The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 45 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE C oming off splitting a series at Penn State Feb. 16-17, Michigan had quite a bit of work to do to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 41st time in history. Since then, the Maize and Blue have won six of their last seven games and are in the Big Ten Tournament title game for the third consecutive season. As a result, the Pairwise Probability Ma- trix gives them a 100 percent chance to make the NCAA Tournament and proj- ects them as the No. 10 overall seed. During the late-season surge, Michi- gan notched two ranked victories, both over Minnesota in Minneapolis — one in the regular season March 2 (6-5 in over- time) and the other coming in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals March 16 (2-1). Michigan swept Notre Dame in a best- of-three series in the Big Ten quarterfi- nals, winning 5-4 and 4-3 in Ann Arbor, before taking down the Golden Gophers. In-state rival Michigan State awaits in the Big Ten championship game March 23 in East Lansing. Michigan has gotten hot at the right time under second-year head coach Brandon Naurato, who led his team to the Big Ten Tournament title last year, before reaching the NCAA Frozen Four. Michigan can make it three consecutive Big Ten championships and Frozen Four appearances if all goes according to plan in the coming weeks. STRONG THIRD PERIODS HELP MICHIGAN ADVANCE After some third-period woes earlier in the season, Michigan has started to finish off games on the right note, which is significant for the team's psyche down the stretch. The Wolverines scored two third-period goals to come back and beat Notre Dame in the first of two wins over the Fighting Irish in the quarterfinals, before breaking a 3-3 tie with a goal by sophomore forward Gavin Brindley in a 4-3 triumph the following night. "We closed out two games this week- end," sophomore forward T.J. Hughes, who had 2 goals in the second win over Notre Dame, told The Michigan Daily. "That's huge for us, huge for our mental- ity, huge for our confidence. We're just going to build on that. We know we can close out games now and we can all trust each other now. So, we're gonna keep this rolling and keep rolling." The next weekend in Minneapolis, Michigan guarded its 2-0 edge head- ing into the third, surrendering one goal late but staving off the Golden Gophers' other chances to secure the win. Goaltender Jake Barczewski, a gradu- ate transfer from Canisius, has had an up-and-down first season in the Big Ten. He showed up huge late in the wins over Notre Dame, as did the defensive effort that included a diving poke by Brindley to clear the puck out of the zone. Barczewski then saved 95.8 percent of Minnesota's shots to help send the Wolverines to East Lansing. GAVIN BRINDLEY, SEAMUS CASEY NAMED FINALISTS FOR BIG TEN AWARDS The Big Ten announced March 13 the finalists for its hockey postseason indi- vidual awards, and two Wolverines made the cut. Sophomore forward Gavin Brind- ley is one of three up for Player of the Year honors, along with Michigan State defen- seman Artyom Levshunov and Wisconsin netminder Kyle McClellan. Sophomore defenseman Seamus Casey, meanwhile, is one of three finalists for the Defen- sive Player of the Year award, along with Levshunov and Wisconsin forward Owen Lindmark. Brindley leads the Big Ten in goals (24) and his 51 points have him tied for first with fellow U-M sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty. Casey was tied as the nation's top- scoring defenseman with 44 points (7 goals, 37 assists). The Big Ten postseason awards will be announced on March 19. ❏ ❱ MICHIGAN HOCKEY Michigan Playing Its Best Hockey Late In Season Sophomore forward Gavin Brindley's 24th goal of the season in the Big Ten Tournament semi- final at Minnesota March 16 was the game winner to send Michigan to a title game show- down at Michigan State March 23. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Date Opponent Time (ET) Oct. 7 Providence L, 4-2 Oct. 8 Providence W, 5-4 Oct. 13 at UMass W, 7-2 Oct. 14 at UMass L, 6-3 Oct. 20 Ohio State W, 7-1 Oct. 21 Ohio State T, 2-2 (SO, L) Oct. 27 Lindenwood W, 9-1 Oct. 28 Lindenwood W, 10-1 Nov. 3 at Wisconsin L, 5-4 Nov. 4 at Wisconsin L, 2-1 Nov. 10 Minnesota L, 4-3 Nov. 11 Minnesota T, 2-2 (SO, W) Nov. 17 Penn State W, 6-4 Nov. 18 Penn State L, 5-3 Nov. 24 at St. Cloud State W, 2-0 Nov. 25 at St. Cloud State T, 3-3 Dec. 1 at Notre Dame L, 6-1 Dec. 2 at Notre Dame W, 2-1 Jan. 6 at U.S. NTDP U-18 Team (exhib.) W, 5-1 Jan. 12 Stonehill W, 12-4 Jan. 13 Stonehill W, 7-1 Jan. 19 at Michigan State W, 7-1 Jan. 20 Michigan State L, 7-5 Jan. 26 Wisconsin W, 5-1 Jan. 27 Wisconsin L, 6-5 (OT) Feb. 2 at Ohio State W, 4-2 Feb. 3 at Ohio State W, 4-1 Feb. 9 Michigan State L, 5-1 Feb. 10 vs. Michigan State^ L, 3-2 Feb. 16 at Penn State W, 5-3 Feb. 17 at Penn State L, 4-2 Feb. 23 Notre Dame W, 4-0 Feb. 24 Notre Dame W, 2-1 Mar. 1 at Minnesota L, 6-2 Mar. 2 at Minnesota W, 6-5 (OT) Mar. 8 Notre Dame* W, 5-4 Mar. 9 Notre Dame* W, 4-3 Mar. 16 at Minnesota** W, 2-1 Mar. 23 at Michigan State*** 8 p.m. ^ Duel in the D, Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, * Big Ten Quarterfinals, ** Big Ten Semifinal, *** Big Ten Championship 2023-24 MICHIGAN HOCKEY SCHEDULE