NTDP Under-18 Team picks up second straight win over Michigan
By Michael Caples –
ANN ARBOR – Last year, the U.S. NTDP Under-18 Team beat the Michigan Wolverines for the first time in program history.
On Thursday night, they did it again.
With two goals in the final minute of regulation, and an overtime strike from Alex Tuch, the NTDP pulled off a come-from-behind victory over the No. 3 team in the NCAA at Yost Ice Arena.
“For these guys, it’s really good,” said NTDP coach Danton Cole (Pontiac). “Historically, it’s been real hard for us to win, but this group has come a long way, and the college games are tough for them. Getting a win over anybody is good for us in the D1 games, but right here, the guys being right in the town they go to school in, there’s a little extra pride in coming out here and playing well, and the seven or eight [Wolverines] they have that played in the program, they play hard in the game, so it’s a lot of fun.”
The Wolverines held a 4-2 lead over the program they routinely recruit from, but in the final minute, Shane Gersich and Ryan Hitchcock scored for the Under-18 squad to dramatically change the course of the game.
They scored on back-up goaltender Luke Dwyer, not starter Zach Nagelvoort; the Wolverines swapped goalies just moments before the NTDP rally.
Michigan coach Red Berenson said his team didn’t provide enough help in the defensive zone after the swap.
“I thought it was a good game,” Berenson said. “I knew they were a good team, and that they’d come in here full of enthusiasm, and they showed their speed and their skill. They scored the early goal, but I liked the way we came back. For the most part, we were having a good game, and then late in the game I put in Luke Dwyer, this is putting him on the spot, but he’s one of those kids that our team is excited to see play, but they didn’t go out and help him. The goalie can’t win the game himself, so it was tough, the way things went in the last three minutes, but up until then I thought we were having a pretty good game.”
Former NTDP forward Evan Allen scored twice for the Wolverines, while Alex Kile and Michael Downing also added goals in the loss.
Dylan Pavelek, a Marysville native, had one of the regulation goals for the NTDP. Last year, Don Granato led the Under-18 Team to their first win over the Wolverines in program history. The coaches rotate through age groups, which meant it was up to Cole to build a winning streak over their Ann Arbor neighbors.
“He and Coach (Nick) Fohr, they were leaving on a road trip and they put a little pressure on us, so, we weren’t sure what was going to happen, but all good-natured.” Cole said. “Tough building for us to win in, but I think it was a good game back and forth…it’s a great atmosphere here.”
Thursday marked the third straight game where the Wolverines let a third-period lead disappear; in both their games with Ohio State, they won despite blowing leads.
“It was a string of mistakes,” said Andrew Copp, another NTDP alum. “For this to keep happening is unacceptable. It’s happened the last three games going back to the first Ohio State game. There are no excuses for us to be blowing leads like this. We’re supposed to be a defensively sound team, and this just cannot keep happening. I don’t know what the fix is, but we just need to be able to bear down and finish games.”