Michigan Tech sweeps Michigan in Wolverines’ first visit to Houghton since 1983
By Jeremy Summitt –
HOUGHTON – In its first trip to Houghton, Mich. since 1983, Michigan suffered its first non-conference, weekend sweep in nearly 30 years.
No. 17 Michigan Tech dismantled the 15th-ranked Wolverines, jumping out to early leads in both Friday’s and Saturday’s lopsided results. On Friday, the Huskies continued to build off its early-season, defensive success behind goaltender Jamie Phillips in a 4-1 victory.
“It’s a great feeling getting that win,” senior forward Tanner Kero said. “It was a big test for us, and I think we proved that we can play against any team.”
Michigan Tech (4-0 WCHA, 6-0 overall) entered the weekend with just five goals against in four games, and Michigan never threatened to reverse that trend. The Huskies netted goals in each period of Friday’s victory and slammed the door shut with an empty-netter at the 19:16 mark of the third period.
“There’s no question they jumped all over us,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “You know one team is going to have the edge over the first 10 minutes. We tried to have that edge, but they took it away from us.”
Forward Reid Sturos got Michigan Tech rolling midway through the first frame when he barely got a piece of a pass from forward David Johnstone to slip the puck past Michigan netminder Zach Nagelvoort.
At the 7:23 mark of the second period, defenseman Cliff Watson executed a perfect cross-ice pass to forward Tanner Kero, who ripped a one-timer over Nagelvoort to give the Huskies a two-goal lead. Forward Walker Hyland added a third goal on a transition opportunity in the third period, just minutes after a controversial decision led to a disallowed goal for the Wolverines.
Forward Tyler Motte seemed to have struck twine just as Johnstone shoved the net off its moorings, but the officials didn’t deem it as an imminent goal because it hit Johnstone before going into the net. Instead of cutting the deficit in half, Michigan found itself in a three-goal hole moments after what could have been a critical momentum swing.
“This is a new one on me,” Berenson said. “(The official) said if it wouldn’t have hit their player it would have counted. I don’t know. The rule is that if it’s an imminent goal, it counts… We were starting to play better and needed a break, and that would have been it.”
The Wolverines would finally get on the board at the 10:16 mark of the final period when forward Zach Hyman drew two defensemen to his side before dishing a nice pass to forward Dylan Larkin. Within seconds of receiving the puck, Larkin sent a missile into the top corner for his second goal of the season.
Michigan Tech would finalize just its second win over Michigan since 2001 when forward Malcolm Gould hit an empty-netter from the neutral zone. The largest crowd at MacInnes Ice Arena since 1978 was well pleased and came out again in sell-out fashion for Saturday’s 6-2 drubbing over the Wolverines.
In another slow start for Michigan, the Huskies netted three goals in the first period and never looked back, scoring a total of four power-play goals in dominating fashion.
“I think they made some adjustments on their power play and give a lot of credit to them, but we’ve got to be better, block more shots,” said sophomore forward Max Shuart. “We’ve got to be willing to put it on the line more for the rest of our team. It was a really bad effort on the PK by our team.”
Johnstone would score the eventual game-winning goal — on the power play — from the left circle at the 14:28 mark of the first frame off a nice feed from forward Blake Pietila. The assist marked the first of three points on the night for Pietila.
He would hit twine himself just 7:50 into the second period on a well executed one-timer on the power play. Just minutes later, he picked up another assist on forward Alex Petan’s goal that pushed the Huskies to a commanding 5-1 lead.
Kero and forward Tyler Heinonen got the scoring going for Michigan Tech with goals just 3:04 apart in the first period. Kero scored a creative goal on a breakaway in which he juked goaltender Steve Racine and finished blocker side.
“We didn’t give up as many grade-A chances, but their first scoring chance was a breakaway,” Berenson said. “We turned over the puck at the (blue) line and they walked in on a breakaway and scored. It’s pretty hard to say we got off to a better start.”
Michigan scored just three goals all weekend in a rather disappointing offensive showing. Junior captain Andrew Copp found himself wide open in the slot midway through the first period and finished high on Phillips for his first goal of the season. Shuart showed some spark coming out of the second intermission when he hit twine for the first time in his career just 41 seconds into the final period.
But special teams were the Wolverines’ Achilles heel all night, ultimately leading to a miserable weekend. They went 0-for-7 on the power play and conceded four times while shorthanded.
“Tonight they schooled us on the penalty kill,” Berenson said. “Their power play was better than our penalty kill, simple as that. They won the faceoffs, they had puck control, they moved it well, and their shots got through. We didn’t block shots, we didn’t cover the passing lanes, and it was a clinic.”
In what could have been a salvageable weekend at the tail end of a brutal nonconference schedule — five of Michigan’s seven games have been against ranked opponents — the Wolverines fell flat on their face.
Credit is due to Michigan Tech, though, busting out of the gates in one of the biggest weekend series to be played at MacInnes Student Ice Arena in recent memory. There had been plugs on the radio for the series since this summer, and the Huskies’ fans provided a two-day spectacle for all in attendance.
“You couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” said Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson. “I feel great for our players and am so happy for our fans. To see a team as good as the University of Michigan and for us to find a way to beat them was just great.”