Top-10 Matchup Awaits as U-M Travels to No. 7 Providence for Weekend Series

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team (2-0) takes to the road for the first time this season when the Wolverines head to Rhode Island on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 10-11) to battle No. 7-ranked Providence (0-0) in an early-season top-10 showdown at Schneider Arena. Puck drop for both contests is slated for 7 p.m. and both will be streamed live on ESPN+ in the U.S., and TSN+ in Canada.

Notes

• Michigan moved up three places to No. 9 in this week's USCHO national poll after a sweep of Mercyhurst to open the season.

• The Wolverines outscored their opening weekend opponent 18-1, with an 11-1 win on Friday (Oct. 3) followed by a 7-0 shutout on Saturday (Oct. 4). Friday's win came by the largest margin of victory in a Michigan season opener since 1990.

• Michael Hage leads the nation in scoring after a seven-point weekend that saw him earn Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors. Hage scored two goals and had five primary assists. It marked his best offensive output since a series at Penn State, Nov. 22-23, 2024. He also won 17 of 26 faceoffs (.654) against Mercyhurst.

• The nation's leading goal scorer is Will Horcoff, who put up five against the Lakers. He collected his first career hat trick on Friday night, a natural hat trick in Michigan's 11-1 win.

• Cole McKinney scored Michigan's first goal of the season. He is the first freshman since Jackson Hallum in 2022-23 to score the season's first goal. McKinney finished his weekend with two goals and two assists.

• Jack Ivankovic went 2-0 in his collegiate debut weekend, stopping 26 of 27 shots on net. His 7-0 shutout on Saturday was Michigan's first since Logan Stein blanked St. Cloud on Oct. 18, 2024 -- a 3-0 decision.

• The Wolverines' power play is first in the nation at 70 percent, converting on seven of 10 chances. Michigan is also tops in penalty kill, dispatching all seven last weekend.

• Michigan and Providence have met just five times before, with the Wolverines holding a 4-1 advantage in the series. The teams first met in the 1964 NCAA Frozen Four, a 3-2 Michigan win, before two regular-season tournament games -- the Maverick Stampede in Omaha and the Great Lakes Invitational. The Friars came to Yost Ice Arena in 2023, with the teams splitting the series -- Providence winning 4-2 in the opener and Michigan taking a 5-4 win in the finale.