Michigan
30-9-1
American International
22-13-3
Michigan Advances to NCAA Regional Championship with Victory over AIC
3/25/2022 7:00:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Brendan Brisson tallied his 20th goal and assisted on two more for a three-point game.
» Canadian Olympic teammates Owen Power and Kent Johnson each notched a pair of assists.
» Five different Wolverines scored goals in Michigan's 54th all-time NCAA tournament win.
Site: Allentown, Pa. (PPL Center)
Score: #2 Michigan 5, #18 American International 3
Records: U-M (30-9-1), AIC (22-13-3)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 27 -- vs. winner of Quinnipiac/St. Cloud (Allentown, Pa.), 6:30 p.m.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. --Â Five different Wolverines found the back of the net in Allentown, Pa. on Friday afternoon (March 25), as the University of Michigan hockey team, the No. 1 overall seed in this year's NCAA tournament, defeated fourth-seeded American International by a 5-3 score to earn a spot in Sunday evening's NCAA Regional Championship game.
Erik Portillo was excellent for the Wolverines, making 29 saves on 31 shots faced to earn his 30th win of the season and propel U-M to the regional title game on Sunday.
Hobey Baker finalist and Big Ten co-Freshman of the Year Luke Hughes made an outstanding rush up the ice to create a grade-A scoring chance for the Wolverines early on, carrying the puck into the AIC zone and driving the net before dropping the puck back to a host of trailing teammates in the slot. Garrett Van Wyhe was the third skater to the netfront area, arriving just as the puck skittered out onto his blade, and the senior wasted no time before flipping a shot on net that dented the twine and opened the scoring. Nolan Moyle collected the secondary assist while Hughes scooped the primary off of an exceptional effort 3:37 into the contest.
Shortly thereafter, defenseman Ethan Edwards walked into the zone and weighed his options as he neared the left post. As he passed the left dot, Edwards lifted a wrist shot that sailed over the shoulder of the AIC netminder and into the top left corner of the net to double the U-M lead just 4:16 into the tournament game. Brendan Brisson and Matty Beniers earned assists on Edwards' goal.
With just under eight minutes left in the opening period, a Michigan turnover at the AIC blue line resulted in a breakaway chance for the AIC's Blake Bennett. Portillo stood tall with a massive stop to protect the two-goal lead for the time being. On their next trip down the ice, the Yellow Jackets cashed in when Brian Rigali had a loose puck bounce off of him and into the net, which cut the deficit back down to one with 7:28 left in the first.
Late in the first, Van Wyhe and Hughes nearly teamed up for another goal but failed to score before the buzzer sounded to end the first period. While the duo came short of replicating their game-opening tally, the late offensive pressure drew a minor penalty before the teams headed to their respective locker rooms that would carry over to the next period.
Along with a 2-1 lead, Michigan had built a 15-7 advantage in shots on goal and a 15-11 edge in the faceoff dot through the first period.Â
U-M looked to extend its lead as the Wolverines embarked on the first power play of the game to start the second period, and it didn't take long to do so. With Owen Power standing just inside the blue line to quarterback the unit, Brisson dug in near the right dot to launch one-timers on net. After failing to connect on their first attempt, Power sent another feed to the future Golden Knight's wheelhouse that was lasered home to make it 3-1 only 43 seconds into the period. Kent Johnson recorded the secondary assist on Brisson's 20th goal of the season.
Not wanting to be outdone by his classmate, Beniers finished off an artful tic-tac-toe passing play exactly two minutes later by tapping a backdoor feed into a wide-open net -- his 20th goal of the season -- which bumped Michigan's lead to 4-1 just 2:43 into the middle frame. Brisson picked up his third point of the game with the primary helper while Johnson earned his second assist on as many goals.
After Brisson and Beniers joined the single-season 20-goal club mere minutes apart, the duo became Michigan's first pair with 20-plus goals apiece since 2015-16 when Kyle Connor (35) and Tyler Motte (32) combined for 67 goals.
Following a Wolverine turnover near the opposing blue line, AIC's counterattack produced a second goal for the Yellow Jackets. The initial attempt was denied by Portillo before a second skater found the rebound and slipped it five-hole to make it a 4-2 game at 6:15 of the second period.
Continuing the frantic, high-scoring pace of the first half of the middle frame, Dylan Duke notched a goal to regain Michigan's three-goal lead, making it 5-2 just 28 seconds after the Jackets had appeared to dull U-M's momentum with their second goal of the game. Power and Mackie Samoskevich assisted on Duke's critical fifth goal in a clear response to AIC.
In the latter half of the second period, the Michigan penalty killers were tested when a pair of infractions resulted in back-to-back power plays for AIC. First, it was Samoskevich being whistled for slashing with 8:37 left to go, and with 20 seconds left in the five-on-four advantage, Van Wyhe was sent off for hooking. The Maize and Blue penalty kill was stout and turned each aside to force the Yellow Jackets into an 0-2 start with the man-advantage.
With 20 minutes left to play in Allentown's first regional semifinal of the day, U-M had jumped out to a 5-2 lead, fueled by a 26-20 advantage in shots on goal as well as a 30-21 lead in faceoffs. AIC was 0-2 on the power play while Michigan was 1-2.
The bulk of the third period featured back-and-forth play without altering the scoreline before Van Wyhe was called for his second minor penalty with 6:43 left in regulation. AIC capitalized 31 seconds later with its first power-play goal of the game to make it 5-3 with 6:12 remaining.
Samoskevich had a crisp wrist shot hit the post, his second of the game, with 2:15 left to play while the Yellow Jackets desperately searched for a fourth goal to pull within one.
AIC emptied their net with 2:06 remaining and a faceoff in the Michigan end. Six Yellow Jackets attacked while Portillo and five teammates laid everything on the line to preserve the Michigan lead. Nick Blankenburg was sent off with 31 seconds left for cross-checking, but U-M settled down to put the finishing touches on a 5-3 tournament win and advance to Sunday's game against the winner of Quinnipiac/St. Cloud State with a bid to the Frozen Four on the line.
In two days' time, Michigan will return to the ice in Allentown, Pa. for the Midwest Regional Championship game at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of second-seeded Quinnipiac and third-seeded St. Cloud. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2Â with Clay Matvick and Sean Ritchlin on the call. This year, the Men's Frozen Four will be held at Boston's TD Garden on April 7 & 9, 2022.
