In what was a busy night for the Flyers’ organization, their 6th overall pick from this past summer’s draft picked up his first real collegiate goal. Now, as we might recall, he had previously scored on his first shift with the Spartans back in this month’s opening weekend in their game against Windsor, but that was an exhibition game, and the murky grey area before the true start of the season. This one, though, counts for real!
Michigan State and Boston University kicked off their two-game series last night, with the Spartans coming away with a 4-2 victory. While last night it was Shane Vansaghi’s line that stole the show, tonight it was Martone’s turn to show up in a big way for his team. It was great to see Martone rebound after a pretty quiet night which ended in an ejection late in the third period for the freshman forward.
It took a little bit for him to really get rolling, but with about a minute remaining in the middle frame, Martone found the puck in the most dangerous area of the ice and was able to capitalize.
P2 | 19:01 | MSU 2 – BU 0
It was only a matter of time! Porter Martone puts us ahead 2-0 late in the second with his first official collegiate goal! pic.twitter.com/xRUgFN27c4
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 19, 2025
It’s pretty wild to see Martone given this much space against such a top team; he’s shouldn’t be an easy guy to lose. It’s also eerily similar to the goal he scored in the Spartans’ exhibition game a few weeks back. It’s not too surprising that the front of the net is seemingly his office, as he’s got the size and hands to find success in close. Another member of the Flyers’ 2025 draft class, Carter Amico, was on the wrong side of this goal, and the wrong side of the net. Amico struggled some in these two games, and does mishandle the puck, but this goal is probably more on the center than anyone else if we were going to attempt to assign blame. At least positionally — we’re not absolving him of the turnover.
Martone would go on to add an assist, his fourth of the early season, with a steal on an exit attempt early in the third period.
P3 | 2:53 | MSU 3 – BU 1
Tommi Mannisto with the quick answer to put us up 3-1 in the third! Porter Martone with his second point of the night on the assist. pic.twitter.com/xZLvFtcrzz
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 19, 2025
As the high forward, Martone sneaks down below the blue line into the passing lane and blocks the pass attempt with his skate. Going from skate to stick, he cuts right, pulling both goaltender Mikhail Yegorov and defenseman Aiden Celebrini’s attention towards him before finding Tommi Mannisto with a cross-ice pass for the goal. Martone’s playmaking has really popped so far this season, now with four assists in four games, to go along with his goal tonight.
It looked as if the Spartans were on their way to another victory over the Terriers, but Boston University rallied in the third with two goals in the final seven minutes to send the game to overtime. That’s when Vansaghi played hero, saving a sure-goal by pulling the puck off of the line after a Terriers’ shot squeaked through Trey Augustine. The Spartans immediately went the other way and captain Matt Basgall secured the victory with a cross-ice one-timer set up by Ryker Lee. Vansaghi picked up the secondary assist on the goal thanks to his game-saving play.
Shane Vansaghi made the GAME-WINNING save in overtime to prevent a Terrier goal! pic.twitter.com/GsM5imL4tg
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 19, 2025
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With the win, Michigan State improves to 3-1-0 on the season. It was a big series for both Martone and Vansaghi; a great sign with it coming against the top-ranked Terriers. It was a big game for them on an individual levels, but it was also a meaningful pair of wins for the Spartans collectively — despite the undeniable level of skill up and down their lineup, they came into this series pretty well framed as the underdog, coming into a Boston University juggernaut’s house and hoping to just be able to hang. Instead, the Spartans were able to well and truly take it to the Terriers for much of this series. Now, they shouldn’t let this inflate them too extremely, as this is indeed a high point, but still the very beginning of what’s going to be a long season. All the same, this should help some of the pundits to finally put some respect on the Spartans’ name.
Up next for the Spartans is Northern Michigan, who they’ll meet next Friday and Saturday. For Amico, Jack Murtagh, and Owen McLaughlin, they and Boston University have a date with the University of Connecticut the same night.