Michigan
26-11-3
Penn State
22-16-1
U-M Clinches Record 27th Frozen Four Bid in Comeback OT Win Over Penn State
3/26/2023 10:45:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Michigan clinched the program's NCAA-record 27th all-time Frozen Four appearance with a 2-1 overtime win over Penn State in the Midwest Regional Final.
» Sophomore Mackie Samoskevich had two points, including the game-winning goal in OT.
» Adam Fantilli scored his 29th goal of the season to tie the game with under eight minutes left in regulation.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Sophomore Mackie Samoskevich etched his name in the history books on Sunday evening (March 26) at the NCAA Midwest Regional Final in Allentown, as the sniper delivered an overtime goal for the second-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team against the 11th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions at the PPL Center.
The Wolverines came back from a 1-0 deficit after two periods to send the game to overtime. Samoskevich scored just 52 seconds into OT to clinch the program's NCAA-record 27th all-time appearance in the Frozen Four.Â
Junior goaltender Erik Portillo put together one of his best performances of the season in a fantastic 31-save effort to earn his 60th win in Maize and Blue while ceding just one goal.
The Wolverines (26-11-3) didn't need to use much of their program-record 12th overtime of the season. On an early rush in the first minute of the extra session, Samoskevich danced across the blue line before cutting into the slot and leaning into a rocket of a snapshot that beat PSU's goaltender to send the Wolverines flying off the bench as a group in jubilant celebration. His classmate, Dylan Duke, and the freshman blue liner, Seamus Casey, assisted on Samoskevich's game-winning marker to earn Michigan's 27th all-time Frozen Four appearance. The celebration was hardly impacted by a late challenge, which resulted in the call standing and the goal counting.
Sophomore blueliner Ethan Edwards, along with a large number of fans at the PPL Center, thought he opened the scoring with a strike off the bar in the latter half of the first period, but play carried on while it was determined that his shot rang off the outside post and never crossed the goal line. Later in the period, another Wolverine nearly broke the ice for U-M when freshman Seamus Casey sent a clever pass to his classmate, Rutger McGroarty, at the netfront area, but a defender's stick disrupted the pass and dismissed the chance.
Late in the second period with 5:20 remaining, Portillo was bumped at the corner of his crease by a PSU skater to earn a second power-play chance for the Wolverines. Halfway through the advantage, Adam Fantilli nearly scored for Michigan when he rang a shot off the crossbar from the bottom of the right circle. For the second time in as many tries, the U-M power-play unit was unable to convert with the extra skater.
Michigan was called for a minor penalty with 1:28 left in the second period. Twenty-six seconds later, the Nittany Lions opened the scoring at 18:58 to take a 1-0 lead on the power play by crashing the net and banging a rebound past a sprawling Portillo.
The Wolverines ended the second period with a flurry of chances in the Penn State end, but the Nittany Lions (22-16-1) kept the puck out of the net to carry a one-goal lead into the dressing room for the second intermission.
Gavin Brindley continued his strong effort by driving to the net after the halfway point of the third period had passed. The freshman winger drove to the net from the right flank and drew a holding penalty when the PSU defender chose to obstruct Brindley's progress and take the penalty.
For Michigan, the fourth time was a charm when Fantilli finished off a great sequence from the team's power-play unit to tie the game from below the right circle with 7:52 left in regulation. McGroarty and Samoskevich assisted on Fantilli's 29th tally of the season.Â
With the 29th goal of his freshman campaign, Fantilli moved into a tie with Gord McMillan for fourth-most goals scored by a Wolverine freshman.
Sixty minutes of play were not enough to determine a champion for the NCAA Midwest Regional, so the teams retreated to their respective locker rooms for a 15-minute intermission before returning to play a 5x5, sudden-death overtime, which featured Samoskevich's game-winner.Â
Luke Hughes was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Regional, with Fantilli and McGroarty earning places on the All-Tournament Team.
In two weeks, the Big Ten Tournament and Midwest Regional champions will fly south for the 2023 Frozen Four in the Wolverines' hunt for their 10th national championship. The games will be played on Thursday and Saturday (April 6th & 8th) at Tampa's Amalie Arena, home of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. After Minnesota meets Boston University in the day's first semifinal on Thursday (April 6), Michigan will play Quinnipiac at 8:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN2.
