6 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, January 24, 1994
SPARTANS
Continued from page 1
The Spartans regained the lead, 2-
1, when senior Kelly Harper scored
on an assist from Steve Guolla at 1:45
of the second. Just over five minutes
later, Guolla added to the Spartan
lead when he redirected a Chris Smith
shot past Michigan goaltender Steve
Shields.
"If you can play ahead on the road,
you're at an advantage," said Ron
Mason, who picked up his 400th win
as coach of the Spartans. "We had a
good jump and played well mechani-
cally."
They could not take their lead into
their locker room, however.
Defenseman Steven Halko scored his
second goal of the season off of a
deflection of a Kevin Hilton shot to
bring Michigan to within one.
Then the Wolverines got a strange
goal. Freshman Mike Legg directed
the puck off the boards to a streaking
Rick Willis. Buzak came way out of
the net to try to head off the break and
misplayed it. Willis managed to push
the puck towards the open net and tie
up the contest, 3-3.
"They were having trouble get-
ting a goal," Mason said. "That lets
them back in the game. We still felt
pretty confident, however."
That confidence was justified as
the Spartans scored three unanswered
goals to finish off the Wolverines.
The fourth tally came 20 seconds
into the period when Harper scored
his second of the game, while the
Spartans had a two-man advantage.
After the Tuzzolino breakaway, the
Spartans added an empty-netter for their
sixth and final goal of the evening.
MSU's six goals were the most Michi-
gan has given up all season.
The Wolverines were plagued by
missed opportunities. In the third pe-
riod alone they took 14 shots com-
pared to MSU's seven. For the game,
Shields gave up five goals on 14 shots,
while Buzak gave up three on 26
shots.
The 'roles reversed themselves
Saturday night.
For the second night in a row, the
Spartans got on the board first. Sopho-
more Bart Vanstaalduinen missed
high on a shot, but Suk recovered the
puck behind the net. Suk gave it back
to Vanstaalduinen, whose shot was
deflected in by Michael Burkett.
The Spartans controlled the first 13
minutes of the game until junior Mike
Knuble scored off of his own rebound.
1,nruble controlled the puck with his
sate and knocked it home for his 24th
goal of the season. From that moment
onwards it was all Michigan.
"They were really taking it to us,"
Knube said. "Our ice was getting all
chewed up and theirs wasn't at all. I
feIt' that it was a big goal for the team
to get us going and to wake us up. It
was a big point in the game; if they
were to put another one in, we might
have been hard pressed to come back."
At the intermission, the Wolver-
ines had a lot to be confident about.
They had stymied four MSU power-
play opportunities during the period,
and had not yet been given the chance
to display their firepower with the
man-advantage.
When they finally got that advan-
tage, they made the Spartans pay.
Michigan converted on the power play
at 1:36 of the second. Hilton made a
nice pass to Legg, who beat Buzak
high glove side and gave the Wolver-
ines their first lead of the series and
one they would not relinquish.
Ironically, with just under seven
minutes remaining, Shields was forced
to come out of the net the same way
Buzak had the night before. This time,
however, the goalie prevailed as
Shields controlled the puck near the
Wuu.inOs
a
Spartans give M
needed wake-up call
By ANTOINE PITTS
DAILY HOCKEY WRITER
i
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan's Mike Stone defends against Michigan State's Scott Warden during Friday's 6-3 loss to the Spartans.
blue line.
"I knew where the puck was going
tobe by the time Igotoutthere," Shields
said. "As soon as I saw it, I knew that I
could get there first and Ijudged it right.
We got there basically at the same time,
but Ijust took away any chance of him
tipping it over me."
The final goal of the weekend came
when freshman Jason Botterill merely
had to tap the puck in after a patented
Wiseman feed at 13:31 of the second.
The defensive pairs and penalty-
killing units of the Wolverines thor-
oughly bottled up Michigan State for
the rest of the evening to preserve
Shields' 100th career victory.
The Spartans went 0 for 7 on the
power play and managed 18 shots for
the contest. The Wolverines had three
opportunities on the power play, but
took 26 shots in the game.
"You've got to give credit to our
penalty-killing units," Botterill said.
"They did an excellent job. That was
the key to the game."
The victory was especially mean-
ingful for the seniors on the team,
who beat the Spartans in Munn for
their first time. This was the fourth
trip to East Lansing for Oliver, Shields,
Wiseman, Mike Stone and Chris Gor-
don, and the victory went a long way
in helping them forget Friday's loss.
