B1G Quarters: “We’re Trying to Win a Championship Here”
Michigan sweeps Wisconsin to earn a place in next weekend’s Big Ten Semifinals. It wasn’t the smoothest path to victory, but on both nights, the Wolverines slammed the door with convincing close outs
“Found a way to win in the end, which is great, but just all for the fans I guess.” For the second night in a row, head coach Brandon Naurato couldn’t help but chuckle in reflecting on his team’s performance. “We’re learning…We’re learning.”
Saturday night, Michigan beat Wisconsin 7-4 to seal a Big Ten quarterfinal sweep. The game was tied with just 2:20 to play, yet the three-goal margin didn’t feel inconsistent with the run of play. It did, however, obscure the circuitous journey to that comfortable cushion by the final horn.
Adam Fantilli completed a natural hat trick before the second period was a minute old, lifting Michigan to a lead that felt insurmountable but proved otherwise. Wisconsin proceeded to level the score with three straight goals of its own, only for captain Nolan Moyle to restore the Wolverines’ lead, before T.J. Hughes and Mackie Samoskevich added insurance markers.
If you asked Naurato, the 7-4 scoreline was a better reflection of the performance than the late deadlock, despite the tumult along the way: “It’s not good for my blood pressure, but we’re finding ways to win, and we just won by three goals, so it’s positive.”
In Friday’s Game 1, with a heavy snow and spring break combining to dull Yost’s customary fervor, Michigan pulled out a 6-5 overtime victory that encapsulated the frustration, chaos, and promise that has defined its season.
“This game summed up our whole season,” offered Naurato after the game. “I think we have to play hard from the beginning. When we play hard, we’re really good.”
Frustration came from allowing the Big Ten’s last place finisher to hang around for sixty-nine minutes and change. Chaos grew from another healthy deficit in penalty minutes (twenty-three for the hosts, six for the visitors) and a slippery game that resisted sustained control. Promise emerged from utter domination across the final five minutes of regulation and through the entirety of overtime.
Still, Wisconsin didn’t fluke their way into posing Michigan problems. The Badgers played with the precise kind of disrespect necessary to spring an upset over elite opposition. Tony Granato’s team didn’t sit back in deference to the Wolverines’ skill but rather attacked from the jump. Wisconsin didn’t depend on physicality, but it was aggressive, racing to the Wolverine net in waves shift upon shift.
Michigan grabbed a lead after just a minute and twenty-nine seconds of hockey on a blistering Mackie Samoskevich wrister that was in and out so quickly even its progenitor didn’t clock it crossing the goal line.
“I went post-crossbar against Notre Dame, so I thought that happened again,” said Samoskevich. “I was kind of mad at first, but I saw the ref say it was a goal, so kind of a delayed reaction, but glad it went in.”
However, despite grabbing the opener on their first shot of the game, the Wolverines trailed before the midpoint of the first: Sam Stange banging in a loose from just beyond the crease and Mathieu De St. Phalle adding a second on a delayed Michigan penalty.
In the early stages of the second, Michigan showed its first sustained signs of life. The line of Dylan Duke, T.J. Hughes, and Samoskevich stood out for its sharp play—driving the puck into the Badger third and creating quality chances once they got there. That pressure produced a Seamus Casey goal (with assists from Hughes and Duke) to tie the game at two.
A minute and four seconds later, Gavin Brindley and Casey combined to set up a thunderous Adam Fantilli one timer—fired from what would be a tricky angle for mere mortals but which was a layup for the eighteen-year-old freshman.
However, just as Michigan appeared to reclaim control, familiar and unwelcome chaos got in its way, with Dylan Duke earning a five-minute major and game misconduct for an illegal check to the head.
The Michigan penalty kill—which had by then killed off three first period penalties—did commendable work but nonetheless conceded an equalizer to De St. Phalle.
Despite the setback, Adam Fantilli ensured the Wolverines would carry a lead into the second intermission with another blast—this time coming on the power play, with Luke Hughes luring in the Badger PK with his patience only to thread a pass over to Fantilli for another one timer.
“He’s a shooter for sure, and he knows how to get open,” said Naurato of his talismanic freshman, before expressing his admiration for the way Fantilli responded to being whistled for a pair of penalties in the first. “I’m really proud of him. We’ve had multiple conversations this week, and he’s trying to get himself in the right headspace. He gets a slash…the other one [whistled as a high stick] Idon’t think even touched the guy, and the guy flies back, [but Adam] kept his cool.”
Again, Michigan appeared on the precipice of a sense of control, but instead, De St. Phalle completed his hat trick and Badger captain Dominick Mersch added another nineteen seconds apart to put Wisconsin back in front 5-4 six-and-a-half minutes into the third.
Backs squarely against the wall, Michigan played its best hockey of the evening in its push to pull level in the final five minutes of regulation and carried that momentum into overtime.
