By Matt Bishop, Special to MiCHODETROIT — Matt Hunwick scored his first two goals of the season to lead No. 11 Michigan to a dominating 4-1 win over Michigan Tech in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Invitational in front of a two-game total of 14,684 fans at Joe Louis Arena.
The Wolverines now advance to face Michigan State in the GLI's championship game at 7:35 p.m. Saturday.
"To get a lead was really important for our team," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "The game could've gone either way, but in the second period, the puck went in for us."
Unlike the rest of the game, the first period was a fairly even, competitive and hard-hitting stanza. Neither team could muster much offense until late in the period when Hunwick (pictured) netted his first of the game off a nice play from Kevin Porter.
Porter found himself on his knees when he slipped a pass to a darting Hunwick, who rifled a snipe shot over the glove of Huskies' goaltender Rob Nolan. The shot seemed to surprise Nolan, who reacted after the puck had already passed him.
"You're looking for leadership in a game like that and Matt Hunwick, our captain, came up with a huge game for us," Berenson said. "Both offensively as well as defensively."
It was in the second period that Michigan really broke things open, as Travis Turnbull, Hunwick and Brian Lebler all lit the lamp.
"It's kind of nice to score in a game instead of just practice," Hunwick said. "I might have one or two this year during practice, but it's definitely good to get a couple real ones and contribute to a victory."
Michigan Tech head coach Jamie Russell didn’t like his team's mental effort during the game.
“Mentally, I don't think we were very sharp in our own end at all," he said.
Billy Sauer made 27 saves for Michigan (13-7-0) and had his shutout bid thwarted with 1:16 to play on a power-play goal by Tyler Shelast.
Nolan stopped 26 shots for Michigan Tech (8-9-2). The Huskies move on to battle Harvard in the GLI's third-place game at 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Wolverines now advance to face Michigan State in the GLI's championship game at 7:35 p.m. Saturday.
"To get a lead was really important for our team," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "The game could've gone either way, but in the second period, the puck went in for us."
Unlike the rest of the game, the first period was a fairly even, competitive and hard-hitting stanza. Neither team could muster much offense until late in the period when Hunwick (pictured) netted his first of the game off a nice play from Kevin Porter.
Porter found himself on his knees when he slipped a pass to a darting Hunwick, who rifled a snipe shot over the glove of Huskies' goaltender Rob Nolan. The shot seemed to surprise Nolan, who reacted after the puck had already passed him.
"You're looking for leadership in a game like that and Matt Hunwick, our captain, came up with a huge game for us," Berenson said. "Both offensively as well as defensively."
It was in the second period that Michigan really broke things open, as Travis Turnbull, Hunwick and Brian Lebler all lit the lamp.
"It's kind of nice to score in a game instead of just practice," Hunwick said. "I might have one or two this year during practice, but it's definitely good to get a couple real ones and contribute to a victory."
Michigan Tech head coach Jamie Russell didn’t like his team's mental effort during the game.
“Mentally, I don't think we were very sharp in our own end at all," he said.
Billy Sauer made 27 saves for Michigan (13-7-0) and had his shutout bid thwarted with 1:16 to play on a power-play goal by Tyler Shelast.
Nolan stopped 26 shots for Michigan Tech (8-9-2). The Huskies move on to battle Harvard in the GLI's third-place game at 4 p.m. Saturday.
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