Steve Racine was the last to emerge from the Michigan hockey locker room Friday evening following the Wolverines’ 3-2 overtime victory against Notre Dame in an NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal.

Typically, a goalie can be the first to exit, hoping to duck reporters that have their hardball questions loaded up, but Racine had every reason to savor the moment, recording 28 saves in the game as he almost single-handedly kept U-M from getting blown out in the second period when Michigan trailed 2-1.

“I thought he played great. He made some big saves early and without that, we would have been in a pretty big hole,” sophomore defenseman Zach Werenski said. “For him to make those saves, it’s huge. At a time like this, you really need great goaltending and he really stepped up for us.”

Racine has been an easy scapegoat for the Maize and Blue over the past four years of his career. Originally a walk-on, he was pressed into duty as a freshman when the scholarship netminder, Jared Rutledge, fell apart.

Racine finished his rookie year with an .899 save percentage and a 2.65 goals against average, but was good during Michigan’s six-game playoff run, boasting a .917 save percentage while allowing just 13 goals in going 5-1-0.

Still, when Zach Nagelvoort took the job away from Racine the following season, most fans were content, believing the 6-3, 196-pound Racine simply didn’t have what it takes to be an elite-level goalie.

And so it went in 2014-15 and even throughout much of this season, many constantly lamenting every goal that slid by Racine whether it was his fault or, in most circumstances this year, the result of poor defensive play in front of him.

On Friday, for at least one evening, those that have tarred and feathered Racine for every goal paid him respect after he made a series of point-blank, game-saving stops in the second and third periods.

After the game, the Williamsville, N.Y., native, who happens to be one of Michigan’s brightest students – likely headed for a career on Wall Street after he finishes at U-M – couldn’t help but smile when asked about his performance.

“I try to just stay in the moment and try not to think about whether that was my best game or worst game or second-best game,” he said, when asked if he felt vindicated. “I just do what I can to help the team win.

“[Saturday] we know we’re playing another unbelievable team, and we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game just to have a chance, and that’s what I am focused on now.”

Racine has been guilty of getting too high after success and too low after losses or bad goals, so it’s a sign of maturity that despite his grin, he talked the right talk, understanding last night’s triumph and praise could be today’s ridicule and blame if he doesn’t play his best hockey for another 60 minutes.

“You need your goalie to be one of your best players, and he was, and he has been consistently for us for a long time this season,” assistant coach Brian Wiseman said. “He competed at a very high level [against Notre Dame] and he understands that we’re going to need another great effort against North Dakota.”

Head coach Red Berenson has an interesting history with goalies, like all coaches do. He must walk a fine line between criticism and praise, and perhaps having learned from the tumult of the past three seasons of netminder play, Berenson has had nothing but good things to say about Racine over the past few months.

“I would say not just this game but he’s played really well recently, and I say recently, in the last month,” Berenson said last night. “He took over the starting job at Christmas, in the [Great Lakes Invitational], and look what he’s done since then [15-4-2 with a .912 save percentage].

“We’ve had the odd bad goal against … but Steve Racine is giving Michigan the chance to be where we are.”

Racine will likely be remembered unfavorably, just too many fans thinking he was a below-average goalie the past four years, though his postseason numbers tell a far different story. In 12 games, Racine is 10-2-0 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .927 save percentage.

Goalie Shawn Hunwick is remembered as one of U-M’s all-time best netminders, with Hunwick recording a 1.84 GAA and a .934 save percentage in going 16-5-0 in the postseason.

He led Michigan on two NCAA runs, including to the 2011 Frozen Four.

Racine has not deserved as much negativity as he’s received, and for one night, he was lauded by even his harshest critics. Have another great game this evening against the Fighting Hawks, and the senior might just turn his narrative positive for good.

We're giving Racine some love on The Fort.