The city of Ann Arbor will be celebrating long into the night Saturday night, following one of the best days in recent Michigan sports history. The women's basketball team kicked things off this afternoon and advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. The women's gymnastics team won its 26th Big Ten title, and the men's team continued the momentum with their upset of No. 3-seed Tennessee, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fifth-straight season. Finally, the hockey team claimed the Big Ten title over Minnesota with an emphatic 4-3 victory over the Gophers.
Any fans who may have entered 3M Arena at Mariucci late probably missed two quick goals. The Gophers struck first, just 32 seconds into the contest. However, Michigan didn't trail for long. Brendan Brisson tied things up for the Wolverines less than a minute later.
The Wolverines took their first lead of the game with just over two minutes to play in the first period. Mackie Samoskevich was credited with the goal, but a Golden Gopher defenseman will be kicking himself for a while. The Minnesota defenseman practically put on a Michigan jersey for a split second, and redirected the puck into his own net.
Dylan Duke added to the Wolverine lead early in the second period on a feed from Samoskevich.
Just five minutes later, Kent Johnson gave Michigan a three-goal lead. Brisson and Mark Estapa were each credited on the assist.
Michigan maintained the three-goal lead for more than a full period, and with five minutes left, looked to be in great position to win its second Big Ten Tournament championship. However, the Gophers emptied their net, and the Wolverines committed a few penalties, and the Gophers scored two goals in the final minute.
The Gophers' third goal came with just 5.8 seconds remaining, and the Wolverines were able to kill the remaining time to secure the Big Ten championship.
Michigan had five players named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team. Matty Beniers, Brisson, Samoskevich, Luke Hughes and Erik Portillo all received the honors.
The Wolverines will undoubtedly be a No. 1-seed in Sunday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show. Michigan is now 29-9-1 on the season and will be one of the favorites to win the national championship.