To kick off their 2018-19 schedule, Michigan Hockey split a pair of weekend home contests. The one they really needed and wanted, though, was the one that counted, a disappointing regular-season loss to previously lightly regarded Vermont, 5-2.

The Wolverines followed up that Saturday night loss with a 7-4 exhibition win Sunday against the University of Waterloo from Ontario.

On Saturday, Michigan pumped 48 shots at Vermont junior goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, who turned away all but two Michigan forays. On the other side of the ledger, the Catamounts could only manage 19 shots against Michigan netminder Hayden Lavigne.

“I thought their goaltender [Lekkas] was excellent,” Michigan head coach Mel Pearson said. “He was the first star of the game. We got behind early and dug ourselves a hole. We came back a little bit, but I just didn’t like our start.”

Vermont stormed out of the gate scoring two goals in the first four minutes of the game and closed the contest with two more in the game’s final three minutes, the final one into an empty net.

“We weren’t ready to play tonight,’ Pearson said of the early Vermont goals. “We just weren’t ready to play. I think we came in with the mindset that it was going to be easy.”

Between the scoring outbursts by Vermont, Michigan dominated the game offensively, but only solved Lekkas with two power-play goals in the first period, one each by Will Lockwood and Nick Pastujov.

“As the game wore on, I really liked our team,” Pearson noted. “From the middle of the second period, we did a lot of good things. We just couldn’t score. I guess some nights are like that.”

The Waterloo contest was the traditional Wolverine exhibition against a Canadian university team. Michigan’s large freshman class was afforded more of an opportunity to log ice time than they did in Saturday’s opener.

The competitive debut of freshman goaltender Strauss Mann was successful even though he fanned on his second save attempt on a shot from center ice.

“I think he’d like to have that one back,” smiled Pearson regarding Mann’s early faux pas.“It looked like it just took a funny bounce on him. Overall, I liked what he did, a good job, made some good saves and had a couple he didn’t have a chance on.”

Against Waterloo, Michigan found their scoring legs early. Only minutes into the game, sophomore center Josh Norris beat a Waterloo defender to the outside on his off wing and roofed a sharp angle shot to give Michigan an early 1-0 lead. When the dust settled, Michigan’s offense came alive to the tune of seven goals. Wolverine Jack Becker had two of Michigan’s goals and singles were added by Pastujov, Christian Meike, Lockwood and Jack Olmstead.

“Overall, we’re happy with today,” Pearson said of the exhibition win. “It got a little sloppy at times, but coming after that tough loss [to Vermont] and the quick turnaround from last night, you expected some of that. We got some good things out of it and saw some areas we need to work on. We’ve got to get better defensively. Even tonight [against Waterloo], four goals is too many.”

Up next for the Wolverines is another traditional exhibition matchup, this one with the US Under 18 National Team Development Program (NTDP) next Friday at Yost Ice Arena. Michigan fans will get their first look at NTDP forward John Beecher, who is slated to join the Wolverines next season after serving on the national team this season. Additionally, U-M sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes’ younger brother, Jack, is currently starring for the U-18 NTDP and will be pitted against his older brother.

1st Star — Junior forward Will Lockwood

Lockwood’s first goal of the season broke the ice for the Wolverines in Saturday loss to Vermont. He added a goal and assist against Waterloo even with limited ice time.

2nd Star — Sophomore forward Josh Norris

In addition to his opening goal and a later assist against Waterloo, Norris won 17 of 23 faceoffs against Vermont and peppered the Catamount goal with six shots.

3rd Star — Junior forward Nick Pastujov

Pastujov netted a goal in each of the weekend games and won seven of 11 faceoffs versus Vermont.

Honorable Mention — Sophomore forward Jack Becker

Indicating he’s going to pick right up where he left off last season as a scoring threat, Becker potted two goals of Michigan’s seven against Waterloo.

”I’m a little surprised that we weren’t better [defensively], that we gave up as many goals as we did this week.” — Michigan head coach Mel Pearson

Michigan won 37 of 60 faceoffs and poured 48 shots on the Vermont net on Saturday night. That combination usually results in more than two goals, a testament to how well Stefanos Lekkas played between the pipes for Vermont.

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