Nagelvoort leads Wolverines to shootout win over Wisconsin Saturday night
By Michael Caples –
ANN ARBOR – Zach Nagelvoort said he actually didn’t feel like he was ‘on’ for the first 40 minutes of the Wolverines game Saturday night.
“Honestly I felt a little off at the beginning, and I think that kind of went through the first and second period,” the Michigan freshman goaltender said. “But I think the third period I kind of got myself back again, and a lot of that was the guys rallying behind me. They put pucks in the net, and so that got me going.”
Nagelvoort’s teammates and coach said otherwise, of course. The Holland native stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced, including all three in a shootout, to give the Wolverines two more points in the standings, and an unofficial sweep of the Badgers.
Michigan and Wisconsin played to a 2-2 tie through three periods and a five-minute overtime before Wolverines senior forward Luke Moffatt scored the lone goal in the shootout.
“Well the environment during the shootout made it feel like a complete win,” coach Red Berenson said. “It’s an important win, but it’s not a three-point win. It felt good to get five of six points against a good team that swept us in their building. Did we get everything back? No, but we got most of it.”
Moffatt also scored in the third period, while Tyler Motte scored the other goal for the Wolverines Saturday night.
Berenson said that Nagelvoort did more than enough for the Wolverines in the second night of the series.
“Well another solid performance, and I thought both goalies played really well,” Berenson said. “I thought Zach was as good as it gets, really. They had some point-blank chances, a couple that were borderline, and so did we. We had one that we thought went in and they didn’t count it. Zach had to face a penalty shot; you talk about a turning point in the game, you go from having a goal to tie the game to giving up a goal that gives them the lead. But nonetheless, I thought Zach was outstanding all weekend.”
The No. 12 Wolverines moved into second place in the Big Ten with the extra point recorded in the shootout. However, Berenson will have to wait to move into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time wins list, because the Wolverines’ record won’t reflect another win.
After a scoreless first period, Wisconsin’s Michael Mersch recorded the game’s first goal in highlight-reel fashion just 1:02 into the middle frame. The senior forward sent the puck past defenseman Kevin Clare with a blind backhand dish, spun around Clare, then quickly fired the puck past Nagelvoort for his 11th goal of the season.
The Wolverines responded 10 minutes later, when Motte got ahold of a rebound off a point shot from Michael Downing. It was Motte’s seventh goal of the season.
Michigan thought they had claimed the lead soon after, but a goal from Andrew Sinelli was waived off due to contact with the goaltender. Berenson said after the game he wanted more of an explanation, because Sinelli may not have made contact with Wisconsin netminder Joel Rumpel until after the puck crossed the goal line.
The keep with the swing in momentum, the Badgers’ Mark Zengerle scored on a penalty shot just moments after the disallowed goal.
Yet the Wolverines found a way to tie the game in the third period, when Moffatt fired a shot through a crowd in front of the Wisconsin goal for his eighth goal of the season.
Moffatt then scored the lone goal in the shootout, fooling Rumpel with a fake shot that froze the Wisconsin goaltender. Moffatt credited Nagelvoort for the goal.
“It’s something I practiced a little bit,” Moffatt said. “Going against guys like Nags in practice all week makes it look easy out there against other guys.”
Michigan will now travel to Penn State for their first-ever matches against the Nittany Lions next weekend.