By Matt Mackinder/Michigan Beat WriterIn a rematch from the first round of last spring's NCAA Tournament, Michigan produced the same result as the Wolverines topped a game Niagara squad, 4-2, Thursday night at Yost Ice Arena.
Aaron Palushaj and Louie Caporusso each scored twice to pace the Michigan attack and Bryan Hogan kicked out 23 shots for the victory in goal.
"Overall, I thought that was a hard-fought game," UM head coach Red Berenson said. "Niagara is a good team and they gave us everything we could handle. It was anyone's game going into the third. It's good to see your top players play well and Palushaj had another strong game for us. Right now, we don't have a lot of guys finding the net, but he is. We will get other guys chipping in, but right now his goals have been huge."
Michigan improved its all-time record against Niagara to 5-1-0 and is currently riding a four-game win streak against the Purple Eagles.
Dan Baco and Brian Dowd scored for NU, Sam Goodwin added two assists and goaltender Juliano Pagliero finished with 36 saves.
"I was very proud of how our young players played tonight," Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder said. "Dowd, Baco and Goodwin were outstanding tonight and got us going."
The Wolverines (4-1-0, 1-1-0 CCHA) head to Boston University Saturday night for another nonconference game, while the Purple Eagles (1-3-1, 0-0-0 CHA) host Merrimack at home Saturday night.
"This will be a good test for us," said Berenson of BU. "They are definitely one of the top four or five teams in the country according to everything we have seen or heard. So it will be a good test for us at their new rink. They played well out here last year and they played hard, so I know they will have their best game on Saturday.
"It will be a good test for Michigan."
Photo by Niagara Athletics Communications
No comments:
Post a Comment