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Who: Michigan (3-5) vs Maryland (6-2)
Where: Michigan Stadium
When: April 2 at 1:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: BTN / BTN2Go
Last week Wednesday's game against Marist was the last really good opportunity for the Wolverines to get another win in 2016. They didn't, and I'm glad I got bogged down with work and couldn't write the recap because it would have been nothing but a profanity-laced tirade followed by uncontrollable sobbing. And things aren't getting any easier with starting the conference slate against Maryland. It's a good thing my doctor upped the dosage on my blood pressure meds this week.
The Terps dropped a couple early games to Notre Dame and Yale, but have come back quite nicely and beat ranked Albany and North Carolina teams to get themselves back into the top-5 in the nation.
Offensively, Maryland is scoring an average of 10.88 goals per game and has an offensive efficiency of .347, while their defense is 10th in the country in goals allowed (7.88) and their defensive efficiency is .286. Leading the way for the defense is goalie Kyle Bernlohr, who comes into the game saving 54% of everything he faces. Michigan's Gerald Logan is at 52%, but has an average of 12.25 saves per game to Bernlohr's 8.5 saves per game. Although, Logan is facing about 2,446 shots per game (stat not valid in the United States or Puerto Rico. It is, however, valid in Guam for some reason), which explains his high number of saves.
If Matt Rambo and Colin Heacock are clicking for Maryland on Saturday, it could spell disaster for the Wolverines. The two men have a combined 36 goals on the season, but let's hope the fact that Saturday will be their third game in a week will leave the two scorers a little on the tired side. With Michigan's offensive and defensive efficiencies at .284 and .275 respectively, they'll definitely need the Terps to be tired if they want to see an up-tick in these categories just to avoid a blowout.
Kyle Jackson may be third in the nation with 3.29 goals per game, and tops on the Wolverines' stat sheet with 23 goals, but Peter Kraus has come on quite nicely of late and has 12 of his own. Michigan does have some offense, but it's the defense has been letting the team down. If that unit can complete a shutout in even one quarter against Maryland, the Wolverines MAY have a chance. If they perform another disappearing act, even for half a quarter, the score will get lopsided before they know it.
Stay tuned for the recap...it's possible that it will just be a photo of me in the fetal position.