Michigan Dominates Middle of Field, Sets Up Biggest Game in Program History

BALTIMORE — Michigan can look directly at the middle of the field for the biggest reasons it will play in its first Big Ten title game.

The fourth-seeded Wolverines dominated faceoffs, generated three goals off their wing play and didn’t have a failed clear until the fourth quarter of a 17-15 defeat of top-seeded Penn State on Thursday at Homewood Field.

“It was one of our main objectives,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. “We know how tough they are as a 6-on-6 group, and they have a great goaltender. We wanted to make sure we scored in the middle of the field, and specifically off the faceoff. We had a good feeling our guys were going to do pretty well.”

Michigan (8-6), which also made a crucial goalie switch at halftime, took control in the third quarter and then held on to earn a spot in Saturday’s championship against third-seeded Maryland, which defeated host Johns Hopkins 14-9 in the second semifinal (more below).

Jake Morin and Jack Traynor both scored three times, and Jack Fracyon made 17 saves for the Nittany Lions (9-4), who are well-positioned to earn a top-eight seed in the NCAA tournament when the field is announced Sunday night thanks to victories over Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Penn and Yale.

“We have some really good wins on our resume,” Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni said. “This one doesn’t help because it goes right into Selection Sunday, but at the same time, I’m hopeful that with our wins — we have some really good top-10 wins, some good top-20 wins, including Michigan — that we’ll be able to host a game and just be able to pick up the pieces from here.”

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Michigan has reason to think about the postseason, too, after a third-quarter surge stemming from roster-wide contributions.

The goalie change stood out immediately. Shane Carr made five saves as the Wolverines went into the break down 10-8, and Conry turned to freshman Hunter Taylor — who had played a half against both Maryland and Penn State during Big Ten play — coming back out of the locker room.

Taylor made eight saves in his 30 minutes, his most in any game since stopping a career-high 13 shots on Feb. 25 in a loss to Marquette.

“It was extremely difficult,” Conry said. “We pulled Shane out and just talked to him, and we made a decision together. I think it shows the maturity of Shane, how selfless he is to say, ‘I could battle back, but I think Hunter would give us the best chance to win.’”

Meanwhile, Michigan’s offense consistently found answers, uncorking an 8-1 run in the first 20 minutes of the second half to take a 16-11 lead.

“We were just committed to doing the things that we do and hit singles, making all those small plays,” said attackman Michael Boehm, who had three goals and three assists. “We know if we do that, move off ball and play with pace, hit those singles, we have a good chance to put the ball in the back of the net at the end of the possession.”

Josh Zawada added three goals, and junior midfielder Justin Brown — who shot 0-for-21 prior to Thursday — scored twice during Michigan’s second-half push.

It was all made possible by the considerable possession advantage Michigan enjoyed. Justin Wietfeldt was 12 of 17 on faceoffs, while Nick Rowlett was 11 of 18, and the duo combined to go 20-for-27 over the first three quarters.

That opened the door for defensive midfielder Michael Cosgrove to score his first goal of the season. Sophomore Emmett Houlihan, who plays primarily as a faceoff wing, produced his second two-goal game in his last three outings.

“Someone like Emmett Houlihan, who’s kind of gotten the spotlight later in the season here, has really been a huge plus for us here on the wings,” Rowlett said. “He’s scrappy, he keeps his head down and he runs through ground balls, but he has those capabilities to push transition like we saw today, as well as if he needs to play defense.”

It is no exaggeration to suggest the victory sets up the most significant game in the Wolverines’ 12-year history as a Division I program. Conry offered a nod to John Paul, who shepherded Michigan’s transition from club status through the first six seasons of varsity recognition, and also pointed out the Wolverines now own a pair of top-10 victories over Maryland and Penn State.

It’s premature to determine whether that would be enough to land an NCAA at-large berth. But Michigan can take the question completely out of the selection committee’s control with a victory Saturday.

“This is so special,” Rowlett said. “Like we talked about in the locker room, the job’s not done. Although this is a great moment, we have a lot ahead of us.”

PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER

‘IT’S TAKEN SOME DUCT TAPE’

Owen Murphy scored three goals and Zach Whittier had two goals and two assists as the third-seeded Terrapins surged past the second-seeded Blue Jays with a 14-9 victory in the second semifinal at Homewood Field.

Maryland (10-4) moved within a win of its third consecutive Big Ten tournament title.

Accomplishments like league championships felt like givens, when the Terps went a combined 33-1. That isn’t the same this spring; Maryland has lost 12-11 to Hopkins just 12 days earlier.

“There was such an expectation following these teams to live up to what they set, which is such a high pedestal not only in the winning and the way we played, but just the standard and the way you carry yourself and those things,” defenseman Brett Makar said. “This group’s young, so throughout the year we’ve had to learn from adversity, through injuries, through guys stepping up. We’ve kind of just found a way, even though it’s taken some duct tape.”

Garrett Degnon had three goals and an assist for the Blue Jays (11-5), who are likely to earn a home game in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018 when the 17-team field is unveiled Sunday.

“There were some good things we did out there, but clearly not enough against a very good team,” Hopkins coach Peter Milliman said. “We are awaiting our fate Sunday night and excited about the opportunity to compete again and earn ourselves more time together.”

Hopkins bolted to a 3-0 lead, but Maryland rallied to go up 6-4 at the half. The Terps took firm control in the third quarter as all three members of its second midfield --- Whittier, Ryan Siracusa and Eric Spanos --- all scored to push the lead to 12-8.

The Terps will try to match their longest winning streak of the season (three) and avenge a 16-11 regular-season loss to Michigan on Saturday.

“It's been a very different year, but in a lot of ways as a coach a very rewarding year,” coach John Tillman said. “All the change and everything, this could have been an easy excuse to say ‘With everything that’s happened, it’s just not going to be a good year.’”