ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Niagara hockey team was handed a 6-0 drubbing by the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines on November 22 at the Yost Ice Arena.
Despite being down 3-0 heading into the final period, the game was tightly contested as U-M held a slim 24-23 advantage in shots. Michigan’s third period scoring outburst however, dug the Purple Eagles into a 6-0 hole to keep NU winless on the road thus far. The loss drops the Purple Eagles to 3-8-1 on the season, while the Wolverines improve to 8-2-1 overall.
“It was a classic game. It came down to Michigan being able to capitalize on all its great opportunities on some really good plays by some really good players, and we weren’t able to,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “The scoreboard doesn’t really reflect how the game was played. It was a pretty good game for both sides. The shots were even and the scoring chances were even, but we weren’t able to capitalize on the chances we had.”
Michigan wasted no time in putting a dent on the scoreboard, scoring 34 seconds into the contest to grab a 1-0 lead. Derek DeBlois corralled a cross-ice feed at the near boards, and dished a pass across the top of the blue paint to Tyler Motte who buried it past Niagara goaltender Jackson Teichroeb for his fifth tally of the season.
Michigan brought its fans to its feet for the second time in the opening frame with 3:50 remaining as Andrew Copp scored his sixth goal of the year via assists by Motte and Phil Di Giuseppe. Picking up a cross-ice feed from Motte at the blue line, Di Giuseppe skated to the top of the right circle before sneaking the puck through traffic to Copp who tucked it inside the far post before Teichroeb could get there.
Despite being down a pair of goals, Niagara headed into the first break with a slim 11-10 advantage in shots. Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play.
It was all Niagara in the opening half of the second period, outshooting its opponent 7-5 in the first 10 minutes, but despite the Purple Eagles’ offensive efforts it was Michigan that found the back of the net, increasing its cushion to three goals with 9:30 remaining in the second. Latching onto the rebound from an unsuccessful shot from linemate Luke Moffatt, Alex Kile one-timed the puck top shelf to make it 3-0.
Isaac Kohls registered the Purple Eagles’ best opportunity after the third U-M goal, racing in on Nagelvoort, unleashing a backhand at the top of the crease that was snuffed by the Michigan goalie.
The opening minutes of the final period was a mirror image of the second, as the Purple Eagles came out with several golden chances including a 2-on-1 opportunity that resulted in Patrick Divjak‘s one-timer from the slot being pushed aside by Nagelvoort. Niagara’s hopes in a comeback diminished about midway through the frame as Michigan received a pair of goals from Alex Guptill and Copp added his second of the game in a span of five minutes.
Teichroeb wrapped up the evening with 32 saves. The shot advantage was held by Michigan, getting 38 looks on net compared to Niagara’s 36. The Purple Eagles went 0-for-2 on the power play, and Michigan went 1-for-3 while on the man advantage.
