Another Spartan Forward Earns Big Ten Honor
The No. 3 ranked Michigan State Spartans (5-1-0) received yet another conference award as senior forward Tanner Kelly earned the Big Ten Third Star of the Week for his performance this past weekend in a road series against Canisius University (1-6-0).
The Spartans traveled to Buffalo, New York, and swept the Griffins in a two-game set (3-0, 4-1). Kelly had four total points in the series, recording a goal and an assist in each game. He now has five points in six games with two goals and three assists.
In his veteran career, the senior has 19 goals and 27 assists in 113 total games. He also has six game-winning goals, one of which came this past weekend against the Griffins.
Kelly becomes the fourth Spartan to garner a weekly conference award this season, joining his fellow forwards, Isaac Howard, Daniel Russel, and Charlie Stramel.
The San Diego, California native has strong ties to the state of Michigan, moving to the mitten just before high school and attending Pontiac Notre Dame Preparatory High School before moving back to San Diego, California to finish his high school career.
In his junior season a year ago, Kelly had his career-best in goals (9) and assists (18), becoming an integral piece of the Spartans' scoring attack. He has spent all four seasons in a Spartan jersey and has slowly gotten better every year, his senior season should be his best yet.
After the series sweep, the Spartans moved up one spot in the national rankings from fourth to third-ranked in the nation. They are undefeated on the road (4-0) and their solo loss this season came at Munn Ice Arena against No. 2 Boston College (3-0) in the third game of the year.
Head coach Adam Nightingale has turned this program from middle of the pack in the Big Ten, to one of the best in the nation. After being hired in May of 2022, Nightingale gave the Spartans their best season since the 2007 National Championship. His impact is severely understated.
Looking ahead, the Spartans will kick off Big Ten play at home this weekend against No. 15 Ohio State (5-0-1) in search of a second-straight regular season conference championship. They will also be seeking back-to-back conference tournament championships.
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