Michigan
0-1
Waterloo (ex)
2-4
Michigan Downs Waterloo in High-Scoring Exhibition
10/7/2018 8:05:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Jack Becker scored two of Michigan's seven goals.
» Josh Norris and Will Lockwood had two-point games with a goal and an assist each.
» Goaltender Strauss Mann had 16 saves between the pipes in his Michigan debut.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena)
Score: #4 Michigan 7, Waterloo 4
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 12 -- vs. USNTDP U-18 Team (Yost Ice Arena), 7:30 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team bounced back from its season-opening loss on Saturday (Oct. 6) to defeat Waterloo University, 7-4, on Sunday (Oct. 7) in an exhibition contest at Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena.
Michigan struck first 3:55 into the contest when Josh Norris received a breakout pass in the neutral zone and beat a Waterloo defender to find the back of the net on a tough shot into the top-right corner.
After a slew of penalties resulted in a brief four-on-four scenario, the Wolverines capitalized when Jake Slaker dished the puck from the corner into the slot to an open Nick Pastujov, who buried it in the bottom-right corner of the net to give U-M an early 2-0 lead six minutes into the opening period.
Waterloo struck back on a dump-in from center ice that made its way to the back of the net off an awkward bounce to cut the U-M lead in half. The Maize and Blue kept up the pressure and scored on another four-on-four situation when Will Lockwood deked a defender and found Christian Meike in the slot to increase the lead to 3-1. Late in the first period,Michigan added one more when Luke Morgan slid the puck in front of the Waterloo net, where Jack Becker tipped it in to give the hosts a 4-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
The second period began with Michigan picking up where it left off in the first, scoring a power-play goal early in the period when Lockwood finished a rebound off a Norris shot. But the Warriors bounced back and took advantage of a U-M penalty with Markson Betchtold buried a shot from the top of the circle to cut Waterloo's deficit to 5-2, 6:13 into the second period.
Michigan struck back shortly after when a trio of Michigan forwards gained the offensive zone and Slaker found Jack Olmstead in the high slot, resulting in the Wolverines' sixth goal of the contest. In quick succession, Becker deflected a shot from Nicholas Boka past the Waterloo goaltender for his second tally of the game and increased Michigan's lead to 7-2. With 34 seconds left in the second period, Waterloo's Cole Murphy deflected a shot from teammate Cam Nicoll to put the score at 7-3 heading into the second intermission.
The Warriors added another to the scoresheet 4:55 into the final stanza off a deflection by Markson Betchtold from a blue-line slapshot by Lee Dower to make it a 7-4 game.
The Maize and Blue will return to Yost Ice Arena on Friday (Oct. 12) at 7:30 p.m. when it plays host to the U.S. National Team Development Program U-18 Team for its annual exhibition matchup. The series returns to Ann Arbor after the Wolverines claimed a 7-3 victory last year in  Plymouth, Michigan. U-M will welcome back the 1998 NCAA National Championship team as it will celebrate its 20th anniversary of raising into the rafters the ninth championship banner in program history.
