MARLBOROUGH, Mass.-- No. 17 University of Michigan-Dearborn men's ice hockey team opening up their first round in the ACHA National Tournament on Thursday (Mar. 16) against No. 16 Lawrence Tech. The matchup would mark the sixth meeting between the two teams this season, with the Wolverines coming out victorious in four out of five contests. However, this matchup would prove the same as the Wolverines soared to a 5-2 victory at the NESC Ice Arena.
The Wolverines began the contest on their heels as the Blue Devils scored the opening goal five minutes into the game. After that, UM-Dearborn would turn up the pressure and create numerous chances in the offensive zone. However, the team's first goal came as Josh Makarchuk skated down the left wing and drove to the net, chasing after a bouncing puck. No Blue Devil defenders picked up the Canadian blue liner, and he lifted the puck into the net to tie the game at one apiece.
The second period was all Wolverines. UM-Dearborn finally lit the lamp on the power play after three unsuccessful attempts to start the game. Blake Petterle ripped a shot from the blue line and guided it through traffic to give UM-Dearborn the 2-1 lead just over the halfway mark in the second period. Bailey Byrd and Joey Cullinan provided assists. On the brink of intermission, Quest Bigelow seemingly capped off the contest as he provided what ended up being the game-winning goal as he fired in a wrist shot off a Makarchuk assist, making it 3-1.
The special teams unit would again light the lamp as Byrd got in on the scoring action after he was a nuisance in the offensive zone all night. Byrd took a Brendan West pass in the slot and roofed it over the Blue Devil netminder giving the Wolverines the 4-1 advantage. LTU would get one back less than a minute later. However, with the Blue Devils pressuring in the Wolverine defensive zone, Kieran O'Connell laid out and swiped the puck away from a driving Blue Devil attacker and onto the stick of Brendan West, who fired a shot from the red line into an empty net to put the game on ice.
The Wolverines are back in action on Friday (Mar. 17) as they take on the top-seeded Minot State Beavers at 8 pm.