The Wolverines appeared to tie the game with a minute and a half to play, before it became clear that they had been taking advantage of an extra skater before Erik Portillo departed his crease.
However, Michigan’s desperation and hunger proved powerful enough to re-equalize with twenty-three seconds to play through Rutger McGroarty.
Inspired by McGroarty’s effort, Michigan came out for the extra frame and dominated, seeming to spend the entirety of the overtime session in the Badger end of the rink.
“That last goal [in regulation] definitely gave us a ton of energy,” observed Samoskevich. “We were playing the right way, and we were coming…We have so much confidence in our group to find ways to win.”
That path to victory became clear 9:06 into overtime, when Steven Holtz fired a point shot past Kyle McClellan for his first career goal at a supremely opportune moment.
Holtz said he “blacked out” as the puck crossed the goal line, adding that the goal was a temporary and spectacular expansion of the perpetual task of playing his role: “It’s not necessarily my role here to score goals, but the big player step up in big moments—whether it’s throwing a hit, a stick check, or blocking a shot. Tonight, it was scoring a goal.”
When asked to describe his teammates’ reactions, Holtz grinned, “Just screaming at me in my face, so happy for me, congratulations, nothing but love from the guys. I think they were happier than I was—I was so tired.”
“We were fired up for him. He’s such a good guy in the room. Everyone looks up to him, and everyone loves him, and he’s such a good player” said Samoskevich. “To get his first one like that is pretty special. With how the year’s gone for him, he definitely deserves it.”
With one shot, Holtz—who played returned to the lineup at the beginning of February after a life-threatening bout with adenovirus—turned the evening from a sloppy and forgettable affair into an instant classic.
One night later, Rutger McGroarty put Michigan up 1-0 at the 8:07 mark of the first, one-timing a pinpoint Samoskevich feed past Jared Moe, who started ahead of McLellan in the Badger net.
That lead didn’t last two minutes, before Cruz Lucius responded with a power play goal. For the next eight minutes of game time, the Adam Fantilli show aired live and in vivid color.
The first was fortunate, a power play centering attempt deflecting off a Badger stick and past Moe.
The second was overpowering—refusing to allow Badger defenseman Anthony Kehrer to deny him a loose puck in the slot and scoring with Kehrer draped over his shoulder.
The third was lethal, beating Moe from distance thirty-one seconds into the second to lift Michigan to a 4-1 lead.
To Naurato, it wasn’t just Fantilli’s snipe that impressed but also the effort of his linemates Brindley and McGroarty: “It’s a high-end shot from outside the top of the circle, but every guy on that line won a race or a battle before that. They’re playing the right way, and they’re getting rewarded for it.”
He added, “that whole line, they’ve been playing some really good hockey, now we’ve just been talking about getting to the net and finishing, reaping the benefits of the work they’re putting in.”
Fantilli himself expressed pride in his performance, while emphasizing the team’s triumph over his own, saying “I’m really happy with the individual success, but obviously the two wins are the biggest part of the weekend. We’re trying to win a championship here.”
However, consecutive De St. Phalle goals drew Wisconsin within one, the Wolverines’ intensity seeming to wane after Fantilli’s third. A little over three minutes into the third, Carson Bantle completed the Badger comeback. Following the setback, though, Michigan recovered its offensive groove just in time to avoid overtime for a consecutive evening.
The first came from an unlikely line combination of Dylan Duke, Frank Nazar, and Nolan Moyle. Per Naurato, the trio’s coming together was “all Coach [Rob] Rassey. He wanted to put those guys out, and they did a great job.” What did Rassey and Naurato want to get out of the ad hoc triumvirate? “To score the game-winning goal.”
After a clean Nazar faceoff win, Luke Hughes transported the puck through neutral ice and passed to Duke, who lofted it into the corner for Moyle. Despite immense effort from Moyle to maintain possession, Wisconsin appeared poised to break out only for Nazar to keep the Badgers hemmed in by batting down a would-be clearance.
Nazar slipped around and through Corson Ceulemans, slipping a first-time pass to Moyle, who made no mistake from point blank range.
“He’s been unreal this entire year on the ice, off the ice. I think he’s getting rewarded for everything that he does,” said Naurato of his captain. “People in this room know what he’s all about, and it’s good for the people on the outside to see”
From there, a Hughes forehand-backhand move off a breakaway and long-distance Samoskevich empty-net snipe restored a sense of security and ushered in the sweep.
It wasn’t the wire-to-wire drubbing Michigan fans might have hoped for against the B1G’s last place finisher, but it did afford the young Wolverines a first taste of life in the postseason. If the performances of Fantilli, Brindley, McGroarty, Hughes, or Casey are any indicator, Michigan’s freshmen are acclimating well. Despite some growing pains, Michigan emerged with two wins and a clear sense of the intensity necessary to persevere.
“We’ll figure it out as we go,” said Naurato, having just acknowledged that experience “absolutely” matters come the playoffs. “These guys know what to do to win; it’s just whether we do it.”
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