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In hockey parlance, the phrase “Pucks bounce!” is commonly used to refer to an unlucky break.

Notre Dame undoubtedly was muttering just that phrase to themselves over the opening goal scored by Michigan captain senior defenseman Joe Cecconi, just five minutes into Michigan’s 4-2 win over the Irish on Saturday.

Michigan built on Cecconi’s early goal, scoring two more inside the game’s first 10 minutes, and held on to beat the Irish in the game played outdoors at Notre Dame Stadium.

Cecconi had no intention of trying to score himself when he flipped the puck, from the top of the left circle in his own zone nearly 170 feet toward the Notre Dame net. The puck took one bounce and somehow eluded Irish senior goaltender Cale Morris to establish an early 1-0 Wolverine lead.

“The first one was a break,” Michigan head coach Mel Pearson admitted. “I’ve seen some weird goals and that’s right up there. I’ve been in a lot of these outdoor games. When the puck gets above the boards, there’s a lot of dark space [visually]. Joe was just trying to lay it in the far corner.

“The boards are very lively, so I told Slakes [Michigan junior forward Jake Slaker] right off the draw, no matter what, to just go and I was just going to ice the puck and try to get a breakaway,” Cecconi laughed in the postgame. “That really didn’t work. Maybe it was the wind that took it a little bit. It bounced in. I didn’t even see it go in. I was in shock.”

Sixteen seconds later, junior forward Will Lockwood converted a slick solo effort to extend the Michigan lead to 2-0.

“He’s a talented player,” Pearson said of Lockwood. “He did that on purpose. He goes across, flips it over his stick, continues on, gets it and that’s a place to shoot. He’s got the goalie going right to left and shoots it back to the right. He’s a goal scorer. I expect a big second half from him this year. We didn’t have him [the second half of last year], so it’s nice to have him for the second half and the stretch run this year.”

Freshman forward Nolan Moyle lengthened the Wolverine lead to 3-0 at 9:54 of the first period with his second goal of the season, both of which have come after the holiday break.

“He was a good player last year in the USHL,” Pearson said of Moyle. “He was a scorer. One of the things Nolan had to do was learn to work harder. You have to learn how to work harder at this level. It’s an adjustment.”

“We got up three really quick,” Cecconi said of the first-period Wolverine goal-scoring outburst. “It helps us play more confident and guys loosen up a bit.”

Notre Dame narrowed the Wolverine lead to 3-1 with a goal in the second period and tightened it even further with another goal with just three minutes to play.

Junior forward Dakota Raabe iced the game for Michigan with an empty net goal at 19:48 of the final stanza.

1st Star — Junior forward Will Lockwood

Lockwood’s skillful first period goal gave the Wolverines a little breathing room by establishing an early two-goal margin.

2nd Star — Senior defenseman Joe Cecconi

While his opening goal was admittedly pretty fluky, Cecconi’s rock-solid defensive work in his own zone earned second star status

3rd Star — Sophomore forward Dakota Raabe

In addition to his empty net goal, Raabe specialized in special teams play and used his skating speed effectively all game.

“We have to continue to play better defensively. That’s been one of the biggest keys for us lately. We’re playing much better defensively and that starts with our goaltending.”

— Michigan head coach Mel Pearson

Merrimack makes a non-conference stop in Ann Arbor on Tuesday at 7:30 pm. Despite their 5-15-1 record, Merrimack can be dangerous on the road. Senior goaltender Craig Pantano stopped 42 shots in a 1-0 shutout road win Saturday night over 11th-ranked Northeastern.

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