MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Missouri — The Michigan Wolverines had not won a game when trailing after the first period throughout the entire regular season until they pulled off the comeback win against North Dakota on Friday.
They must have enjoyed that feeling because the Wolverines (23-14-3) did it again Sunday as they came back from a 1-0 deficit against the rival Michigan State Spartans (25-10-3) in the regional championship game for a 5-2 victory and a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Frozen Four.
Michigan will square off against No. 1-ranked Boston College in the national championship semifinals in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 11.
Just eight days prior to Sunday’s meeting at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri, the Spartans captured the Big Ten Tournament title in overtime against Michigan, picking up their fourth win in five tries against the rival Wolverines.
But the Spartans could not make it five out of six.
Michigan started this season’s rivalry as it ended it, with a win. The Wolverines defeated the Spartans 7-1 on Jan. 19, but Michigan State then rattled off four straight victories over Michigan — 7-5 on Jan. 20, 5-1 on Feb. 9, 3-2 on Feb. 10 and 5-4 in overtime of the Big Ten Tournament championship game on March 23.
Although the Spartans and Wolverines had squared off 342 times before the regional final, Sunday’s meeting was the first time in series history that the two fierce rivals played each other in the NCAA Tournament.
“Oh, so much more,” Michigan’s Frank Nazar III said to ESPN in a postgame interview when asked if clinching a Frozen Four berth meant more because it was against the Spartans. “We owed those guys so much. Throughout the regular season and in the Big Ten finals, those guys were kind of whipping our butts, … so to get the win was unreal.”
Michigan State took advantage of an early Michigan penalty, grabbing a 1-0 lead less than seven minutes into the first period when Gavin O’Connell redirected Matt Basgall’s shot past Wolverine netminder Jake Barczewski.
The Wolverines knotted the game at 1-1 just over five minutes into the second period. A 3-on-2 opportunity put Michigan out on the break, and Dylan Duke found Ethan Edwards for a quick strike that lit the lamp behind Spartan goalie Trey Augustine.
The score remained tied at 1-1 into the third period until Michigan’s Jacob Truscott got the puck to Marshall Warren, who beat Augustine on the backside of the net to give the Wolverines a 2-1 advantage.
The Spartans responded quickly and took advantage of another Michigan penalty. Nicolas Muller found a wide-open Joey Larson, who rifled into a one-timer to make it 2-2.
That tie was shortlived, however, and the Wolverines scored twice in just 12 seconds to take a commanding lead and suck all the wind out of the Spartans’ sails.
Duke used his speed to get by a pair of Spartan defenders and then beat Augustine with a nifty wrap-around goal to make it 3-2. On the ensuing faceoff, Ethan Edwards found a streaking Nazar, who made a SportsCenter Top 10-worthy play when he moved the puck between his legs and then made the pass to Gavin Brindley for the score before Augustine had time to react.
“It was kind of something I just pulled out last second,” Nazar said. “It ended up working out well.”
The Spartans pulled their goalie with nearly four minutes remaining after a timeout, but a penalty forced Augustine back between the pipes and the Wolverines notched a power-play goal of their own to ice the victory.
The loss ends an outstanding season for the Spartans, who won the Big Ten Tournament and claimed their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2008. Michigan State last went to the Frozen Four in 2007.
Michigan is making its third straight trip to the Frozen Four and 28th in program history.
“Honestly, it’s just the heart — the heart of the team,” said Nazar, who has 17 goals and 24 assists this season. “We went into the second intermission and were hugging each other, bringing each other up. Look at us now, just celebrating like this. We’re brothers out here, and we love each other to death. That’s what brings us together.”