Michigan
10-5-1
Harvard
7-1-1
Michigan Hands No. 9 Harvard First Loss of Season in Series Finale
11/26/2022 10:26:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Erik Portillo made 39 saves to earn his ninth win of the season.
» With an assist, Adam Fantilli has recorded points in 13 of his 14 games as a Wolverine.
» Mackie Samoskevich expanded his team lead in goals with his 12th marker of the year.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Ten different Wolverines recorded points in a complete team effort as the fifth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team knocked off ninth-ranked Harvard 4-1 on Saturday (Nov. 26) at Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena. A perfect 4-for-4 effort from the Michigan penalty-kill unit propelled the Wolverines to a statement win that closes out non-conference play for the 2022-23 season.
In 10 games against non-Big Ten competition, Michigan went 8-1-1 while outscoring the opposition 50-27.
Junior goaltender Erik Portillo returned to the blue paint for U-M, making his 13th start of the year and 60th in his career. The backstop made 39 saves on 40 shots faced from a highly skilled Harvard outfit.
The first shot of the game belonged to Michigan (10-5-1), and it wound up in the back of the Harvard net just 2:03 into the contest. Senior forward Nick Granowicz sparked the play by working the puck into the slot for the Wolverines after a wraparound attempt went awry. Mark Estapa was positioned near the left post when he found the loose puck and finished off the play by smacking it past the Harvard netminder to put Michigan up 1-0. Smooth-skating freshman blueliner Luca Fantilli earned the secondary assist on Estapa's early tally.
Michigan's power play debuted at 7:08 after a Crimson forward was penalized for tripping. The team's leading goal-scorer, Mackie Samoskevich, thought he had buried a strike from the top of the left circle just over halfway through the advantage. The goal judge agreed and the light went on, but play carried on. At the next stoppage, an official review confirmed that Samoskevich's shot did not cross the goal line. As the power play expired, U-M's lead remained stagnant at one goal.
As time wound down in the final minute of the first period, Adam Fantilli won an offensive-zone faceoff that was corralled at the half wall and sent behind the net by Dylan Duke. Fantilli positioned himself on the boards and noticed Samoskevich dashing into the slot. The freshman sent a backhand touch-pass from behind the Crimson net that found Samoskevich's tape. As he received the pass, Samoskevich immediately dialed up a hard, low shot that beat the opposing netminder to the far side to double Michigan's lead with 30 seconds left.
Harvard (7-1-1) opened up the second period by ringing a dangerous shot off the crossbar in their first rush down the ice, but the Wolverines settled into the period while play went from end to end with an extreme lack of stoppages.
Prior to the mid-period media stoppage, the victorious University of Michigan football team filed into the old fieldhouse to take in the action from the zamboni entrance. As soon as the crowd caught wind, Yost erupted in a steady stream of cheers that extended into the stoppage itself, with the team briefly walking out onto the ice while the playing surface was being scraped. Even J. Ira and Nikki Harris Family Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh took to the ice along with star quarterback J.J. McCarthy and a number of others decked out in Big Ten Championship gear.
With excitement temporarily tamed, an excellent chance for Kienan Draper was turned aside by a stellar toe save from Harvard's Mitchell Gibson with six minutes left in the middle frame.
The visitors received their first power play of the game with 1:35 left in the second stanza when Ethan Edwards was whistled for a slashing minor. U-M's penalty killers kept the puck out of the net before reaching the second intermission with 25 seconds of Harvard's power play carried over to the third period.
Michigan's power play was reactivated 1:14 into the final frame. After a dangerous start to the Wolverines' advantage, the visitors broke out on an odd-man rush and ended up burying a rebound opportunity to cut the deficit to one at 1:42.
Harvard's power play returned to the ice at 3:24 following a minor penalty on Edwards, but the Michigan penalty killers were up to the task once again as they stymied a Crimson power-play unit that features a number of NHL draft picks.
Each side continued to trade minor penalties, with Michigan leading 2-1 on the scoreboard.
The Wolverines finally earned a crucial third goal to provide insurance and take a 3-1 lead with 6:53 left in regulation. Rutger McGroarty picked up a short pass near the left dot from his linemate, Gavin Brindley, before continuing into the zone and firing a low-angle shot from between the faceoff dot and the goal line. McGroarty's snipe found a tiny window of space in the top corner, short side, and the maize-clad skaters gathered to celebrate the goal as Yost erupted.
Playing in his fourth game, Johnny Druskinis was penalized after cleaning up the netfront area with 6:12 left to play. For the fourth time, Michigan's penalty killers were successful in dismissing the Harvard power play as the teams returned to even-strength to close out the contest.
Following a tense shift with the Harvard net empty and the Crimson pressing with all their offensive might, freshman blueliner Seamus Casey was rewarded for a weekend of hard work with a 160-foot heave down the ice and into the barren cage to put the game away at 4-1. Captain Nolan Moyle notched an assist on Casey's empty-netter that came with 1:42 remaining.
The win in a valuable non-conference triumph gave U-M its 10th win on the season. The final shot tally ended at 47-40 in Michigan's favor, while Harvard finished with a slim 31-29 edge in the faceoff dot.
Next weekend, the Wolverines return to conference play with a two-game road trip at Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 2-3). On Friday night (Dec. 2), puck drop is set for 8 p.m. CST, while Saturday's contest is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. CST. Both games will be streamed live on BTN+.
