DEARBORN, Mich. – The University of Michigan-Dearborn (4-0-0, 2-0-0) men's ice hockey team took on an improved Concordia (MI) Cardinals (3-2-1, 0-2-0) on Friday (Oct. 6) and Saturday (Oct. 7). The last time the Wolverines took on the Cardinals was in a 4-1 victory to claim the WHAC Tournament Championship back in late February. Eight months later, the Wolverines continued their winning ways as they swept the Cardinals, winning 3-0 on Friday and taking an 8-5 thriller in the home finale.
Tanner Beals (3-0-0) was the star on Friday night as he recorded his third consecutive shutout to start the season. Beals stopped all 29 shots he faced in a clinic between the pipes. The Wolverine offense was steady all night, tallying a single goal in all three periods.
The Wolverine special teams were stellar all night, blanking the Cardinals power play five times. On the contrary, UM-Dearborn tallied two power-play goals in four chances. Noah Szmagaj started the Wolverines' scoring six minutes into the contest when Matt Cunningham won a faceoff in the offensive zone. The puck trickled back to Max Hartwell, who ripped a pass to the tape of fellow blue liner Szmagaj, who fired it past the Cardinal netminder to give the Wolverines the early lead.
Deep in the second period, after the Cardinals were sent to the penalty box for hooking. The Wolverine power play returned to work with Joey Cullinan tickling the twine off of assists from Bailey Byrd and Ryan Stanley. The Wolverines' final goal came in the third period off of another powerplay goal, this time off of the stick of Bailey Byrd. Brendan West and Cullinan provided assists on the goal.
In the home finale, the contest featured 13 goals in a slugfest between the two teams. UM-Dearborn picked up where they left off on Friday night, scoring two goals late in the first period. Quest Bigelow picked up the first on the power play as he tapped in a Dawson Nelson pass with seven minutes to play in the period. Two minutes later, Byrd got in on the scoring action as he and West linked up for the team's second goal.
Things quickly got away from the Wolverines as the Cardinals came out bruising the Wolverines with a dominating forecheck. The Wolverines turned the puck over numerous times, resulting in a trio of breakaways, and just six minutes into the period, the Wolverines found themselves down 4-2.
However, head coach Chris Haltinner quickly called a timeout to collect his group and decided to change net in favor of newcomer Drew Adams (1-0-0), who would be making his collegiate debut. The Wolverines veterans rallied the team, and just 48 seconds later, UM-Dearborn would cut into the Cardinal lead when Max Hartwell fired a puck from the blue line. Craig McKague deflected the puck past the Cardinal netminder to bring UM-Dearborn within one. The Wolverines would score three more unanswered goals from Szmagaj, West, and Josh Makarchuk to give them a 6-4 lead. CUAA would answer early in the third to make it 6-5, but the Wolverines would weather the storm once more as Chance Matthews scored a shorthanded goal to take the wind out of the sails of the Cardinals, leading to the 8-5 win.
