Reed Lebster is living his dream playing hockey for MSU. His game-winning goal Friday delivered the Spartans a Big Ten title.
MADISON, Wis. — Michigan State forward Reed Lebster grew up in Grand Rapids, dreaming of one day lacing up his skates for the Spartans. Dreaming of the sort of goal he scored Friday night — the game-winner in what turned into a 5-2 win for MSU, after two empty-net goals sealed the Spartans' first Big Ten championship.
Lebster's path wasn't so direct. Originally an MSU commit, he instead wound up beginning his career at the University of Massachusetts, where, as a sophomore, he scored a goal and assisted on another in UMass' national championship game win over St. Cloud State in 2021.
Lebster, a graduate transfer, is now providing MSU that big-game experience — and it showed Friday night. The only player on the roster with any experience in the NCAA tournament came through with, arguably, the biggest goal of the past 17 years of Spartan hockey with 7:10 remaining in the third period in a 2-2 game.
"There's a reason he was a top-six forward on the UMass national championship team, so he's been in these types of games," MSU coach Adam Nightingale said. "He exudes leadership and poise, and my only regret is we only got him for the rest of the year. Wish we had him longer."
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In the third period Friday night, Lebster saw an opportunity as a Badgers defenseman went for a change. He darted with the puck toward the net and, when the lone Wisconsin defenseman left in his way suddenly prepared to defend a pass, Lebster made his move, sliding the puck between Wisconsin goaltender Kyle McClellan's legs to put the Spartans ahead.
Lebster later made a play along the boards, working the puck to senior forward — and former UMass teammate Jeremy Davidson — and once Davidson got it, he delivered the first empty-net goal.
"The way (Lebtster) plays, he has a veteran's approach to him," said Davidson, who scored twice Friday with the help of Lebster passes. "That play he made on the wall for the empty-netter ... it's hard to make those plays. He's a guy who's been doing it for four years at this level, and those types of plays show the player he is."
He did it for three periods Friday. In a first period that saw Wisconsin score less than a minute in, and with the Badgers continuing to pepper freshman goaltender Trey Augustine with shots, Lebster jumped on a turnover in the neutral zone and darted into the offensive zone. There, he sent a pass to Davidson, who buried a one-timer that gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead late in a first period in which they'd been significantly outplayed.
In his last ride in college hockey, Lebster believes he's on another team that has a chance to do something special.
"I like to step up any way I can to help the team, and scoring that goal was awesome for me tonight, and to get rewarded was great but we have bigger goals," Lebster said. "The way we compete in practice is like it was (at UMass), and I think this team might be more talented than the one that won at UMass. I think we have a real good chance at doing something special here."
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU hockey: Reed Lebster's game-winning goal delivers a Big Ten title
