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Michigan hockey dominates Colgate in NCAA tournament

By Chris Peterson

Michigan defenseman Luke Hughes (43) looks to pass against Denver during the first period of the Frozen Four semifinal at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass. on Thursday., April 7, 2022.
Michigan defenseman Luke Hughes (43) looks to pass against Denver during the first period of the Frozen Four semifinal at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass. on Thursday., April 7, 2022. /
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Michigan hockey has advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA hockey tournament with a dominating win over Colgate in the first round of the tournament. 

It’s fair to ask if there is any team in the NCAA tournament playing as well as the Michigan hockey team right now following an 11-1 win over Colgate on Friday night in the Allentown regional.

Colgate was a surprise entry into the tournament after winning its postseason tournament to advance, but it was expected that the Michigan hockey team would see more of a fight than it did.

Early on, it looked like it was going to be a competitive game. The Wolveines grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period when Nick Granowicz scored midway through the first period to get Michigan hockey on the board.

It was the only goal of the first period. However, in the second, the floodgates would open.

Michigan hockey scored seven goals in the second stanza against Colgate and those goals were scored by seven different Wolverines. Eric Ciccolini opened the scoring for Michigan in the period but it wasn’t until eight minutes had gone by.

So about 28 minutes into the game, or nearly halfway, Michigan hockey was in a battle. But then, the Wolverines scored seven goals in nine minutes in the second and that was all she wrote.

Colgate cut the lead to 8-1 momentarily, but Luke Hughes scored his second goal of the game in the third, and Michigan hockey tacked on two more to win 11-1.

Erik Portillo was his usual steady self in net for the Wolverines with 20 stops. He faced 21 shots total as the Wolverines dominated that category with 52 total shots. In addition to his two goals, Hughes also had three assists in the win.

Michigan hockey will play again Sunday in the regional final against Penn State, which defeated Michigan Tech 8-0, at 6:30 PM EST. The winner will head to the Frozen Four.

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