8 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSTuesday - Tuesday, January 17, 1995
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Michigan-Lake State
ain't what it used t be
By MELANIE SCHUMAN
Daily Hockey Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE - In the past four years, the battle between
Michigan and Lake Superior State has been more ferocious than that of Darth
Vader and Luke Skywalker. Even on ice, nothing could cool this heated
rivalry.
Even though Saturday's four periods of intense, down-to-the-wire puck
scrambling provided a glimpse of just how much animosity exists between the
two squads, last weekend's matchup was not nearly as significant as last year.
Any hype was undeserved as Michigan extended its win streak to seven and
Lake State continued its season-long crumble.
With a meagre seven wins entering last weekend's series, the Lakers' .500
record was their worst mark this late in the season since the 1984-85 campaign.
Red Berenson was in his first year at the Michigan helm then and the current
freshman squad was in third grade. That was also the year that Born In The USA
was atop the music charts. A decade; is that long enough ago?
After winning the national title two of the last three seasons, Lake State has
been wallowing in the "Also Receiving Votes" category of the polls. But at this
time last year, the Michigan-Lake State clash was as dramatic as any interga-
lactic epic.
Last January, the series bled the true colors of a crucial Michigan-Lake
State contest. Although the Lakers at 9-4-0 (CCHA) were fourth in the
conference while Michigan was a whopping nine points ahead and comfort-
ably atop the league, it was a one-versus-two matchup. WMEB radio ranked
the Wolverines and Lakers first and second, respectively, in the nation. With
its first-ever sweep of Lake State in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines ended the
Lakers' hopes of a conference title while inching towards clinching it for
themselves. Yet once again, a playoff upset ended the Maize and Blue fairy
tale.
Until last season, the Lakers had eliminated the Wolverines from three
straight CCHA tournaments dating back to 1991, draining the life out of a
Michigan team that finished first or second in each of those seasons. That
streak was broken last March, only to be replaced by a more painful reminder
- a 5-4 overtime loss in the NCAA quarterfinals.
The importance of that climatic meeting was best recognized by then-
senior Steve Shields, the NCAA's all-time winningest goaltender. "I think you
just saw the national championship game out there."
The national championship ... hmmm ... sounds familiar. Oh yeah. It must
be all those bright yellow banners hanging in Norris Center Arena to celebrate the
Lakers' success. They have won three of the last seven NCAA titles, yet they
have as much chance of repeating as does an M&M melting in your hand.
Lake State is now in fifth place in the CCHA and although there is no clear-
cut league leader, it can forget about a late February surge to gain easy access
into the tournament. With new rules this season, the Lakers could make the
post-season by winning the CCHA playoffs or gaining one of at least four wild
card bids. But even if they should be so fortunate, the Lakers do not have as
high calibre a squad as in the past to propel them towards a national title.
Example: On a team traditionally dominated by defensive standouts, the
highest plus-minus rating is plus-three by junior Keith Aldridge and freshman
Ted Laviolette. Michigan's top defensive pairing of Blake Sloan and Steve
Halko lead the squad, each with a rating of plus- 19.
Michigan has now won seven of the last eight meetings between these two
hockey powers. Are the odds sounding better yet for the Wolverines to finish
off their nemesis by defeating them all season, including the playoffs?
"Last year obviously we kind of decimated their season with the way we
beat them," Lake State assistant coach Jim Roque said, "They're hungry; they
want to get back there. They just want it a bit more than our guys do."
And Michigan has proven just that all season long.
LAKERS
Continued from page 1
ine sophomore Jason Botterill rammed
home a power-play goal and in the
third period, Brendan Morrison scored
on a nice play in front of the net. John
Madden added an empty-netter to fin-
ish out the scoring for Michigan.
Wayne Strachan's second-period
tally was the only shot that got past
Turco, while down at the other end
the Wolverines did not have nearly as
much difficulty converting their op-
portunities.
"Marty played outstanding in goal
under a lot of pressure," Berenson
said. "That was the difference in the
game. We put our chances in when we
had to, and we got goalkeeping."
MICHIGAN 5, LAKE SUPERIOR 1
Michigan 2 1-5j
Lake Superior 0 1 0-1"
re - 1 uM r, Leg10 Hgn ), :26..-.n r
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
Michigan goaltender Marty Turco returned home last weekend and was instrumental in the Wolverines' sweep of
Lake State. The freshman netminder had a season-high 42 saves in Michigan's 4-3 overtime victory Saturday.
Lakers S1mply not equal to the task
Crowd, emotion of national champions not enough to overcome Blue
FirstPedod-1, UM, Legg 1 (Hogan), 6:26.2,UM,
Knuble 16 (Morrison, Hilton), 18:15. Penalties -
Willis, UM (slashing), 3:22:Morin, LS (checking from
behind),3:57;Gordon, UM (foughing), 6:13; Trzcinski,
LS (roughing), 6:13; Gordon, UM (tripping), 11:24;
Arnold, UM (bench minor), 14:31; Luhning UM (charg-
ing),15:39;S. Tallaire, LS (roughing), 15:39;Botterill,
UM (checking from behind). 19:20.
Second Perod - 3, LS, Strachan 7 (Aldridge,
Felsner), 13:39 (pp). 4, UM, Botterill 10 (Morrison.
Gordon),.15:44 (pp). Penalties - Halko, UM (interfer-
ence), 4:06; Aldridge, LS (roughing), 7:20; Morrison,
UM (roughing), 7:20; Graham, LS (roughing), 11:39;
Botteri, UM (roughing), 11:39: Morrison, UM (rough-
ing).13:19; Galameau, LS (hooking), 13:51; Strachan,
LS (high sticking), 16:20.
