romani opened the scoring for MSU 8:57 into the contest, collecting a rebound off a Belchetz shot on goal. Nilson quickly made it 2-0 at the 12:08 mark after a great zone entry from Bleyl. Bleyl made a cross-ice pace to Nilson who found the upper corner. Ravensbergen made his presence felt late in the first period, stopping a 2-on-1 opportunity with under a minute to play.

What a SNIPE from Eric Nilson to make it 2-0! pic.twitter.com/DJjijmmGGl
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 2, 2026

Ravensbergen's strong performance carried into the second period, where he made a glove save on a shorthanded Boston College breakaway at the 6:24 mark. The Eagles eventually got on the board with a power play goal 9:43 into the period. Romani got one back for MSU with less than five minutes to play in the second after a nifty set-up from Nilson.

Are you not entertained??

What a save by Joshua Ravensbergen on the breakaway! pic.twitter.com/SpF413dKTN
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 2, 2026

Nilson's second goal of the night came 2:54 into the third period when his shot bounced off the glove of the Boston College goaltender and found the back of the net. BC converted on its second power play goal of the night at 6:03 to cut MSU's lead to 4-2. West's empty-netter sealed the deal for Michigan State late, finishing off the 5-2 victory.