By Neil Koepke, MSUSpartans.com staff writer
 
 ALSO:  MSU-UMass Lowell Series Preview
 
EAST LANSING – Most of the attention centered on Michigan State through the first four games of the college hockey season has been on its offense.
 
Can the Spartans score enough goals to compete and win games? is the most asked question. Thus far, MSU hasn't exploded with a boat-load of goals, but the team definitely has the potential to create better scoring chances and put more pucks behind enemy goaltenders than it has in the last few seasons.
 
While the offense has been scrutinized, the Spartans' defense might be getting overlooked.
 
Michigan State has allowed only one goal in each of the last three games – a 5-1 victory over Air Force and a 3-1 and 2-1 sweep of Miami last weekend. In the first game of the season, the Spartans gave up three in a 3-2 overtime loss to Air Force.
 
The defensive corps is contributing to the offense and has been pretty efficient in its own zone – with help, of course, from solid play by goalies Drew DeRidder and Pierce Charleson.
 
Entering this weekend's series at Massachusetts Lowell, MSU has allowed six goals in four games for a 1.50 goals-against average. The Spartans (3-1) and River Hawks (1-1) meet in a non-conference series at 7:15 p.m. Friday and at 6 p.m. Saturday at the 6,003-seat Tsongas Center in Lowell.
Coach Danton Cole likes what he's seeing from his defensemen but notes it's still a bit of a work in progress.
 
"I think it's been good. A lot of it is the competency of when you have two (solid) goaltenders back there. You can be aggressive and if you mess up there's a guy back there to clean up your mistake,'' Cole said. "We've got a little way to go just as units of five.
 
"I think our reads on the rush are just OK. I think we've really progressed from the first night in the defensive zone just with our closes and some other things that I didn't like the first (game).''
 
The defensive corps is led by seniors Dennis Cesana, Christian Krygier and Cole Krygier and includes four sophomores – Nash Nienhaus, Powell Connor, Aiden Gallacher and Cal Dybicz – and freshman David Gucciardi, who takes a regular turn and runs one the power plays.
 
"We have a couple guys on the back end that are kind of learning how to go, how to move and how to transition," Cole said. "If we can get things down, it gives you a chance to win every night.''
 
Cesana, who's off to a strong start in impacting the offense and defending well, is paired with Nienhaus. Cole Krygier is partnered with Powell Connor and Christian Krygier is playing the right side with Gucciardi on the left.
 
Connor, who played in 17 games last season, has earned a regular spot in the lineup this season and is playing a key role as a penalty killer.
 
"He's doing really well. He's made a lot of progress finding his way into ice time through the penalty kill, and he's kind of expanded that role a little bit,'' Cole said. "We always talk to the young guys and say, 'Find something that you can do that can get you into the lineup and get the coaches' trust.'
 
"Powell's done a fantastic job with it. He does some things offensively, as well. He passes the puck really well and does some stuff on the blue line. As he worked through the summer, he put himself in a good position to get some ice time and he's done a nice job with that.''
 
But Connor can't relax with his good start because competition for playing time is intense.
 
"We have a couple of guys chomping at the bit to get in – Aiden Gallagher and Cal Dybicz have done a great job for us,'' Cole said. "You have to keep that level of play up because we have guys who can jump in if you don't.
 
"We had four freshmen defensemen last year and I said that as a group, some of you are going to play a lot at some point and some of you at other times. But by the time late in your sophomore year or junior year, you guys are going to be the corps of a pretty good squad.
 
"So, I like the depth back there, and if we do get into trouble at some point, we have guys that can jump in and give us lots of minutes.''
 
For now, the D-man getting the most minutes is one of the most talented and valuable players on the team – Cesana, the 5-foot-9, 188-pound right-hand shot and team captain from Providence, Rhode Island.
 
"He's done a great job so far, and I think one area where he's improved is on the defensive side,'' Cole said. "He's not a huge guy but he does have a certain physicality and does understand how to close and transition the puck.
 
"With the amount of ice time he gets and the matchups he's going to get, it's important that he has that part of his game, along with his offense.''
 
In four games, Cesana has one goal and two assists for three points.
 
"He's off to a real good start,'' Cole said. "He's got a lot of jump, he's moving pucks and I think he feels about his game as we do, as well.''
 
 
 
THE MSU-MASS LOWELL RIVALRY: The teams have met 10 times and the series is deadlocked at 5-5. Nine games have been played at Munn Arena and one in Lowell.
 
The last time the teams met was on Oct. 25, 2014, when the River Hawks edged the Spartans, 2-1, at Tsongas Arena in Lowell.
 
UML should hold a 6-4 lead in the series but the River Hawks' 3-2 win on Jan. 10, 2004, at Munn Arena was forfeited to MSU because the River Hawks used an ineligible player.
 
