College Hockey Update: Michigan prevailed over Pennsylvania State 2-1 in second round action of the NCAA Hockey tournament in the Bridgeport, Connecticut Region, yesterday, Sunday, March 26, 2023. The game was a fast-paced back-and-forth affair in the first period; each team managed to get fourteen shots off, but the activity did not yield a score. Michigan defenseman Ethan Edwards did have a close call on a shot with four minutes left in the first, but it bounced off the left side post and out. The second period seemed to maybe let up a bit on the pace, but Michigan managed eleven shots to eight for Pennsylvania State. But this to no avail for the Wolverines, as a very late period Michigan hooking penalty was cashed in on a Nittany Lions powerplay when Pennsylvania State passed the puck from the left point to the center, and a slap shot didn’t make it in, but an alert Connor MacEachern pounced on the rebound and shot it in to give Pennsylvania State the 1-0 advantage with a minute left, the score going into the break.

Michigan was motivated, and picked up the pace a bit in the third, outshooting Pennsylvania State 16-10. Michigan didn’t manage to convert on a powerplay opportunity five minutes into the third, but got another opportunity with nine minutes left. This time another rebound presented itself to Adam Fantilli, who shot it in to tie it up at one apiece, with eight minutes left in the game, the score at the end, forcing overtime. Puck drop at the start of overtime would have been very bad timing for a trip into the kitchen to get a beer, as less than a minute into the period Mackie Samoskevich directed a wrist shot that found its way home, giving Michigan the 2-1 win. Michigan advanced to the Frozen Four in Tampa, FL. to face Quinnipiac on Thursday, April 6, 2023, at 5:30pm Pacific Time, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

OUR POOL

This outcome was not an upset in our pool, as 37 of our 49 participants picked Michigan to win this game, compared to 4 who picked Pennsylvania State to win it. Another 5 had picked Michigan Tech, and another three had picked Colgate.

That’s all for now.

Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom