The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/703389
streak — in making the 16-team field one of its primary goals. There were ups and downs along the way as there are most years, but in the end they got there, making the quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion North Dakota. That effort earns them The Wolverine's Male Team of the Year award for 2015-16. "The past three years before this we didn't make the tournament, so that was probably our main goal — at the end of the year we had to make the tournament," junior forward Alex Kile said. "We did that, had a great game against North Dakota and came up short, but overall it was a great year. "We brought the first Big Ten cham- pionship to the school, so we can't re- ally complain. That's something we're going to remember for the rest of our lives." Berenson's Wolverines finished 25-8-5 overall and 12-5-3-2 in the Big Ten (second place) and were led by an offense that was historically good. The Wolverines led the nation in scor- ing with an average of 4.76 goals per game, the highest by a Michigan team since the 1996-97 campaign (5.63). U-M topped the five-goal mark in 22 of 38 games this season, the most in one season since 1996-97 (28). The Wolverines also won a record 17th John A. MacInnes Trophy with a 4-2 win against Michigan Tech in the 51st annual Great Lakes Invitational championship game Dec. 30 at Joe Louis Arena. The crowning achievement, how- ever, was the Big Ten Tournament championship, the program's first Big Ten title of any kind since leaving the CCHA three years ago. A 5-3 victory over Minnesota brought the trophy to Ann Arbor. "It was big because Minnesota had kind of been taking control of the Big Ten the last three years with all the championships they've had," Kile said. "We let it slip away for the regu- lar-season title, so we kind of knew we were going to make the [NCAA] Tournament regardless of what hap- pened in the Big Ten Tournament, but it was more kind of like a pride thing. We wanted to win that, not let Min- nesota win it again." The Wolverines trailed by a goal in the third period at St. Paul, Minn., but three straight goals put the Wol- verines over the top. Freshman for- ward Kyle Connor, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, notched a goal and three assists, including the game-tying goal early in the third pe- riod. Sophomore defenseman Zach Werenski added the game-winner on a late power play and senior goalten- der Steven Racine notched 30 saves in the win. "Any time you can beat Minnesota it's fun, but especially in the Big Ten Tournament championship game," Kile said. "The crowd wasn't too big or loud, but it was almost all Minne- sota fans. They scored a few goals and the crowd went crazy." The big third period had been a trend for the Wolverines all season. Michigan outscored teams 76-27 in MALE TEAM OF THE YEAR HOCKEY