Michigan
9-5-1
Harvard
7-0-1
Top-10 Battle Between Michigan and Harvard Ends in Tie
11/25/2022 10:52:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Philippe Lapointe secured his first-career multi-point game with one goal and one assist.
» Freshmen Gavin Brindley and Rutger McGroarty each tallied a pair of assists.
» Junior goalie Noah West made his third-career start in net for the Wolverines.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A sold-out crowd inside Yost Ice Arena was treated to a highly-entertaining non-conference contest on Friday night (Nov. 25), as the fifth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team came back from a two-goal deficit to tie ninth-ranked Harvard in a 4-4 game on Friday night (Nov. 25) inside Yost Ice Arena.
Junior goaltender Noah West, celebrating his 22nd birthday, earned the starting nod between the pipes with the Wolverines wearing white uniforms for their first non-conference action since playing Western Michigan one month ago. The backstop from Pittsboro, Ind. ended the night with 26 saves on 30 shots that he faced in his third start for Michigan.
Freshman phenom Adam Fantilli made his presence known when he opened the scoring at 10:58 with a perfectly-placed one-timer from the slot after the visitors turned the puck over behind their net. Linemate Dylan Duke quickly found the loose puck beneath the goal line and immediately fed a pass out to Fantilli's wheelhouse between the hash marks, where the first-year forward quickly netted his 10th goal of the season to put Michigan ahead, 1-0.
Harvard (7-0-1) tied the game with 5:12 left in the first period when a long shot from a defenseman at the point traveled through several skaters to find the back of the net and made it 1-1.
The Crimson claimed their first lead of the evening when an offensive-zone possession resulted in a bad-angle goal from below the left circle off of a perfect shot to put Harvard up, 2-1, with 2:44 left.
Four minutes into the second period, Harvard extended its lead to 3-1 after Michigan failed to exit its defensive zone on a jumbled breakout attempt in the second period. The Crimson quickly set up in the offensive zone before a blueliner rifled a shot from distance that created a rebound off the pads of West and was quickly deposited into the Michigan net with 16 minutes left.
An effective shift from young Michigan forwards Gavin Brindley and Rutger McGroarty was capped off by a beautiful individual performance from sophomore blueliner Ethan Edwards, who scored his second goal of the season with 2:37 left in the second period. Collecting the puck along the half wall, Edwards spun out toward the blue line before carving back into the slot between a pair of Crimson forwards. After corralling the puck through traffic with just one hand on his stick, Ethan took advantage of a momentary window between the collapsing defenders to release a hard wrist shot from the low slot that found twine. Brindley and McGroarty earned assists on Edwards' marker which put Michigan within one, 3-2.
With 16 seconds left in the second period, Brindley was penalized for charging to give the visitors a power play. Most of the ensuing advantage (1:44) carried over to the third frame, and Harvard capitalized with an early power-play goal when a rebound ricocheted off the end wall behind the net at 1:16 to take a 4-2 lead.
The Wolverines (9-5-1) responded with another goal of their own at 3:00 to reignite the crowd. This time, it was Nolan Moyle who potted his second goal of the season and cut the deficit to 4-3. The play started below the goal line where T.J. Hughes worked hard along the boards to preserve possession. The freshman forward sent a pass out to the right point where Johnny Druskinis was waiting to uncork a shot on goal. Druskinis' attempt found its way through traffic before hitting Philippe Lapointe, who was posted up on the right side of the crease. With the puck falling into a vacant crease, Moyle was there to clean up the rebound and score U-M's third goal while marking the first collegiate point from Druskinis.
Michigan earned an elusive game-tying goal with 6:53 remaining in regulation. Another tenacious shift from the duo of Brindley and McGroarty resulted in an opportunity from the high slot for Lapointe, who wasted no time before converting on a wrist shot. Combined with his earlier assist, the goal marked Lapointe's first career multi-point game donning the maize and blue while Brindley and McGroarty each notched their second helper of the game.
The home team subjected the visitors to a constant stream of shots on goal as the Wolverines dominated play in the second half of the final frame, but neither side could find a fifth goal.
At the end of regulation in a 4-4 game, Michigan's lead in shots on goal stood at 37-27. The Crimson's skaters blocked an incredible 27 shots from Michigan, while U-M blocked just six.
Fantilli, Mackie Samoskevich, and Luke Hughes started the extra session of 3x3 for Michigan. The trio surrendered a grade-A chance to an opposing skater, but the chance from close quarters sailed high over the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, a penalty for holding was assessed on Samoskevich and gave Harvard a power play 1:11 into overtime.
Michigan's penalty kill remained stout to dismiss the 4x3 advantage after two minutes of high-intensity play. When Samoskevich exited the box, the Michigan attack immediately escalated while play was temporarily 4x4.
Brindley had a great chance to end the game with 1:35 remaining in the overtime session when a stretch pass found him breaking into the Harvard zone all alone. The freshman deked several times but had his attempt pushed aside by the Crimson goalkeeper.
The second final buzzer sounded at the end of the overtime. Shots on goal after 65 minutes were 39-30 in Michigan's favor, but the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
In a shootout staged purely for pride, Adam Fantilli and Luke Hughes had their attempts stymied while Samoskevich scored off of a crafty move. Harvard won the shootout, 2-1.
Saturday night (Nov. 26), the non-conference foes will reunite at Yost Ice Arena to finish off the two-game series. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on B1G+.
