Michigan 14, Detroit 13
Although not a home game, the Wolverines got to stay in the state of Michigan again Wednesday night, and on the OT effort by Kyle Jackson, came away with the 14-13 victory over the University of Detroit Titans (1-1) in Pontiac to move to 2-1 on the year.
Big step forward for our program today. Proud of the resolve our team showed. Didn't panic. Something to build on.
— John Paul (@JohnPaulUM) February 20, 2014
Much like the Friday win over Mercer, Michigan had multiple players with multiple goals: Ian King, 4 (tying a Michigan record); Kyle Jackson, 3; Andrew Portnoy, 2; David McCormack, 2; Doug Bryant, 2. King's four goals put him at eight in these first three games of the season, and 9 points overall, leading the Wolverines in both goals and points.
Sophomore FOGO Brad Lott had a fantastic night on face-offs, winning 22 of 30 and picking up 11 ground balls. One of his face-offs won was at the start of the extra session, which led directly to Michigan's 1-point win. On the surface, Detroit's 8 for 31 performance at the X looks like it wouldn't be conducive to victory, yet they were able to score the last two goals in regulation and push Michigan to the brink.
Leading scorers for the Titans were Alex Maini with 3 goals and 2 assists and Mike Birney also with 3 goals. Shayne Adams and Scott Drummond filled out the group of multiple-scorers with two each, while three other Titans tallied one goal.
Robbie Zonino started once again in goal for Michigan, played the entire game, and stopped 8 shots. Overall, Michigan still has some areas to clean up defensively before heading to Saturday's game against...
#8 Johns Hopkins (2-0), 12:00 p.m. Eastern
The Blue Jays went to 3 OTs against the Ohio State Buckeyes two weeks ago, and after hard-fought first half against Towson, came away with victory number two. Against Towson, the Jays were tied with the Tigers at 6-6 coming out of the first half, but after a quick Towson score, JHU went on a seven-goal run in the 3rd period to go up 13-6.
Against the Buckeyes, Hopkins held the lead for the majority of the game, until Ohio State went on a three-goal run in the fourth quarter to earn the overtime session.
When Michigan faces the Jays at Homewood Field in Baltimore, the defense will have to keep a close eye on junior attackman Wells Stanwick, but not necessarily because of his scoring. Wells has been great at feeding the scorers so far, amassing 10 assists already in two games, but don't let the lack of goals (2) he has fool you; he had 24 last year, so they'll be coming for you soon, Robbie Zonino.
Last year's leading scorer, Brandon Benn, has already found the back of the net six times, none more important than his game winner in the three OT match with Ohio State.
Scary.
Rob Guida is the guy who may be "the guy" for Hopkins. In an interview with Paul Carcaterra in the Baltimore Sun, he offered this about Guida, "Not to put too much pressure on Guida, but Guida has to play like a first-team All American for Hopkins to be in the mix." He said this while wondering whether Rob Guida can actually be the star that other teams may assume him to be.
No matter what, Saturday's game is the toughest so far, and the cards are clearly stacked against Michigan. A win would obviously be the biggest in the team's history, but a strong showing (even in a loss) would be a huge positive leading into next week's match-up back in Oosterbaan against the Cornell Big Red.