Albany, N.Y. — The top-ranked Michigan Wolverines are headed back to the Frozen Four after taking down No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 4-3 in the NCAA Albany Regional Final Sunday at MVP Arena.
This marks Michigan’s 4th appearance in the Frozen Four over the last five years after not making the tournament at all last season.
“What a great win for Michigan, just super proud of these guys and all the work and effort they put in all year, how tight this group is,” said Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato. “Having the luxury of celebrating these moments is what it’s all about.”
It only took the Wolverines just over three minutes to make their mark in this one, as Ben Robertson let the puck fly at the near point and Will Horcoff tips it off the far post and in.
The redirection beat UMD netminder Adam Gajan (stopped 23 of 27 shots faced), putting Michigan up 1-0.
It was the special teams that kept the train steaming for Michigan, as they scored back-to-back goals that came just 71 seconds apart around the mid-way point of the first period.
It started as the No. 1 power play in the nation got the man advantage, with Nick Moldenhauer connecting with Adam Valentini on a beautiful cross-ice feed, allowing Valentini to blast home the one-timer at the 11:24 mark.
After the Michigan power play, Minnesota-Duluth found itself on the man advantage, ranked No. 2 in the country, facing Michigan’s No. 35-ranked penalty kill. Still, the only numbers that mattered were shorthanded goals. The Wolverines had 10 coming into the night and added an 11th with Garrett Schifsky forcing a turnover and taking it in alone to bury the 3rd first period goal for Michigan at the 12:33 mark.
“I think our PK’s been very good all year… in the biggest moments this season our PK has gotten the job done,” Head Coach Naurato.
Headed into the second period, UMD continued to provide pressure and create scoring chances against Michigan. But it wasn’t enough, as the Wolverines held a three-goal lead.
Heading into the third period, Minnesota-Duluth had a power play carry over from the second and the Bulldogs took advantage striking just seconds after the man advantage expired. 35 seconds into the period it was Harper Bentz crashing down the slot off a nice feed from Zam Plante to beat Jack Ivankovic (stopped 30 of 33 shots faced) to get UMD back within two.
Not too long after the Bulldogs got on the board, Michigan put its foot back on the gas with Jayden Perron scoring on a 2-on-1 chance to extend the Wolverines lead back up three at the 3:07 mark of the third.
To this point, the UMD power play was 0-3 against the Wolverines’ penalty kill on the night, but the Bulldogs found themselves back on the man advantage. Ty Hanson danced in and beat Ivankovic to get the Minnesota-Duluth back within two as time started to run out.
UMD found a new gear mid-way through the period, and it continued to carry Scott Truman, who buried home the loose puck to make it a one-score game with 3:04 left in regulation.
“I think this is such a resilient group that hates to lose we know that our only chance to win those guys is to keep clawing and get back in them,” UMD forward Zam Plante.
Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato and his staff elected to challenge the goal to see if there was goaltender interference. The play was under review, and the call on the ice stood.
“For us as a staff, that’s 50/50… even if it doesn’t go our way, it’s trying to shift momentum,” head coach Naurato.
Minnesota-Duluth went on to pull Gajan to bring on the extra skater, having a multitude of chances to tie it late. But in the end, it wasn’t enough as Michigan held on to beat UMD 4-3, punching their ticket to the Frozen Four.
“Sometimes you have to go through these tough losses to really realize number one how hard it is to do, but we have a group that will dig in,” UMD head coach Scott Sandelin.
The Wolverines will have a break before the Frozen Four begins on April 9th against the Denver Pioneers.