The series started with a 10-4, 6-0 Spartan sweep on Nov. 20-21, 1984, in East Lansing. UML handed Michigan State two NCAA Regional defeats at Munn Arena in 1994 and 1996, led by goalie Dwayne Roloson. UMass Lowell, known then as the Chiefs, knocked off the Spartans, 4-3 in the NCAA West Regional on March 26, 1994. Two years later, UML did again, ousting MSU from the NCAA Tournament with a 6-2 victory on March 23, 1996. Roloson went on to play 608 games in the NHL with six teams.
 
 
 
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: Lowell has played only two games and was idle last weekend when a home series against Long Island University was postponed because of Covid-19 issues with the LIU program.
 
Three weeks ago, the River Hawks opened their season with a non-conference series split at Arizona State. They lost the first game, 5-3, but rebounded for a 4-2 win over the Sun Devils in the series finale.
 
UMass Lowell lost 10 players from last year's team, which finished with a 10-9-1 overall record. The River Hawks upset Boston University, 2-1, and Boston College, 6-5 in double overtime, in the Hockey East playoffs before losing 1-0 in the title game to Massachusetts, which went on to win the 2020-21 NCAA championship.
 
UML brought in nine new players this season, including six freshmen and three transfers.
 
Freshman Matt Crasa leads the River Hawks in scoring with three goals and one assist for four points in two games.
 
Crasa will be going up against a former junior hockey teammate in MSU transfer right wing Jeremy Davidson. They played together last season with the Fargo Force of the U.S. Hockey League. Coincidentally, Davidson also has three goals, although he's played in four games.
 
Other top UML forwards include junior Andre Lee (7-9-16 last season), Reid Stefanson (5-10-15), Carl Berglund (3-8-11), and Lucas Condotta (6-4-10) and Connor Sodergren (2-4-6).
 
The River Hawks used two goalies in the series at Arizona State.  Sophomore Henry Welsch started the opener and gave up five goals in the 5-2 loss. Senior Owen Savory made 24 saves in the second game, a 4-2 victory.
 
Savory transferred to UMass Lowell from Rensselaer before last season and played in eight games in 2020-21, while Welsch appeared in 12.
 
 "They create a lot of pressure in the offensive zone, similar to Miami,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "They forecheck really hard. They'll come at you and if they have success with the first guy, you'll have all five guys on top of you.
 
"So, we have to do a good job in the neutral zone against a team like UMass Lowell and in breaking out. If we do that, we'll have some success.''
 
Coach Norm Bazin, a 1994 UML graduate, is in his 11^th year at UMass Lowell and has a record of 216-120-33 and a career coaching record of 254-151-40 in 13 seasons. Before joining the River Hawks, Bazin spent two seasons as head coach at Hamilton College, a Division III school in Clinton, New York. Before taking over at Hamilton, he spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado College.
 
In his first six seasons at UML, Bazin led his team to the NCAA Tournament five times. In 2012-13, the River Hawks won the Hockey East regular season and playoff titles and made it to the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. UMass Lowell lost to Yale, 3-2 in overtime, in the semifinals.
 
The River Hawks also captured Hockey East's regular season playoff championships in 2016-17 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. They lost in the Northeast Regional final to Notre Dame, 3-2 in overtime.
 
 
 
DAVIDSON IS A STAR: Freshman forward Jeremy Davidson was named the Big Ten's No. 2 star for his play last weekend in the Spartans' sweep of Miami. Davidson had two goals on Friday in MSU's 3-1 victory and scored the tying goal at 1-1 on Saturday in the 2-1 win.
 
Davidson, a 5-10, 170-pound sophomore from Kalamazoo, is the Spartans' second-leading scorer with two goals and three assists for five points in four games. He spent one season at Massachusetts before going back to junior hockey and then transferring to MSU.
 
The Big Ten's No. 1 star from last weekend was Michigan's Brendan Brisson. He had both winning goals in the Wolverines' two victories over Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State in the Ice Breaker Tournament in Duluth.
 
The No 3 star was Ohio State freshman goalie Jakub Dobes for his play in the Buckeyes' sweep of Connecticut. He came on in relief early in the second period on Friday with OSU trailing 3-0 and made 23 saves in leading his team to a 4-3 victory. On Saturday, he stopped 32 shots and earned his first career shutout in a 3-0 win over the Huskies.
 
 
 
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Minnesota are involved in home-and-home series against respective in-state rivals this weekend. The Wolverines (4-0) and No. 17 Western Michigan (2-0) meet in Ann Arbor on Friday and in Kalamazoo on Saturday. The Gophers (3-1) play host to No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (3-1) on Friday and close the series on Saturday in Duluth.
 
In a pair of Thursday-Friday series, Penn State (3-1) and No. 13 Notre Dame (3-0) are matched up against Atlantic Hockey teams. Rochester Institute of Technology (1-0-1) plays at Notre Dame and Niagara (0-2) visits Penn State.
 
In one other series, Wisconsin (2-2) plays at No. 3 St. Cloud State (4-2) on Friday and Saturday. Ohio State (3-1) has the weekend off.