Michigan
5-1-0
Lake Superior State
0-3-1
Fantilli's Four-Point Night Seals Michigan Win, Sweep of Lake Superior State
10/22/2022 9:45:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Adam Fantilli scored once and added three assists to set a new career high of four points.
» Freshman T.J. Hughes recorded a pair of goals in succession to pace the Wolverines.
» The win marks Michigan's seventh straight victory over Lake Superior State.
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. -- A fast-learning, high-flying group of freshmen continued to pull its weight for the fifth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team. Adam Fantilli and T.J. Hughes led the Wolverines to a 5-1 victory over Lake Superior State on Saturday night (Oct. 22) at Taffy Abel Arena. With the win in a penalty-riddled game, Michigan extended the program's win streak over the Lakers to seven games while clinching a series sweep for the second time in three tries so far this season.
Third-year netminder Erik Portillo was stellar once again between the pipes, turning aside 23 of the 24 shots the Lakers put on goal en route to earning his 40th career victory as a Wolverine in just his 53rd start.
Eight seconds past the midway point of the first period, Mackie Samoskevich opened the scoring by rifling a shot from distance that snuck through traffic to find twine after U-M had won an offensive-zone faceoff. Fantilli earned an assist by winning the draw while Luke Hughes got the primary helper.
Fantilli continued his torrid pace, burying a backhand rebound chance at 15:54 from a high-danger area to put Michigan up 2-0 after Ethan Edwards' point shot bounced off the end board and ended up in the slot. Samoskevich earned the secondary assist by redirecting the bouncing puck right into Fantilli's wheelhouse, while the freshman's tally was his fourth of the weekend.
Freshman forward Jackson Hallum made a great read early in the second period to dash into the slot in the offensive zone and reclaim a loose puck to keep Michigan's possession alive in the LSSU end. After securing the puck, Hallum flipped a pass over to oncoming classmate T.J. Hughes, who put the moves on Lake State's goalie with a series of dekes in close-quarters before sniping a shot up high past the befuddled backstop 2:40 into the second stanza to pull U-M ahead 3-0.
Lake State (0-3-1) struck back at 4:13 with a tic-tac-toe power-play goal to cut Michigan's lead to 3-1.
With U-M on the power play, Luke Hughes considered his options from the left point before sending a crisp pass through the heart of the zone to Fantilli in the right circle. He unleashed a one-timer on the net that could not be contained, and once again, it was T.J. Hughes who was positioned properly near the crease to take advantage of the opportunity. Hughes banged in his second consecutive goal at 8:45 from the top of the blue paint to put Michigan ahead 4-1, with assists going to Dylan Duke and the freshman phenom, Fantilli. By assisting on Hughes' marker, Fantilli notched his third point of the night and sixth of the weekend.
Freshman blueliner Seamus Casey came up clutch nearly eight minutes into the third period when a puck was trickling through Portillo's padding, destined to cross the goal line and help LSSU get back into the game. Fortunately for the Maize and Blue, Casey was there to swoop in and clear the puck away from danger.
A relentless defensive effort from Duke resulted in a neutral-zone takeaway after the forward flattened his stick to the ice to intercept and gain possession. Duke immediately fed Fantilli for a zone entry, and the freshman crossed the blue line at the right point before dishing back to Duke on his left flank. Forced to take an off-balance shot, Duke's knuckler fluttered past Lake Superior State's goalie with 7:05 remaining to bump the Michigan lead up to 5-1.
As a dominant weekend came to a close, the Wolverines put the finishing touches on another comfortable win, finishing the weekend with 10 goals to LSSU's three. Saturday's four-goal win saw U-M dominate in shots on goal (38-24) while securing a narrower edge in faceoffs (36-32).
Michigan moves to 5-1 with the win, and Fantilli will enter next week as the nation's leading point-scorer. After just six games, he has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in addition to a team-high 29 shots on goal. In addition to Fantilli's career-best four-point game, Duke notched a three-point game on his wing.
In a game that featured an immense number of penalties, Lake Superior State finished the game at 1-for-10 on the power play, while Michigan ended the night at 1-for-5.
Next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 28-29), the Wolverines will stay below the bridge for a home-and-home series against Western Michigan. Friday's game will take place at Yost Ice Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m., while Saturday's game will begin at 6 p.m., at WMU's Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo.
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