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 ~i!\ w................-0A'. 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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