4B — Monday, March 5, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan seals semifinal berth, likely NCAA Tournament bid with 7-4 win

The chanting began with 

17 minutes to play in the third 
period.

Michigan 
sophomore 

defenseman 
Griffin 
Luce 

lasered a shot from the left 
point past Jack Berry, giving 
the Wolverines a three-goal 
lead. “Be-rry, Be-rry, Be-rry,” 
the Children of Yost taunted the 
Wisconsin goaltender, who had 
allowed six goals off 22 shots for 
a ghastly .727 save percentage. 
Later in the period, the jeers 
returned — “You suck!” followed 
by an obscenity.

With four minutes to play, 

Berry was gone. The Badgers 
pulled him in favor of an empty 
net, sacrificing their last line of 
defense for a desperate chance 
at the two goals that would have 
extended their season.

The Children’s chants kept 

coming. But the goals didn’t.

With a 7-4 victory Saturday at 

Yost Ice Arena, the Wolverines 
(20-13-3 overall, 11-10-3 Big Ten) 
not only clinched a semifinal date 
with No. 6 Ohio State next week, 
but also all but punched their 
ticket to the NCAA Tournament 
in coach Mel Pearson’s debut 
season.

Wisconsin 
(14-19-4, 
8-13-

3) opened the scoring just 23 
seconds after the initial puck 
drop 
when 
forward 
Ryan 

Wagner slipped around junior 
defenseman 
Joseph 
Cecconi 

and fired just above sophomore 
goaltender 
Hayden 
Lavigne’s 

right shoulder. But Michigan was 
quick with a response.

Four minutes and 18 seconds 

into the game, Badger forward 
Trent Frederic was knocked 
off the puck in his own zone, 
the loose change bouncing to 
Dexter Dancs in the high slot. 
On Friday, the senior forward hit 
the pipe deep in the third period 
with the Wolverines up one, 
missing a chance to potentially 
seal the game. Dancs made no 
such mistake this time, snapping 

a wrister into the upper-left 
corner to equalize.

The rest of the period trended 

in Michigan’s direction. With 
6:19 
remaining, 
sophomore 

forward Nick Pastujov found 
Jack Becker with a line-drive 
pass from the right wing, and 
the freshman forward’s eighth 
goal of the season gave the 
Wolverines a 2-1 lead that stood 
until intermission. It could have 
been more — just 30 seconds 
prior, sophomore forward Adam 
Winborg’s tip off a point shot was 
disallowed after official review.

In the second period, it was 

Michigan’s turn for a first-
minute 
goal. 
A 
hard-nosed 

forecheck 
effort 
by 
junior 

forward Brendan Warren led to 
an attacking opportunity, but 
Wisconsin 
defenseman 
Peter 

Tischke cleared it inches in front 
of the line. Tischke was merely 
delaying the inevitable, though 

— the rebound bounced outside 
to freshman defenseman Quinn 
Hughes, and Warren finished 
what he had started by tipping 
Hughes’ point shot past Berry.

However, 
the 
Wolverines 

were unable to make it four 
straight goals, as the next 19 
minutes were effectively played 
on a seesaw. Six minutes into the 
period, Badger forward Linus 
Weissbach shot just wide from 
the point, but Lavigne left his left 
post open and Cameron Hughes 
took advantage off the rebound 
to make it 3-2.

Twenty-six 
seconds 
later, 

Michigan came roaring back. 
Senior forward Niko Porikos 
jumped on a turnover in the 
Wisconsin zone and bolted down 
the left flank, with Cecconi 
and freshman forward Dakota 
Raabe joining him on a three-
on-one. Four flicks of the stick 
later — Porikos to Cecconi to 

Porikos to Raabe to the net — the 
Wolverines were back in front by 
two.

“I’ve talked about that a lot, 

our secondary scoring — we’ve 
got 
more 
guys 
contributing 

which we need,” Pearson said. 
“And I think that’s part of the 
success of the second half, that’s 
why we’ve won, whatever it 
is, 12 games second half of the 
year. But we’re getting more 
contributions from more players. 
We put a couple guys in tonight, 
we won a game, we were able to 
slot two guys in tonight. Porikos 
does a nice job on the one goal, 
makes a great play to Raabe.”

Wisconsin 
replied 
halfway 

through the period, as its top line 
continued to match Michigan 
blow for blow. Wagner found 
Frederic all by himself in the 
middle of the slot, and Frederic’s 
shot hissed past Lavigne’s glove.

The two teams held serve for 

almost the entire remainder of 
the period. But “almost” wasn’t 
enough for the Badgers — on a 
two-on-one with seven seconds 
to go in the period, Dancs, who 
opened the scoring, fired home 
the eventual game-winner to put 
the Wolverines up, 5-3.

“To be honest, I didn’t know 

there was seven seconds left on 
the clock,” Dancs said. “We were 
in the middle of a shift, and I just 
shot and it went in, and it was a 
good goal.”

