No. 7 Michigan stumbles in season opener

ANN ARBOR – With 12 new players and no exhibition games this season, Michigan head hockey coach Brandon Naurato said before the year that it might take some time for his team to gel.

The seventh-ranked Wolverines opened the season Friday against Minnesota State, and it appears the cohesion is still a work in progress. The Mavericks scored five goals on 21 shots to beat Michigan 5-2 at Yost Ice Arena.

Seven freshmen and five transfers are new to the Wolverines this year after the team lost most of its production from last season’s squad that reached a third straight Frozen Four.

MSU had little offensive zone pressure throughout the game, but it was dangerous off the rush. It didn’t capitalize on its first three two-on-ones but scored on its next two. Brian Carrabes wired a wrister past Logan Stein, a Ferris State transfer, to tie the game at the 4:25 mark of the second.

RELATED: Expectations remain high for new-look Michigan hockey: ‘Need guys to step up’

Four minutes later, Michigan defenseman Jacob Truscott turned over the puck after catching an edge and falling down, creating an instant chance for the Mavericks. Brett Moravec received a centering feed from Campbell Cichosz and made a slick move to give the team the lead.

Rhett Pitlick, a transfer from Minnesota who is familiar with playing the Wolverines, gave MSU some breathing room 63 seconds into the third. A turnover by Tim Lovell sprung Pitlick for a breakaway goal. The Mavericks added some more insurance just over two minutes later as Luke Ashton walked in from the point and hammered a shot just under the crossbar.

Sophomore Garrett Schifsky briefly gave the Wolverines some life, burying a feed from freshman Michael Hage, a 2024 first-round pick, with 5:03 remaining to pull them to within two. The momentum was fleeting as MSU responded with 2:20 left.

Michigan, which lost five of its top six scorers from 2023-24, finished 1 for 2 on the power play and used the man advantage to take a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the second. On the team’s preseason media day video conference call, defenseman Jacob Truscott and forward T.J. Hughes raved about the shot of sophomore transfer William Whitelaw, who had 10 goals as a freshman for Wisconsin. The 2023 third-round pick displayed it Friday, blasting a one-timer past Alex Tracy on a setup from Hage.

The Wolverines finished with 34 shots on goal but didn’t generate many second-chance opportunities. The two teams wrap up the two-game series at 6 p.m. Saturday.