"We could have played here
(Munn) for four years without ever
beating State," Oliver said. "It's a big
thrill for our three younger classes,
but for our senior class this is pretty
sweet."
Oliver and his teammates are hop-
ing that this was not their last victory
at Munn this season. The NCAA
tournament's West Regional will be
played there March 25-26. For now
Michigan retains its 10-point lead in
the standings and moves one step closer
to the CCHA regular season title.
HOCIKE:Y NOTEBOOK:
Blue ends Munn streak;
Shields tops 100-win mark
By ANTOINE PITTS
DAILY HOCKEY WRITER
EAST LANSING - Saturday's
3-1 victory marked the first time since
1988 that Michigan had beaten Michi-
gan State at Munn Ice Arena.
"It's a monkey off our backs,"
David Oliver said. "It's a big game
for our senior class knowing it's the
last time we get to play State in here.
"It's a big game in another respect
that we might be back here in the
postseason. It's nice to get a win and
get a little confidence coming into
this building."
The closest Michigan has come to
victory the past three years at Munn was
a 3-3 tie during the 1991-92 campaign.
"I feel State's one of the hardest
places to play," junior forward Mike
Knuble said.
The Wolverine freshmen wanted
to get, off on the right track in East
Lansing.
"We didn't want to get on a streak
that the seniors had," freshman Jason
Botterill said. "We wanted to get that
first win off our backs, too."
The Wolverines hope to return to
Munn in March for the NCAA West
Regional.
CENTURY MARK: Saturday's Michi-
gan win gave goaltender Steve Shields
his 100th career victory. Shields al-
ready surpassed the NCAA and
CCHA career records earlier this sea-
son and now has topped a mark that
could take a long time for someone to
match.
"It's going to take someone to
have a good freshman year, but it's
possible," Shields said. "The goalies
coming into college hockey nowa-
days are capable of starting and win-
ning games."
At the team's current pace, Shields
would finish his career with over 110
victories. A goaltender would have to
average 28 victories for four seasons
to surpass Shields.
ON A ROLL: With an assist Satur-
day night, David Oliver extended his
scoring streak to 26 games. The last
time Oliver failed to notch a point
occurred in last March's CCHA play-
off game against Lake Superior.
Oliver leads the nation with 53
points and has five game-winning
goals on the year.
PACKING THEM IN: Friday atten-
dance marked the fourth straight game
that the Wolverines have had a crowd
of at least 7,000 at Yost Ice Arena.
For the season Michigan averages
6,829 a game at Yost, which puts the
Wolverines on pace to break last year's
team record of 6,290. This week the
Yost faithful get a chance to come out
during the week as Bowling Green
comes to town Tuesday.
EAST LANSING - Wake-up call.
That's the general consensus following the Michigan hockey team's weekend
split with Michigan State.
Going into Friday's game, the Wolverines had won 16 consecutive conference
games. However, many of those games were not easy victories for Michigan but
they pulled out the win with outstanding play in one or more aspects of the game.
In games where the team struggled, it was excellent goaltending or great
defense that helped the Wolverines to victory. Other nights, it was the power-play
unit or penalty-killing unit that made the difference. Michigan has had games this
season where they haven't been able to put everything together and they relied on4
one of those aspects of their game to bail them out.
However, againstthe Spartans on Friday, the Wolverines found out that ifthey
are not on the top of their game every night, they can be beaten just like anyone
else around the nation.
Michigan did not do-what it took to win and it got embarrassed on its home
ice. On this night, the Wolverines did not get the excellent goaltending or
defense like they had in earlier games. The power-play unit scored on two of
four opportunities, but the Spartans did the same on their power play.
Numerous offensive chances --14 shots on goal in the third period -could
not be converted and Michigan found itself on the losing end of the stick for just
the second time this season.
"We've had things too good," Michigan coach Red Berenson said after
Friday's 6-3 loss. "If our players or our fans or the media or anyone else thinks that
Michigan's just going to go along and win, win, win, they just got a wake-up call."
The Wolverines have been the No. I team in the nation since their weekend
sweep of Ohio State Nov. 19-20. Michigan lost the next weekend to Wiscon-'
sin, but then the Wolverines ran off a string of victories that included a
weekend sweep of Lake Superior and a win over Michigan State to capture the
Great Lakes Invitational.
That stretch left the team with a false sense of security that it had before Friday
night's game. The Spartans capitalized on that to hand the Wolverines their first@
home loss in 24 games.