Wisconsin forward Matthew 

Freytag added a garbage goal 
in front of the net with 4:42 to 
play, forcing Michigan to keep 
its feet glued to the gas pedal. 
The situation was reminiscent 
of so many that took place down 
the stretch of the season, where 
Pearson has constantly stressed 
the importance of learning to 
play with a lead.

“I was never comfortable in 

the game,” Pearson said. “Even 
when it was 6-4, I was never 
comfortable until that last goal, 
then you could breathe a sigh 
of relief. That’s just the way the 
game was. They’ve got so many 
dangerous players, you give them 
a little bit of room or time or 
space, they make plays and they 
can score.”

But 
Lavigne 
was 
never 

seriously threatened, needing to 
make only one save. And with 18 
seconds left, sophomore forward 
Jake Slaker chipped home the 
empty-net 
clincher, 
allowing 

Pearson and the Wolverines to 
breathe easy.

Michigan was able to exhale 

in a larger sense, too. With the 
win, the Wolverines maintained 
their position at No. 8 in the 
Pairwise Rankings, far beyond 
the precarious influence of the 
NCAA 
Tournament 
bubble. 

Their season is basically ensured 
to 
continue, 
regardless 
of 

whether or not they fall to the 
Buckeyes next weekend.

“Well, I hope so,” Pearson said. 

“I don’t know where we’re at, but 
we’ve got a goal of winning the 
Big Ten championship. We’re 
trying to get as far as we can and 
then let the chips turn and fall 
where they may. We know that if 
we just continue to win, we’ll be 
in great shape.”

Of 
course, 
winning 
the 

Big Ten championship would 
automatically put Michigan in 
the tournament — no ifs, ands or 
buts about it.

And the Wolverines — after 

winning just 13 games last year, 
their lowest since 1987, after 
being picked to finish sixth out 
of seven teams in a loaded Big 
Ten, after languishing in the 
high-20s in Pairwise as late as 
mid-January — are now just two 
games away from doing so.

“We’re playing really good 

hockey right now,” Slaker said. 
“We have six games left to win 
a national championship. We’re 
not looking too far ahead, we’re 
just going to focus on the next 
game.”

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Sophomore forward Jake Slaker helped seal the Michigan hockey team’s 7-4 win over Wisconsin on Saturday night with an empty-net goal. 

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

Led by Calderone and Dancs, Wolverine seniors secure legacy at Yost

The Michigan hockey team’s 

Senior Night officially took place 
last Saturday against Arizona 
State. 
After 
the 
Wolverines 

closed the regular season with a 
5-3 victory over the Sun Devils, 
the sellout crowd at Yost Ice 
Arena 
honored 
the 
six-man 

senior class — forwards Tony 
Calderone, Dexter Dancs, Alex 
Roos and Niko Porikos, along 
with defensemen Sam Piazza 
and Cutler Martin.

Traditionally, Senior Night 

marks the last time that a 
graduating class plays in its own 
arena in front of its own fans. But 
that wasn’t the case this year.

One week after the festivities, 

Michigan was back at Yost — this 
time to take on Wisconsin in a 
best-of-three quarterfinal series 
of the Big Ten Tournament. 
With two straight wins, the 
Wolverines advanced to the 
semifinals, where a road trip to 
No. 6 Ohio State awaits.

Saturday’s 7-4 triumph over 

the Badgers was, in all likelihood, 
Michigan’s last game at Yost 
this season — only a Wolverine 
win in Columbus, coupled with 
a Penn State victory over Notre 
Dame in the other semifinal, 
would change that. However, 
there was no official tribute, no 
large-scale displays of gratitude, 
no post-game tears at center-
ice — after all, you can only say 
goodbye so many times before its 
significance is diluted.

Instead, 
this 
weekend’s 

series felt like an encore from 
Michigan’s seniors — a show 
of thanks to their fans, their 
program and their university, 
giving them one final moment to 
remember them by.

Calderone and Dancs, first-

line 
mainstays 
all 
season, 

scored 
the 
game-winning 

goals on Friday and Saturday, 
respectively, and led the way 
with six of the Wolverines’ 13 
goals. Piazza and Porikos added 
crucial assists both nights as 
well.

“Really 
happy 
for 
our 

seniors,” said Michigan coach 
Mel Pearson. “If this is our last 

game at Yost, which it might be, 
good way to go out.”

Calderone, 
in 
particular, 

saved his best for last. The 
Wolverines’ leading scorer found 
the net a career-high four times 
in Friday’s win, striking in every 
way possible.

A searing one-timer from 

junior forward Cooper Marody 
off an odd-man rush. A close-
range redirection of freshman 
defenseman 
Quinn 
Hughes’ 

shot from the point into the 
net. Another one-timer off a 
gorgeous feed from Hughes. And 
to cap it off, a garbage goal after 
a rebound off the goaltender’s 
pads, giving Michigan a 6-5 lead 
that it would hold for the rest of 
the game.

