ALLENTOWN, PA — The 2023 NCAA Allentown Regional championship game will be an all-Big Ten affair.
Third-ranked Michigan ran away from Colgate on Saturday night, with no less than seven second-period scores, en route to an 11-1 victory that advanced the Wolverines to the regional final against host school and Big Ten rival Penn State.
“It was a good win,” said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato. “I’m proud of the guys’ effort, and we’re looking forward to Sunday.”
Michigan recorded the first seven shots on goal of the game, while Colgate’s first shot came shorthanded with Ethan Manderville in the box for tripping. A clearing pass from the Raiders’ defensive zone sent Ross Mitton off on a two-on-one opportunity with Colton Young, but Mitton’s shot from the left circle was stopped by Michigan netminder Erik Portillo.
The Wolverines broke through midway in the opening stanza when Luke Hughes picked up the puck from Nolan Moyle, skated down the right side and around Colgate’s net, and then dished off in front to Nick Granowicz, who slammed it home for a 1-0 lead at 9:40.
“I knew going in we had our hands full,” said Colgate coach Don Vaughan. “They’re pretty good.”
Young had a chance to tie it up for the Raiders in the final minute of the first period, when he found a clear lane to Portillo up the middle in Michigan’s end, but he mishandled the puck and couldn’t get a shot off.
“I liked our first period. We were defending well,” said Vaughan. “If any of those go in, maybe it’s a little different.”
Outshot 17-7 over the opening 20 minutes, ECAC Hockey champion Colgate got another solid chance in the first five minutes of the second session. Mitton broke in against two Michigan defenders and then cut back to his right before getting off a wrister that Portillo gloved down.
It turned out to be pretty much Colgate’s last hurrah in what was still a close contest at the time.
Michigan made it a three-goal game soon afterwards, as Eric Ciccolini cleaned up a loose puck in front of Colgate goaltender Carter Gylander on a power play at 7:33, and Adam Fantilli followed 45 seconds later with an unassisted wrist shot from the left circle for his 28th goal of the season.
The Wolverines were nowhere near done.
Frank Nazar III, Mark Estapa, and Rutger McGroarty all scored from in close in a span of just 85 seconds to make it 6-0 for the two-time Big Ten tournament champions, prompting Vaughan to call his timeout. It didn’t seem to help, as with just over four minutes remaining in the second session, Gavin Brindley took T.J. Hughes’ right-wing feed off of his skate in the high slot, then fired the puck past Gylander for a 7-0 advantage.
A minute later with Fantilli off for tripping, Luke Hughes scored shorthanded on a solo effort to temporarily drive Gylander from Colgate’s net in favor of Andrew Takacs. Michigan’s seven second-period goals came on just 19 shots on goal.
“That’s been our message all season,” said Naurato. “We always try to create chaos and go to the net, and keep sticking to the game plan.”
Colgate finally got on the board three minutes into the third period when Young passed from the right wing over to Nic Belpedio at the left point and Belpedio stepped around a defender before wristing a high shot past Portillo.
After Colgate’s Alex Young received a major penalty for butt-ending midway through the third stanza, Michigan responded with three straight power-play tallies from Luke Hughes, Dylan Duke and McGroarty in less than three minutes to put Michigan up by double digits and finish the scoring. Luke Hughes led all Wolverine skaters with five points on two goals and three assists, while T.J. Hughes and Seamus Casey also posted three assists apiece.
For Colgate (19-16-5 overall), Saturday marked the end of a Cinderella run that included the Raiders’ first ECAC Hockey postseason crown since 1990.
“One game will not define our group,” said Vaughan, who finished his 30th season behind the Colgate bench. “Disappointing tonight, yes, but I’m still really proud of our group and what they accomplished.”
The Raiders also had a sizable cheering contingent of their own in Allentown among the announced attendance of 7,067.
“They’ve been following us around all season, and they came all the way from Colgate,” said Raiders senior forward Arnaud Vachon. “They had our backs, despite the score, and we’re thankful for them.”
Michigan (25-11-3 overall), winners of five straight games, outshot Colgate 52-21 and went 4-for-6 with the man advantage. The Wolverines will now meet Penn State on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. for the right to go to the NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa in two weeks’ time.
Michigan took three of four regular-season meetings from the Nittany Lions, with two of those games decided by one goal.
“I think we learned a lot playing those guys,” said Luke Hughes. “We ‘re going to give it to them Sunday, and we’re all really excited.”
