FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 17 University of Michigan-Dearborn men's ice hockey team hit the road to Indiana on Friday (Nov. 10) to play their first game of a home-and-home against the No. 9 Indiana Tech Warriors. The matchup marks the first of four meetings this year between the Wolverines and Warriors and a battle of two unbeaten teams in the conference sitting atop the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings.
UM-Dearborn (12-0-0, 9-0-0) needed a big game out of their top line. The Wolverines' top forward line of Brendan West, Joey Cullinan, and Bailey Byrd entered the contest, making up 108 of the Wolverines' 272 goal contributions. By night's end, the Wolverines "Big 3" added 10 more.
As he has done all year, Brendan West gave the Wolverines an early boost as he put the Wolverines on the scoresheet, scoring his 13th goal of the season with 13:25 remaining in the period. However, the Warriors were persistent in UM-Dearborns offensive zone and, with seven minutes remaining in the period, snuck one past Wolverine netminder Tanner Beals (7-0-0) to keep the game level heading into the first intermission.
Four goals were scored in the second period, two by each team. Neither team could pull away, as a response from the Warriors followed each Wolverine goal. However, the Wolverines did not play from behind once in the 60-minute contest.
In the final 20 minutes, tied at three, the Wolverines came out looking to strike early. That early strike came 46 seconds into the period. West fired one through traffic from the point, and Byrd redirected the puck, leaving the Warrior netminder helpless. The Warriors recorded 16 penalty minutes in the third period, leaving them shorthanded for most of the period. The Wolverines forecheck pinned the Warriors in their defensive zone and helped UM-Dearborn outshoot the Warriors 18-5 in the period. In a last-ditch attempt to equalize, the Warriors emptied their net, but Joey Cullinan found enough space to score an empty net goal with five seconds remaining to give the Maize & Blue a 5-3 victory and another ranked win.
