Even before his first organized hockey experience, Cecconi gravitated toward the game. He always picked the hockey stick over the basketball as a child and could always be found on skates in the winter and rollerblades in the summer — when he wasn’t playing soccer.
One minute and 44 seconds later, forward Dylan Malmquist fired a shot from the right circle that went over junior goaltender Hayden Lavigne’s shoulder. After taking a penalty so early in the game, the Wolverines (12-12-6, 8-8-4-2) found themselves in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
The Fighting Irish added two goals in under a minute in the second period to put the game firmly out of reach for Michigan, who lost, 5-2.
His effort level has visibly been higher, and he’s made impressive plays in all four games since. This time, his plays have made Michigan’s highlight reel — not the other team’s.
Hughes is refocusing on the little things that make him successful, and it’s been effective thus far.
With the Michigan football team’s 2018 regular season in the books, The Daily looks back at the performance of each unit this year and peers ahead to the future in 2019. In this edition: tight ends.
Two injuries to the same shoulder in two different seasons cut both of those campaigns short.
Now, Lockwood is doing everything he can to lead Michigan back to where it was last year. This time, he’s not watching it happen from the stands.
since the beginning of January, Lavigne has been the go-to man in goal, starting all but a mid-week matchup against Merrimack. Against the Warriors, Mann got the start, largely to allow Lavigne to rest as the week was bookended by three important Big Ten games.
However, in the Wolverines’ last two series, Lavigne hasn’t finished the second game of either weekend.
This weekend against Minnesota, the Michigan hockey team had 12 opportunities on the power play, including three with a two-man advantage. But in the 27 minutes the Wolverines spent with an extra man — or two — across the two games, they failed to convert a single time.
But three minutes later, junior forward Will Lockwood found twine on his third attempt in under 10 seconds, sliding the puck past goaltender Mat Robson.
And from there, Michigan took the lead and held on, winning, 4-2.
To say the Michigan hockey team’s defense has been inconsistent this season is an understatement. The Wolverines have given up the fourth-most goals in the Big Ten this season with 77 goals against — 24 more than No. 4 Ohio State, which has allowed the fewest goals in the conference.
But amid all that inconsistency, junior defensemen Luke Martin and Griffin Luce have backstopped an up-and-down group of blueliners.
Lavigne sprawled out to make the save as Limoges wound his way to the front of the crease, waiting to shoot the puck until Lavigne was flat on the ice. One quick flip of his stick later and Penn State led 5-1.
Though Michigan tacked on another goal in the third period, the comeback came up short. The Nittany Lions went on to take the second game of the series, 5-2.