Wolverines fall to University of Waterloo in season opener

By Michael Caples –

ANN ARBOR – The good news for Wolverines fans is that this one doesn’t count in the standings.

The University of Michigan opened their 2013-14 season with an exhibition game at Yost Ice Arena against the Waterloo Warriors, only to lose to the Canadian college by a score of 2-1.

Despite the loss, coach Red Berenson said he saw lots of good things in his young team’s performance. Nine Wolverines made their debuts in the contest – five forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender.

“A lot of the young players got their first game action, and I thought that was a good sign,” Berenson said. “I thought they held their own. I thought our goalies played well, and we found out tonight that they are tough team to score on. We only had a handful of good chances, and their goalie made the saves. Outside of that, it was a close game. When you play from behind sometimes it’s harder to score, and we just couldn’t get that goal we needed.”

Sophomore Andrew Copp scored the lone goal for the No. 11-ranked Wolverines, who will search for more offensive production this week before No. 4 Boston College comes to town next Thursday.

“Well, it’s a little scary,” Berenson said. “Typically, a team like Boston College will come in with some of the best players in the country. We’ve got to play better without the puck, and I thought the Waterloo team played well without it and made it tough for us to get second shots. So once they got the lead, it made it tough for us, but Boston College will certainly be a whole new challenge.”

Andy Smith scored both the goals for the University of Waterloo, who are members of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport association. The Warriors – captained by Canton native Joe Underwood – compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference.

The Wolverines out-shot their opposition 35-22, but could only muster a single goal.

“I’m not really that discouraged,” captain Mac Bennett said. “We just played nine freshmen who have never played college hockey before; I think we did okay. I think I saw a lot of good things. We had a lot of offensive chances; we just have to bury those chances, and as for the goals against, it’s just backtracking stuff, nothing we can’t fix. I think we have plenty of talent that can definitely match up to Boston College’s; we just have to put it together and come out and play.”

Michigan finished 0-for-5 on their power-play opportunities, while holding the Warriors scoreless on three.

Sophomore Steve Racine started in goal for the Wolverines, and stopped 11 of the 13 shots he faced. Freshman goaltender Zach Nagelvoort, a native of Holland, Mich., replaced Racine late in the second period, and stopped all nine shots he faced.

“I thought both goalies played well,” Berenson said. “It’ll be a different challenge every game. [Nagelvoort] had a good start.”