The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, November 22. 1993 - 7
*HOCKEY
Continued from page 1
Saturday night for the Wolverines was
the same one who ended it Friday.
'Ryan Sittler broke in off the open-
jog faceoff to score his fourth of the
yearjust nine seconds into the game to
give the Wolverines a quick lead and
st the tone for the evening.
Friday, Sittler, playing for the first
Ce in three weeks, gave the Wolver-
ines the victory with a shot from the
right circle. With 1:52 remaining, he
beat Buckeye goaltender Tom Askey
for apower-play goal after Ohio State's
Tim Green received a high-sticking
penalty.
I'll be expected to play
a more offensive role...
'm going to have to
pick up my offensive
abilities so Oliver and
Botterill don't lose a
step. That's my biggest
concern.'
-Mike Stone
senior forward
While Michigan won the game, it
was Ohio State which controlled the
second period, slipping three shots past
Wolverine goaltender Chris Gordon.
"The second period we were win-
ning the short races to the puck and it
made it a difference because we gained
the momentum," Ohio State coach Jerry
Welsh said.
The Wolverines trailed, 3-1, enter-
ing the third period but opened with a
two-man advantage. Sittler scored on
the power play and Rick Willis scored
nearly seven minutes later to tie the
score. That set up Sittler's game win-
ner.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Ohio State 0 3 0 - 3
Michigan 1 0 3 - 4
First period: 1, UM, Botterill 9
(Wiseman, Oliver), 12:47.
Second Period: 2, OSU, Power 5
(pp) (DuFour, Guilbault), 2:22.
3, OSU, Sellers 5 (Ricards,
Holmes), 11:10. 4, OSU, White
3 (pp) (Winters, Richards), 19:39.
Third period: 5, UM, Sittler 2
(pp) (Knuble, Oliver) :51. 6, UM
Willis 1 (Luhning, Schock) 7:23.
7. UM Sittler 3 (pp) (Hogan,
Hilton) 18:08.
Goalie Saves: UM - Gordon (5-
8-3-16). OSU - Askey (14-7-
10-25).
Officials: Referees- Roger Graf,
John LaDuke. Linesman -Devin
Newell.
Attendance: 6,218.
Fourth-liners make the
difference for Michigan
By PAUL BARGER
DAILY HOCKEY WRITER
On every team there is acertain group of athletes who never seems to get itsdue
recognition.
In football, it is the offensive linemen and special-teams players. In basketball
the unsung hero is often the team's defensive stopper. In baseball, it is the middle
relievers who often go unnoticed.
And in hockey, the players who toil in anonymity are the members of the
fourth line.
While Michigan first-liners Brian Wiseman, David Oliver and Jason Botterill
have garnered much of the spotlight since the beginning of Michigan's season,
those in the background have been excelling in their less glamorous roles as well.
The fourth line is often the deciding factor in a close contest. This weekend's
battles with Ohio State lend justification to that belief. The line of senior Mike
Stone, junior Rick Willis and freshman Warren Luhning were the obvious
catalysts in two hard-fought victories.
Willis' goal to tie Friday night's contest at three was only a minor part of his
overall contribution. In addition to his score, Willis flew around the ice hitting
everything wearing a red jersey, firing up his teammates in the process.
By the middle of the third period, the rest of the team had reached Willis'
intensity level and escaped with a one-goal win.
"When one line gets out there and gets going, it's contagious," Willis said.
"The team showed character in the third period."
Saturday night, the unit proved it could play with adversity. With Wiseman
out with a knee injury, that he suffered in a skirmish Friday, Coach Red Berenson
was forced to do a littlejuggling. Stone moved up to the first line, andj unior Anton
Federov came off the bench to play on the fourth.
The results speak for themselves.
Willis scored the Wolverines' fourth goal of the 5-1 victory on assists by
Luhning and Federov. Stone scored Michigan's fifth and final goal of the evening
and was credited with an assist earlier in the contest.
Berenson is a firm believer in the importance of the lower lines. Willis and
Stone are both veterans who have played well in the past and can very easily be
moved up when called upon. When the team needed someone to fill captain
Wiseman's spot on the top line, Stone had no problem stepping right in.
"Every team has two or three good lines," Berenson said. "The fourth line may
be the breaking point in a series."
This weekend continued Michigan's trend of struggling with opponents until
the third period of games. But when it comes down to crunch time, the other teams
seem to tire, while the Wolverines pick up the pace.
The depth of the squad is a big reason for that, and that depth has become one
of its biggest assets.
Berenson has created a situation where every line on the team is well-balanced
with freshmen and veterans and is a constant scoring threat.
At the beginning of the season, he decided to move Stone from the second to
the fourth line. The move was by no means a demotion for the senior. His
leadership and talents on the ice have complemented Willis and Luhning and have
given the rest of the CCHA a constant headache.
The opposition knows that when it plays Michigan, there will be no opportu-
nity to relax. For Stone, Willis and Luhning, having this advantage is better than
recognition.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Left winger Rick Willis skates down the ice with the puck. Willis is one of the fourth-line players that keyed
Michigan's weekend sweep of Ohio State. The junior scored his first two goals of the year against the Buckeyes.
HocKEY NOTEBOOK:
s Shiee ds
Sitlrand Shieldsreturn toleup,
Wise-man goes down with kneeinj uryT
I
By ANTOINE PITTS
DAILY HOCKEY WRITER
This weekend's games against Ohio
State marked the return of two impor-
tant Michigan players to action. The
Wolverines lost another key player to
injury, though, in Friday night's game.
