ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sunday afternoon’s 3-2 win by Michigan over Mercyhurst was eerily reminiscent of Friday night’s series opener between the two for the first two periods.
In each game, neither team was able to build more than a one-goal lead. Michigan widely outshot Mercyhurst and Lakers goalie Brandon Wildung held the Lakers in the game with his goaltending.
On Friday night, Michigan scored two third-period goals to ice the game.
On Sunday, Mercyhurst played better and better as the game progressed and the Wolverines had to battle defensively in a tight struggle to pull out the game.
Michigan did just that, holding Mercyhurst off the scoreboard in the final 20 minutes, including a crucial late penalty kill to ensure the victory.
“We got the faceoff,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson of the late special teams work. “We got the puck out [of our zone]. It was a part of the game where you could sense desperation and I like our team when they play desperate.”
Mercyhurst coach Rich Gotkin said of his team’s progress through the game, “It’s that time of year where we’re really trying to learn about our team. With all our young guys, it is really a big learning process.
“In the first period, we just stood around and watched Michigan play hockey. So, we went in [at intermission] and challenged them. We challenged them for the first time this year. We challenged them to play better and I was very excited that they were able to do that. They were better in the second period and even better in the third period.”
The Wolverines dominated the first period offensively right from the opening whistle and outshot the Lakers 19-5 in the first 20 minutes. Like he did in Friday night’s series opener, Wildung stopped most of the rubber flying at him, turning aside all but one of the Michigan volleys.
Michigan defenseman Michael Downing’s shot from the left point late in the period bounced off Wildung to Alex Kile, who buried the rebound from close range, giving the Wolverines a 1-0 on their 16th shot of the period. The goal was Kile’s first of the young season.
A rejuvenated Mercyhurst squad fought back in the second stanza, playing the Wolverines to a 2-2 draw in the period.
Early in a power-play opportunity at 1:52 of the second period, the Lakers’ John Riley banged home a rebound off Kyle Cook’s big shot from the point.
Just over three minutes later, Michigan re-captured the lead, 2-1, on a two-man game between Evan Allen and Max Shuart. Shuart’s cross-ice pass inside found Allen in the circle to Wildung’s left. Allen made no mistake with the shot, burying the puck in the open net.
Mercyhurst again fought back to knot the game at 2-2 when Taylor Best’s booming shot on a two-on-one break bounced to Jonathan Charbonneau for easy deposit in the net.
The teeter-totter scoring continued when Kyle Connor re-established Michigan’s lead at 3-2 at 15:51. The Wolverine freshman took Justin Selman’s pass on his wrong wing and used the angle he created to pot the go-ahead goal, his third off the two-game series.
The Lakers did gain strength throughout the game, yet failed to score in that crucial final period as Michigan preserved their one-goal margin and earned a weekend sweep of the two-game home set.
While Mercyhurst played Wildung in goal and he rewarded them with a second straight 40-plus save game, Michigan switched from Steve Racine, Friday night’s starter, to Zach Nagelvoort.,who turned aside 19 of the 21 shots directed his way.
“We made that decision last night,” Berenson said of the switch in goal. “I thought he [Nagelvoort] played fine. He wasn’t tested a lot. When he was, at crucial times in isolated chances, he was good. But I have said all along, we have two goalies that can play, so don’t be surprised if you see both of them. If one of them gets really hot, we’ll play the hot goalie.”
