Boarding the plane to travel to the Seattle University Tournament this past weekend, the Wolverines packed some extra incentive.

Their first regular-season road trip, which the Wolverines finished with a 1-0-1 record, marked a return to the hometown of redshirt senior goalie — and recently named co-captain — Chris Blais.

And according Michigan's other team captain, senior midfielder Alex Wood, the tournament was a trip “Blais has been raving about for two years now.”

“It’s great to finally get to his stomping grounds,” Wood said. “He made two very big saves for us (on Friday) to keep us in there. That’s what we expect from him.

“We don’t want to leave him out to dry, but he can keep us in the games. It was great to see him get the shutout in his hometown and I know that he was excited for another win and a shutout.”

In Friday’s game, the Wolverines (2-1-1) took on the University of Illinois-Chicago — and took care of business, winning 2-0. The Michigan offense fired on all cylinders in this match, posting 23 total shots with 13 on goal.

Freshman forward Soony Saad scored the first Wolverine goal in the 69th minute and was assisted by senior midfielder Justin Meram. Meram took a shot that deflected off the UIC keeper before Soony’s rebound found its way to the back of the net.

Even after Soony’s goal, Michigan continued to keep the pressure on the UIC defense and was rewarded when senior captain Alex Wood’s shot from three yards found the back of the box. Meram earned his second assist on the day on Wood’s goal, as his cross pass set it up.

“This game was the type of game where early on it was a stalemate,” Soony said. “It seemed like we were never going to get a goal, like we were knocking on the door forever.

“We just kept coming and we caught a break where (Meram) took a shot and I came in to the rebound and that goal really opened up the door for the second goal. The other team was pressing for the equalizer and they didn’t get it.”

But Sunday’s game against Seattle University started on a drastically different note.

Seattle had seven shots in the first 15 minutes, compared to just one for Michigan. The Redhawks came into Sunday with a 0-3-0 record, but managed to score two goals on Michigan in the first half.

Seattle’s first goal came at 11:31 and reflected the Redhawks' early offensive tempo. The second Seattle goal came just before halftime off a broken pass from Michigan’s defense.

"In terms of what Seattle did, they sat in and did a good job playing off the counter attack," Michigan coach Steve Burns said, adding that it "kind of opened the game up because we committed a lot of resources to go forward and hold possession."

But the Wolverines continued to battle, attacking the opposing keeper with 36 shots and 11 shots on goal in the game.

And Michigan’s persistence helped the team complete its second-half comeback, as sophomore midfielder Hamoody Saad drained a free kick for a goal at 75:18 and Soony followed with a goal of his own with five minutes remaining in the game.

All four of the Wolverines’ goals on the road trip came in the second half of game action — giving the team confidence that they can remain fresh until the game goes final.

"Our attackers were top-notch (Sunday)," Hamoody said. "I think that when we go down a goal and it goes into the last couple minutes, the whole team is giving their full 100-percent effort. We know that we’re going to score. It’s just a matter of when and how and we all need to work with each other because we all want that goal."

Michigan comes back to Ann Arbor to take on Oakland and Notre Dame at home this week before making a quick trip to Madison to open Big Ten play against the Badgers next Sunday.

With a win and a tie under their belts from the weekend, the Wolverines look ahead to playing in a familiar setting.