West Scores Twice in Thrilling Win Over No.20 Arizona

DEARBORN, Mich. – The No.16 University of Michigan-Dearborn (4-5-0, 3-1-0) men's ice hockey team played a thriller against No.20 University of Arizona (2-3-0) on Friday (Oct. 21). Brendan West scored in overtime to give the Maize & Blue the 3-2 victory. 

West wasted no time getting to work as he buried one past the Wildcat goaltender just 1:43 into the game. West weaved through the UofA defenders and slotted one right under the bar to put the Wolverines ahead early. However, UofA would tie it up four minutes later when they scored on the man advantage. 

With the game tied up at one heading into the second period the Wolverines relied on a rookie to give them some life. Vinny Sensoli scored his first goal in the Maize & Blue after Quest Bigelow found him with an open net, and Sensoli deposited it past the goaltender. However, as they had done all night, the Wildcats would respond. Dearborn had just killed off a five-minute major and was racing to regroup in their defensive zone when UofA made timely passes to beat Dearborn goaltender Eric Polzin to tie the contest at two apiece. However, neither team would score in the final period and needed five extra minutes to decide the winner. 

Head Coach Chris Haltinner went back to his bread and butter and relied on his top line to get the job done in the 3v3 portion of the game. The line of Khudenko, West, and Cullinan had delivered all year, and they did the same when the Wolverines needed it most, as Joey Cullinan found West wide and ripped a pass to the tape of West's stick, and he laced it home just 1:20 into the overtime period. 

Eric Polzin (1-2-0) was dynamite in net for the Wolverines, making countless key saves and keeping the Wolverines' chances alive all night. 

Up Next

The Wolverines get back into WHAC play as they head to Howell, Mich., on Friday (Oct. 28) for the first game of a home-and-home series against Cleary.