Breaking down the series split against the Spartans
The Michigan Wolverines resumed their season with a home-and-home against the rival Michigan State Spartans . Michigan had the benefit of opening the second half of their schedule against a pair of unranked teams in both Michigan State and Ohio State .
In the first game, Michigan jumped on that opportunity, scoring NINE goals en route to an impressive 9-0 victory. Kent Johnson tallied up 5 total points, leading the team, and Strauss Mann found his footing again as one of the leagues best goaltenders.
Then….the second game happened. Despite winning the Corsi convincingly (57-31) and holding a late 2-1 lead in the 3rd period, the Spartans found a way. A few really poor defensive lapses within the final 2 minutes of the game saw Michigan State tie and then pull ahead with 0:38 on the clock. To say it was a disappointing way to end the series is an understatement.
Mel Pearson will have to pull together for the upcoming home series against the Buckeyes, a team in which one would expect the Wolverines to be able to sweep. Unless the defensive lapses are addressed, though, the variance remains extremely large for our expectations.
Timestamps for the video can be found below:
- 00:00 – Intro
- 00:33 – Game 1
- 06:04 – Game 2
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