The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541451
DECEMBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 43 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE M ichigan is No. 2 in the USCHO Di- vision I poll as of Nov. 17, placed in that spot four consecutive weeks, behind only No. 1 Michigan State. The Wolverines are one of four Big Ten teams in the top 20, joined by the Spartans, No. 5 Penn State and No. 7 Wisconsin. The Wolverines are 11-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, having split each of their last two series against conference foes, versus Wisconsin Nov. 7-8 and Penn State Nov. 14-15. Prior to those games, the Wolverines had won nine of their first 10 games, with the lone loss coming at then-No. 2 Western Michi- gan, 5-2, on Oct. 24 after beating the Broncos, 4-0, the previous night. WMU won the national champion- ship last season, and while head coach Brandon Naurato wanted a sweep, he also learned early in the season that the Wolverines will be able to contend against the nation's best. "I'm not happy with the loss, but there are also no glaring issues," Nau- rato told The Michigan Daily. "We got beat by a good team, and we've got to clean up some stuff." Naurato set up Michigan's noncon- ference schedule with an eye toward challenging his team in preparation for the Big Ten slate. He was happy with the way the Wolverines built some early- season momentum. "Practice has been really good, high intensity, not getting comfortable and thinking we haven't accomplished anything," he said in late October. "So, we're just staying hungry and trying to get better every day." Michigan's split against Penn State featured a 7-1 win in the first game, a dominant performance and bounce- back game from freshman goalie Jack Ivankovic, who had a season-low .800 save percentage the previous game, a 6-1 loss to Wisconsin. Ivankovic earned his 11th victory in 13 games as a Wolverine versus the Nittany Lions, saving 26 of 27 shots. The Wolverines' offense failed them in the following contest, a 4-2 loss. They fell behind 3-0 and had to climb out of a hole, crawling back within one point on a goal by junior forward Jayden Perron (assist to senior T.J. Hughes). Perron's goal came with just under four minutes to go, but U-M couldn't get over the hump. Naurato's club hosts Ohio State Nov. 21-22 before jumping back into noncon- ference play with a Nov. 28-29 series at Harvard. WILL HORCOFF LEADS HIGH-OCTANE U-M ATTACK Sophomore forward Will Horcoff leads the nation with 13 goals and is one of only six players nationally with double-digit tallies at this point in the season. He's setting the tone for a Wol- verines offense that checks in first in the country at 5 goals per game. Only one other team — Dartmouth (4.3) — is reg- istering over 4 goals per contest, show- ing just how dominant the Wolverines have been. U-M's power play has been elite, scor- ing at 31.7 percent rate to slot third in the country, behind St. Cloud State and Wisconsin, two squads that are tied at 32.7 percent. Horcoff has been the catalyst overall, notching 3 game-winning goals, and has become a headache-inducer for oppos- ing netminders. "I grew up playing against him," Ivankovic told The Michigan Daily. "So, we kind of always knew each other and always had good battles. He's got an un- believable shot. It's good, friendly com- petition between the two of us." ❏ ❱ MICHIGAN HOCKEY Wolverines Ranked No. 2 Nationally Sophomore forward Will Horcoff led the nation with 13 goals in 14 games through mid-November, and U-M also checked in first in the country as a team at 5 goals per game. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY