The Michigan Daily Wednesday, January 14,

BluBe Linesy
By KENT WALLEY

Icers stalled on road

On paper they were evenly matched.
The teams were 7-5 in the WCHA and 13-
overall. The national collegiate
hockey poll ranked the teams tied for
tenth.
It was a critical series, both teams
were trailing three tough: WCHA
hockey squads - deadlocked in first
place. Both teams needed the win to
stay close in the WCHA.
BUT ONE team had 8,662 screaming
fans cheering them on. One team had a
huge (close to 100-piece) pep band
playing their fight song. The other team
had a key left winger injured.
That was the scenario last weekend
when the Wolverine icers took on the
Wisconsin Badgers in Madison.
Unfortunately for Michigan, Wiscon-
sin topped the scoreboard both nights.
Each game was hard fought, action-
packed, and filled with good hockey,
but the Wolverines couldn't muster the
strength to pull them out. Why?
THE HOME ICE advantage was
robably one of the biggest factors.
Wisconsin fans are boisterous, large in
numbers and often drunk. With an 18-
year-old drinking age, beer gardens are
abundant in the Dane County Memorial
Coliseum. And it must be hard to con-
centrate with a thousand people chan-
ting "siv siv" and pointing to the
Michigan goal.
Looking at the games themselves can
also add insight. In the Friday night
tame, the Wolverines managed to stay

close through the first half of the game.
But Wisconsin came out shooting from
the opening face off and didn't let up
throughout the game.
With good defense and some extraor-
dinary saves, Michigan managed to
stay close through a period and a half.
But the powerful Wisconsin offense
finally started to dominate, scoring
four unanswered goals in the second
half.
SATURDAY, THE score was closer,
but the third Michigan goal came with
19 seconds to play and goalie Paul

Fricker was pulled for an extra wing.
Again the Wolverine defense and
Fricker kept the game close. They shut
out the explosive Wisconsin offensive
punch through 15 minutes. But in the
second period it was Wisconsin versus
Steve Richmond, who tallied two goals
in the period.
The problem Saturday was the way
Michigan killed the penalties. Three of
the four Badger goals scored in the
game came on the power play.
NOT ALL WAS bleak for the Maize
and Blue though. Coach John Giordano
feels that some of the players who were
not ready for action earlier in the
season are improving.
Seeing more playing time recently,
both Dave Fardig and Billy Reid scored
their first goals of the season.
Also impressive were two other in-
dividual performances. Jeff Tessier
showed some super moves and tallied
his third goal of the season. But his
assist total is not so impressive, (one
thus far).

But recently Fricker seems to have
come into his own. Often it's his goal
tending combined with the Wolverine
defense that keeps Michigan in the
tough contests. And while everyone was
home for the holidays, he was busy
winning the Most Valuable Player
Award at the Great Lakes Invitational
Tournament.
The Michigan hockey team is a good
example of the old cliche not only last
weekend, but all season - expect the
unexpected.
They fooled many through the early
part of the season by staying close in
the WCHA and splitting with teams like
Wisconsin and North Dakota, and they
didn't stay as close as expected with
Wisconsin.
The Wolverines climbed to the top of
the conference with many teams. Five
teams were in the stratosphere all
within one game of each other. But with
so much weight in the clouds of the
WCHA somebody had to fall back to
earth - unfortunately it was Michigan.
The season isn't over yet, so if the
icers can rise over Michigan State this
weekend, a winning season should still
appear on the horizon.
There will be a meeting for anyone in-
terested in joining the varsity softball
team today at 4:30 in the basement of
the Athletic Administration Building.