Ryan Sittler saw action for the first
time in five games Friday and Steve
Shields returned to the nets for the first
time in four games Saturday night.
Sittler, returning from a shoulder in-
jury, scored three goals on the week-
end, including the game-winner Fri-
day. Shields, back from a knee injury,
improved his season record to 5-0-1
with Saturday's 5-1 triumph.
Meanwhile, captain Brian
Wiseman sat out due to a knee injury
suffered in Friday's 4-3 victory.
Near the end of second period there
was a scuffle between the two teams in
front of the Michigan goal. Wiseman,
in an attempt to get another Michigan
player out of the crowd, suffered a knee
injury similar to what Shields hada few
weeks ago.
"(Wiseman) fell down trying to get
(Jason) Botterill outofa mess," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said. "The
linesman pinnedhis knee accidentally."
Wiseman will have the knee exam-
ined today to determine when he can
return to action.
"He's a great leader out there,"
Shields said. "We're going to need him
as the season goes on."
COMPANY AT THE TOP: Shields' vic-
tory tied him with former Bowling
Green goalie Gary Kruzich for the
NCAA all-time wins record with 88.
"I had to think about just getting
through the game so I didn't have to
worry about getting the record," Shields
said. "It's over with. One more win and
that will be it."
Shields' record stands at 88-19-8.
He will attempt to set the record Friday
against Minnesota at the Palace of
Auburn Hills.
Despite tying the NCAA record for
wins, Shields is still three victories shy
of the CCHA all-time wins record, also
held by Kruzich. Shields CCHA record
is 64-14-8.
NEw No.1: The Michigan victories
coupled with Maine's 5-3 loss to Bos-
ton University Friday means there is a
new No. I team in the WMEB college
hockey poll. The Wolverines received
14 the 15 first-place votes and had 149
total points to take the top spot.
Berenson, however, was not too
impressed with the distinction of being
the nation's top team. The Wolverines
might be undefeated but many of those
games, including Friday night's nar-
row victory, have been close.
"I don't think that we're the best
team in the country," Berenson said.
"Right now we just happen to have the
best record."
PREMIERE PERFORMANCE: Friday
night's game marked the first appear-
ance of the hockey pep band, under the
direction of Brian Knoll and Clif
Smith. An ensemble of alumni per-
formed at the previous home game
against Notre Dame.
One tradition of Michigan hockey,
however, has gone to the wayside after
Friday's game. The band may no longer
perform The Olympic Fanfare, which
spurred the sparking of lighters through-
out the crowd. The athletic department
has ruled it a fire hazard.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Ohio State 0 0 1 - 1
Michigan 1 2 2 - 5
First period: 1, UM, Sittler 4
(Morrison, Sloan), :09.
Second Period: 2, UM, Oliver 6
(pp) (Morrison, Sittler), 3:29. 3,
UM, Botterill 10 (Stone, Schock),
15:25.
Third period: 4, UM, Willis 2
(Luhning, Federov) 7:31. 5, UM,
Stone 4 (Oliver, Hogan) 8:29. 6,
OSU Power 6 (pp) (White, Green)
15:19..
Goalie Saves: UM - Shields (5-
10-12-27). OSU - Askey (12-
8-5-25), Brown (x-x-6-6).
Officials: Referees - Matt
Shegos, Don Cline. Linesman -
Aohn Pearson.
Attendance: 6,840.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan's Brendan Morrison and Ohio State's Bryan Reidel scramble along
the boards for a loose puck. The Wolverines used the victories over the
Buckeyes to move into first place in the CCHA.
Crew teams finish fall seasons with victories over Ohio St.
By TOM SEELEY
PAiLY SPORTS WRITER
It just was not a good weekend for
Ohio State on land or water.
The Michigan men's and women's
rew teams asserted their control on the
water Saturday morning when each
defeated their Buckeye counterparts
on Argo Pond.
Overall, the teams won seven outof
the nine races held, with the varsity
men and women both winning their
respective sprints.
The victories came against an Ohio
State program that has had much more
ork on sprinting technique so far this
all than the Michigan crew team has
had.
"We just started our sprint work
this week," men's varsity coach Gregg
-Iartsuff said. "The team responded
well to the sprint training, and we had
a really good race."
"We had some rowers out, but we
still won by more than I thought we
would," women's coach Mark
Rothstein added.
Rothstein also said he was pleased
with the performance of the women's
boat's new coxswains.
"The new coxes stepped up and did
a real nice job. It was their first sprints
and they handled it pretty well,"
Rothstein said.
Saturday's races marked the
completion of the rowers' fall season
on the water as they now head indoors
for the winter to work on their overall
conditioning.
Looking back, Hartsuff said he was
quite pleased with the fall season's
results.
"When you look atourrecord, you'd
have to say the fall was a success,"
Hartsuff commented.
"We haven't seen some of the crews
who could have challenged us better,"
Hartsuff continued. "We lost to four
varsity-level crews, but looking at the
clubs we faced, we pretty much kicked
everyone's butt."
The women's program was also
successful, but the season was not with-
out its share of difficulties.
"This fall the team had a lot of
adversity thrown at them," Rothstein
'Overall, it was a pretty.
good fall.'
-Mark Rothstein
women 's crew coach
said. "We had some losses that were
difficult to overcome, but I was pretty
pleased with how the team reacted to
this adversity. Overall, it was a pretty
good fall."
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