"(Friday's loss) kind of put us back down to reality," junior forward Mike
Knuble said. "Every game we won we werejust thinking, we're better and better.
It kind of knocks you back down off your pedestal. It makes you seem mortal and
if you don't play well every night you're going to drop a game."
The Wolverines showed Saturday night that they received the message loud and
clear. They came out with a total team effort to avenge the previous night's loss.
Michigan had the goaltending and defense it needs every night to make
them invulnerable to defeat. The special teams came through, scoring a goal
on three power-play opportunities and holding the Spartans scoreless on their9
power play - including four times in the first period.
"It was kind of a gut-check weekend for us," David Oliver said. "I give a
lot of credit to the guys on our team because it showed a lot of character to come
back and win."
It took a wake-up call Friday night to make the Wolverines realize how well
they must play each and every night. Without that effort, Michigan stands the
chance of getting beat any night.
It's a good thing for the Wolverines that they received the message now
rather than in the month of March. Once the playoffs begin, you don't have a
chance to Let a wake-un call.
v,9
t 1 0
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MICHIGAN STATE 6, MICHIGAN 3
Michigan State 1 2 3-6
Michigan 1 2 0-3
first Period - 1,MSU, Murray 9 (Suk, Goulla),
7:20 (pp). 2, UM, Oliver 20 (Wiseman, Botterill), 10:57
(pp). Penalties - Sakala, UM (high-sticking), 6:13;
Wiegand, MSU (roughing), 9:17; Perreault, MSU (hook-
ing), 18:38.
Secoad Period - 3, MSU, Harper 10 (Guolla,
Carter), 1:45. 4, MSU, Guolla 14 (Smith, Carter), 6:55.
5, UM, Halko 2 (Hilton, Legg), 11:45 (pp). 6, UM, Willis
6 (Legg), 17:58. Penalties - Botterill, UM (tripping),
7:13; Guolla, MSU (hooking), 11:37; Ferranti, MSU
(hooking), 15:05; Hogan, UM (holding), 18:36; Smith,
MSU (roughing), 20:00; Luhning, UM, double-minor(slash-
ing-roughing), 20:00.
Third Period - 7, MSU, Harper 11 (Guolla, Suk),
:20 (pp). 8, MSU Tuzzolino 3 (Murray, Buzak), 10:39.9,
MSU, Murray 10 (Tuzzolino), 18:03 (en). Penalties -
Perreault, MSU (crosschecking), 18:44; Burkett, MSU
(roughing), 18:44; Willis, UM (roughing),.18:44; Sacka,
UM (slashing). 18:44.
Shotsongoal-MSU 7-67-20. UM 8-7.14-29.
Power-plays-MSU2of4 ,UM 2of4.
Goa&i saves - MSU, Buzak 7-5-14-26. UJM,
Shields 6-4-4-14.
Referees - Steve Piotrowski, Matt Shegos.
Unesan - John Kelly.
At: Yost Ice Arena. A: 7,492.
MICHIGAN 3, MICHIGAN STATE 1
Michigan 1 2 0-3
Michigan State 1 0 0-1
First Period-1, MSU, Burkett 5 (Vanstaalduinen,
Suk), 7:06. 2, UM, Knuble 24. 13:05. Penalties - UM
bench, served by Legg(unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:27;
Wiseman, UM (cross-checking), 8:10; Shields, UM, served
by Willis (slashing), 9:55; Knuble, UM (holding), 16:42.
Second PerIod -3, UM, Legg 7 (Hilton, Schock),
1:36 (pp). 4, UM, Botteill 15 (Wiseman, Oliver), 13:31.
Penalties - Harper, MSU (holding), :57; Suk, MSU
(elbowing),5:44; Wiseman, UM (tripping), 17:23; Luhning,
UM (slashing), 18:47.
Third Period - None. Penalties - MSU bench,
served by Weigand (too many men), 8:41; Hogan, UM
(high-sticking), 15:59.
Shots ongoa-UM 6-146-26. MSU 9-5.4-18.
Powerplays- UM 1 of 3. MSU 0 of 7.
Goalie saves - UM, Shields 85-4-17. MSU,
Buzak 5-12-6-23.
Referees - Steve Piotrowski, Matt Shegos.
Linesman - John Kelly.
At: Munn Ice Arena. A: 6,695.
Michigan's Steven Halko brings the puck up ice in front of goaltender Steve Shields Friday at Yost.
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