Michigan Knocks Off Boston College 3-1 in Impressive Opener

It's only one game in a very young season, but already, Michigan appears to be taking steps towards erasing the memory of an extremely disappointing season last year. The Wolverines opened up their season with an extremely impressive 3-1 win over Boston College Thursday night at Yost Arena.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one period thanks to a power play goal from Luke Moffatt, and expanded the lead to 2-0 five minutes into the second period on a goal by Andrew Copp. Boston College would cut Michigan's lead in half midway through the second period on Ian McCoshen's first collegiate goal, but could get no closer. Moffatt's second power play goal of the evening, just 34 seconds into the third period gave Michigan a much-needed insurance goal, and helped the Wolverines secure their first win of the year.

Despite some periods of extremely heavy pressure by Boston College throughout much of the second period, it was overall a superlative performance by Michigan. Many of the question marks people about Michigan heading into the season were, at least for one night, answered. Their defense held up remarkably well against the speed of Boston College, including allowing just five shots in the third period while protecting a two-goal lead. The power play, which has long been a concern for the Wolverines, capitalized with the two Moffatt goals on five opportunities. Starting goalie Steve Racine only allowed a single goal on 21 shots. And sophomore Andrew Copp looks to be emerging as a legitimate star, having a hand in all three goals that Michigan scored.

For Boston College, it's a disappointing result, but should serve as a good learning experience for what is still a very young team. The Eagles will try to rebound at home on Sunday, when take on RPI. Meanwhile, Michigan will also head east to take on RIT on Saturday evening.