“He’s a shooter, he’s a scorer,” 

Pearson said. “I’m so happy for 
him. You want your seniors to 
have your best year and he’s far 
exceeded my expectations. He’s 
not done and we’re not done.”

While Piazza and Porikos 

didn’t light the lamp themselves, 
they were integral in the buildup 

to 
two 
of 
the 
Wolverines’ 

prettiest goals not just of the 
weekend, but the entire season.

During a power play in Friday’s 

first period, Piazza received 
the puck on the left circle with 
no Badger in his vicinity. With 
oceans of space, 
Piazza 
sliced 

the 
Wisconsin 

penalty kill wide 
open, firing a pass 
across 
the 
slot 

to an open Jake 
Slaker 
for 
the 

game-tying goal.

A 
day 
later, 

Porikos 
won 

the 
puck 
after 

a 
neutral 
zone 

giveaway and burst down the left 
wing. Porikos, along with junior 
defenseman 
Joseph 
Cecconi, 

freshman forward Dakota Raabe 
and sophomore forward Adam 
Winborg, bore down on Badger 
defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk at 
full speed. The resulting “tic-
tac-toe” goal — Porikos-Cecconi-
Porikos-Raabe — belonged in the 

Louvre.

And then there was Dancs, 

the oft-overlooked member of 
the high-scoring “DMC” top 
line, with just 22 points on the 
season compared to Marody 
and Calderone’s 44 and 39, 

respectively.

No one would 

be able to ignore 
the 
North 

Vancouver, 
B.C. 
native’s 

presence 
on 

Saturday, 
however. 
He 

made that clear 
with a wrister 
from 
the 

high slot four 

minutes into the game to tie the 
score at one apiece. And another 
wrist shot on a two-on-one with 
just seven seconds remaining in 
the second period took Michigan 
to the intermission riding all the 
momentum.

Guess 
who 
assisted 
on 

both goals? None other than 
Calderone.

“It’s really special, obviously 

Tony’s night last night was 
incredible and he had another 
great 
night 
tonight,” 
Dancs 

said. “He’s been my best friend 
for four years now, and we’ve 
played together for pretty much 
our whole time here. So for him 
to get the assist on those goals, 
it’s pretty special and will be 
something to talk about for our 
whole lives.”

As the Wolverines’ seniors 

skated off the ice after the final 
horn, the poignant realization 
that they had likely done so for 
the last time had yet to hit home.

“Last weekend, senior night 

was sad, and this weekend was 
all business and stuff, try not to 
think about it, I’m sure,” Dancs 
said Saturday. “Tonight and 
tomorrow, the seniors will talk 
about it and it will kind of sink 
in, but we’re enjoying it right 
now.”

And courtesy of Michigan’s 

senior class, there’s a lot to enjoy.

It’s a group that has been 

through just about everything 

in four seasons. As role players 
just finding their way in college 
hockey, they came oh-so-close 
to 
the 
NCAA 
Tournament 

their freshman season, losing 
in the Big Ten Tournament 
championship to Minnesota. A 
year later, they would get their 
revenge on the Golden Gophers 
in the title game, helping the 
Wolverines return to the NCAA 
Tournament after a four-year 
drought.

As juniors, they endured the 

malaise of Michigan’s worst 
season in 30 years, despite 
playing more prominent roles 
than ever — Calderone led the 
team with 15 goals, while Piazza 
led all defensemen with 14 
points en route to being named 
the Wolverines’ only All-Big Ten 
honoree.

This season was supposed to 

be one of transition. With a first-
year head coach and young talent 
such Hughes, Slaker, Josh Norris 
and Will Lockwood continuing 
to 
grow 
and 
develop, 
the 

upperclassmen were expected 
to bridge the gap and impart 
their wisdom on the youthful 
Wolverines in hopes of building 
an eventual juggernaut under 
Pearson.

Instead, they took the reins, 

leading Michigan to 12 wins in 
its last 16 games and an all-but-
guaranteed NCAA Tournament 
bid.

“They’ve had some struggles 

here and they’ve had some good 
moments here also,” Pearson 
said. “Really happy for them. 
You need your seniors to be your 
leaders. … Those guys have really 
stepped up so good for them and 
good for us, we need them.”

The seniors’ time at Yost 

is probably over. But with a 
dominant performance in their 
final appearance, their legacy is 
secure.

Oh yeah, a second Big Ten 

championship — and maybe 
more — is still very much in play.

“It’s been an awesome ride 

here at Yost,” Dancs said. “Sad 
that it’s coming to an end, but … I 
love the team we have right now, 
we’re really hot, so we’re having 
a lot of fun right now and we’re 
going to try to keep going.”

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Senior forward Dexter Dancs played a crucial role in his team’s 7-4 win over Wisconsin on Saturday night, scoring a pair of goals. 

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“He’s a shooter, 

he’s a scorer. 
I’m so happy 

for him.”

