{"id":134123,"date":"2022-03-25T18:23:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T23:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=134123"},"modified":"2022-03-25T18:56:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T23:56:42","slug":"start-proves-critical-as-no-1-overall-seed-michigan-gets-past-american-international-in-ncaa-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/03\/25\/start-proves-critical-as-no-1-overall-seed-michigan-gets-past-american-international-in-ncaa-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Start proves critical as No. 1 overall seed Michigan gets past American International in NCAA tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Michigan and American International players spar for the puck after a faceoff Friday (photo: Bob Shank).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — After missing out on last season\u2019s big dance due to COVID complications, this year\u2019s top-ranked team didn\u2019t waste any time making its presence known in its return to the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

Big Ten playoff champion Michigan, with a lineup featuring no less than a dozen NHL draft choices, defeated 16th-seeded American International 5-3 in Friday\u2019s first semifinal contest of the 2022 NCAA Allentown Regional at the PPL Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got off to a good start,\u201d Michigan coach Mel Pearson said. \u201cWe were ready to play and it was the first NCAA experience for a lot of our guys.”<\/p>\n

Garrett Van Wyhe opened the scoring for the Wolverines just 3:37 into the contest when he corralled a deflected puck in the slot and beat AIC netminder Alec Calvaruso up high. Just 39 seconds later, Matty Beniers came up with the puck in the right corner of the AIC zone and passed across to Ethan Edwards, who dropped down uncontested from the left point and wristed home a shot on Calvaruso\u2019s stick side.<\/p>\n

Michigan continued to dominate possession time as the first period wore on, outshooting AIC 10-3 at one point, before the Atlantic Hockey champion Yellow Jackets got going offensively.<\/p>\n

Blake Bennett was sprung on a breakaway from center ice with just under eight minutes left in the opening stanza, but his backhand attempt was stopped by Michigan goaltender Erik Portillo. Less than half a minute later, AIC regained the offensive zone, with Portillo forced to make a save on a Zak Galambos shot from the left point. The rebound, however, caromed around the crease area until it was knocked home by Brian Rigali, with the other assist going to Bennett.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about just staying in the fight,\u201d AIC coach Eric Lang said. \u201cI\u2019m as proud today as I was at any game we won this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

A penalty for interference on AIC\u2019s Brian Kramer at the end of the first period, however, set the stage for Michigan to regain its two-goal lead. Just 43 seconds into both the power play and the second stanza, No. 1 NHL draft choice Owen Power fed Brendan Brisson in the right circle for a one-timer and a 3-1 lead on Brisson\u2019s 20th goal of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial teams are so important, and we\u2019re confident in our power play and our penalty kill,\u201d said Brisson.<\/p>\n

Exactly two minutes later, Brisson and Kent Johnson teamed up to set up Beniers for his 20th goal on a back-door tap-in that made it 4-1 for Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou give them a power play on a fresh sheet of ice, they\u2019re going to make you pay,\u201d said Lang.<\/p>\n

AIC refused to go away, however, and cut the lead in half again when Justin Young picked up a loose puck in the left circle, cut across the crease and put the puck between Portillo\u2019s pads at 6:15. The Wolverines, however, responded just 28 seconds later when Power set up Dylan Duke for a short shot inside the left post to make it 5-2, with the goal holding up following a subsequent official review.<\/p>\n

The Yellow Jackets couldn\u2019t convert on overlapping power plays late in the second period and were still down three goals before Bennett connected on a man advantage with 6:12 remaining in regulation for the only score of the third period.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenny came up big for us and I\u2019m proud of him,\u201d said AIC forward Justin Cole.<\/p>\n

It was AIC\u2019s last hurrah even as the Yellow Jackets outshot Michigan 32-31, including 25-16 over the final two periods.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to compliment AIC,\u201d said Pearson. \u201cThey gave us some fits. They\u2019re really good, and they proved it tonight. … Erik (Portillo) made a difference in this game.”<\/p>\n

Calvaruso, who was pulled for an extra attacker with just over two minutes left, finished with 26 saves in goal for AIC, which was playing in its third straight NCAA tournament and concluded the season at 22-13-3.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlec kept us in the game,\u201d said AIC forward Luka Maver. \u201cHe\u2019s my roommate and one of my best friends, and it was an outstanding performance by him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portillo finished with 29 stops. He and the Wolverines improved to 30-9-1. Michigan will meet the winner of Friday’s nightcap between Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State in the regional final on Sunday for the right to go to the Frozen Four in Boston in two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to Mel and Michigan,\u201d said Lang. \u201cYou may be looking at one of the best college hockey teams ever assembled.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Goals by Garrett Van Wyhe and Ethan Edwards 39 seconds apart early in the first period set the Wolverines on their way in the Allentown Regional semifinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":134126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[949],"tags":[812,1682],"coauthors":[888],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStart proves critical as No. 1 overall seed Michigan gets past American International in NCAA tournament - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Goals by Garrett Van Wyhe and Ethan Edwards 39 seconds apart early in the first period set the Wolverines on their way in the Allentown Regional semifinals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Start proves critical as No. 1 overall seed Michigan gets past American International in NCAA tournament - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Goals by Garrett Van Wyhe and Ethan Edwards 39 seconds apart early in the first period set the Wolverines on their way in the Allentown Regional semifinals.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T23:23:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T23:56:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/faceoff-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1858\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roman J. 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