ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Michigan, the top seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, struck first and fast in the opening Allentown Regional semifinal Friday at the PPL Center in ringing up a 5-3 victory over American International.
Garrett Van Wyhe and Ethan Edwards staked the Big Ten playoff champion Wolverines to a 2-0 lead with goals just 39 seconds apart early on, before Brian Rigali cashed in on a rebound for the Yellow Jackets later in the opening period.
Brendan Brisson (power play) and Matty Beniers made it 4-1 for the Wolverines in the second session, with each scoring his team-best 20th goal of the season. AIC’s Justin Young and Michigan’s Dylan Duke traded goals less than a half-minute apart.
The Atlantic Hockey champion Yellow Jackets couldn’t convert on overlapping power plays late in the period and were still down three goals before Blake Bennett connected on a power play with 6:12 remaining in regulation, but that was AIC’s last hurrah.
Michigan (30-9-1) will meet the winner of Friday night’s Quinnipiac-St. Cloud State contest in the regional final on Sunday. AIC finished its season at 22-13-3.
Full story to come.