Name
Richmond
Blum
Speers
Hampson
Manning
Mars
Brandrup
May
Bourne
Tippett
Krussman
Milburn
McCrimmon
Richter
Tessier
Augimeri
Reid
Fardig
Perry
Lundberg
Carter
Yoxheimer
McCauley
Fricker
Mason
Varvari
Sutton
OTHER,
'M' BENCH

GP
22
20
21
22
20
20
20
22
20
21-
22
22
19
19
15
13
16
6
18
22
3
5
7
20
2
1
1
21

G
12,
5
11
8
2
9
6
6
7
2
3
3
6
0
3
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1

A
19
20
8
10
16
8
10
9
7
12.
9
7
2
6
1
2
1
1
2
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2

PTS
31
25
19
18
18
17
16
15
14
14
12
10
8
6
4
4
2
2
2
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3

1981 Page 9
P/M PPG
16/32 9
22/47 3
6/12 6
12/24 1
2/4 1
8/16 1
16/32 4
17/34 0
4/8 2
13/26 0
6/12 1
18/24 0
9/18 0
17/34 0
5/10 0
3/6 0
3/6 0
1/2 0
4/8 0
16/40 0
0/0 0
3/6 0
1/2 0
0/0 -
0/0 -
0/0
0/0 -
- 1
4/8 -


MICHIGAN
OPPONENTS

22
22

88
84

155 243 197/413
136 220 189/389

29
30


Mme,,


AND AS USUAL Fricker dazzled the
crowd with several excellent saves.
Giordano admitted at the beginning of
the' season that Fricker had little
bmotivating incentive. Returning to the
squad after starting his freshman,
there was no one to challenge him for
the top net-minding spot.

Fricker
... GLIT MVP

- 4's

SPOR TS OF THE DAILY:

A.

Lloyd to
:NEW YORK (AP) - Chris Evert
Lloyd, in, balloting as close as their
nieetings on the court, edged teen-ager
Tracy Austin yesterday by a single vote
or The Associated Press Woman
Athlete of the Year.
Lloyd, who came back from a disap-
pointing - for her - 1979 season and a
self-imposed three-month vacation at
the start of 1980, climbed back to her
accustomed spot atop the women's ten-
nis game by capturing the Italian,
French and U.S. Opens and the U.S.
Claiy Court championships, among
*others.
Her dramatic domination was
rewarded by the nation's sports writers
and broadcasters. Lloyd polled 102
votes to 100 by Austin. It was the fourth
time Lloyd has been named the winner.
A distant third, with 39 votes, was
Genuine Risk, the first filly to- win the;
Kentucky Derby in more than a half-
century, and was second in the
Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.
'Skins tab coach
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
*Washington Redskins of the National
Football League yesterday formally
announced the selection of San Diego
Chargers' offensive coordinator Joe
Gibbs as their new coach.
Gibbs, 40, has served as an assistant
coach in the college and pro ranks for
the past 17 years. The Washington job
will be his first as head coach.
Although the exact terms of Gibbs
multi-year contract were not announ-
ced, sources say the five-year pact may

ops horse
be worth $500,000.
Gibbs inherits a 6-10 team that
managed to beat just one club with a
winning record all season. Ironically,
the 40-17 victory came over San Diego.
Announcing the selection, Redskins
General Manager Bobby Beathard said
Gibbs is the "best-prepared assistant
coach in the NFL, a true blue-chipper.
He is the best."
AP Top Twenty
1. Oregon St. (39) ........12-0 1,197
2. Virginia (20)........11-0 1.169
3. Kentucky ............10-1 1.041
4. DePaul (2) ............13-1 1,002
5. Wake Forest........12-0 990
6. Louisiana St...........12-1 882
7. Notre Dame ........... 8-2 690
8. UCLA ................. 8-2 675
9. MICHIGAN ...........10-1 597
10. Maryland ............11-2 583
11. Tennessee ............10-2 513
12. Arizona St.............11-2 502
13. S. Alabama ...........13-1 472
14. Iow.................. 9-2 379
15. Brigham Young .......12-2 371
16. Utah ..................13-1 351
17. North Carolina ........10-4 189
18. Illinois ................ 9-2 186
19. Clemson ..............12-2 143
20. Minnesota ............ 9-2 139

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January 12, 1981
separate - classes for:
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