1TirPedod-5, UM, Morrison 14 (Shock), 9:31.6,
UM, Madden 8 (Muckalt), 17:39 (en). Penalties-
Aldridge, LS (holding), 2:20; Schock, UM (holding),
5:44; Hogan, UM (high sticking), 5:44; Fuss, LS (high
sticking), 5:44; Laviolette, LS (holding), 8:47; Botterill,
UM (roughing), 8:47; Willis, UM (roughing), 15:16;
Sloan, UM (high sticking), 18:45; Herr, UM (cross
checking), 19:34.
Shotson&W-UM 12-13-7-32.LS912-14-35.
Power plays- UM 1 of 4, LS 1 of 10.
Godsase -UM,Turco 9.11-14-34. LS, Kulick
10-12-x-22, Grahame x-x-5-5.
Referees -Perry Petterle.
uonn-Terry Schug, Mike Poliski.
At: James Norris Ice Arena. A 3,534
By TOM SEELEY
Daily Hockey Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE - Last
weekend's hockey games between
Michigan and Lake Superior State were
as different as day and night and the
state's lower and upper peninsulas. The
end results, however, were the same,
and the Wolverines came away with a
pair of big victories.
Friday night, Michigan jumped all
over the defending national champi-
ons, staking themselves to an early
lead in front of 3,534 at Norris Ice
Arena and never looked back.
The crowd was the third-largest in
the history of the Lakers' home arena,
but the consistent play of the Wolver-
ines left the Lake State faithful speech-
less for much of the game.
At times the game even sounded
like it was being played in Yost Ice
Arena, as on several occasions, Michi-
gan fans drowned out the cheers of
home team with familiar chants of
"sieve" and "C-Ya".
Heading into last weekend's se-
ries, the Wolverines had a record of
11-2 in games in which they scored
first.
"(The early scores) were key goals,
and then we always had the lead,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
"That demoralizes the home team,
and it helps keep the crowd out of the
game."
The Lakers outshot the Wolverines
by a two-to-one margin in the final
period of Friday's game, but the ship's
horn that celebrates each Laker goal
remained ominously silent.
"We felt under pressure even when
'(The early scores)
were key goals, and
then we always had
the lead.'
- Red Berenson
Michigan hockey coach
the score was 4-1," Berenson said.
"We still felt like it was a game, and
they could turn it around and get back
in the game."
Friday night's 5-1 Michigan thrash-
ing seemed to stir up the Lake State hive
for Saturday night's contest.
The Lakers skated out to an early
lead behind Rob Valicevic's power-
play goal. The score brought the crowd
of 3,711-thelargestnumberofpeople
ever to watch a game in Norris Arena
- to their feet, and their enthusiasm
continued throughout the game.
"We knew in the first five minutes
that the game would be a dogfight,"
Michigan goalie Marty Turco said.
"They got the first goal, and that really
set the stage for the rest of the game."
Each time the Wolverines evened
the score, the Lakers responded to
put themselves back up by one. This
continued until Lake State's Sean
Tallaire was accredited with what
appeared to be the game winner with
just under seven minutes to play in
the game.
Michigan fought back, however,
and scored the equalizer with nine sec-
onds left in the game when Warren
Luhning knocked the puck home after a
mad scramble in front of the Laker net.
Then in overtime, Bill Muckalt's
goal gave the Wolverines the weekend
sweep.
"I didn't like the first 50 minutes of
the game, butI liked the last few min-
utes and then the overtime," Berenson
said. "Lake State was a better team
tonight.
We never really got into the
groove that I thought we played
with last night."
ibi
SATURDAJNY GAME
-
MICHIGAN 4, LAKE SUPERIOR 3 (OT)
Michigan 1 1 1 1-4
Lake Superior 1 1 1 0-3
First Period -1, LS, Valicevec 7 (G. Tallaire,
Felsner), 13:37 (pp). 2, UM, Hilton 10 (Morrison),
18:38 (pp). Penalties - Botterill, UM (high stick-
ing), 5:17; Frescoln, UM (interfernce), 8:21;
Gordon, UM (high sticking), 11:40; Alvey, LS
(hooking), 14:43; Luhning, UM (holding), 15:30;
Trzcinski, LS (roughing), 15:30; Angelelli, L$
(interference), 18:46.
Second Period-3, LS, Battaglia 4 (Valicevic)4
6:19 (sh). 4, UM, Luhning 9, 9:26. Penalties -
Muckalt, UM (slashing), 2:06; Battaglia, LS (in-
terference), 2:06; Alvey, LS (cross checking),
5:52; Hogan, UM (holding), 8:58; G. Tallaire, LS
(hooking), 14:07; Blaznek, LS (charging), 17:34;
Morrison, UM (tripping), 18:46.
Third Period - 5, S. Tallaire, 10, 13:04. 6,
UM, Luhning 10 (Knuble), 19:51. Penalties -
Knuble, UM (tripping), 4:18; Battaglia, LS (elbow-
ing), 10:12; Botterill, UM (roughing), 10:12; S.
Tallaire, LS (tripping), 12:12.
Overtime - 7, Muckalt, 14, (Sloan), 2:09.
Penalties - None.
Shots on goal - UM 6-11-11-2-30. LS 10-
18-17-0-45.
Power plays - UM 1 of 6, S 1 of 7.
Goalie saves - UJM, Turco 9-1716-0-42.
LS, Grahame 5-10-10-1-26.
Referees -Roger Graff
U"esman - Dale Cryderman, Mark Pouliot.
At: James Norris Ice Arena. A: 3,711
I
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,._i:.
HOCKEY NOTEBOOK)
Wolverines continue
streaks in weekend wins
BY MELANIE SCHUMAN
Daily Hockey Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE - Michi-
gan has now won its last seven games,
but perhaps more impressive than that
streak is the Wolverines' current run
against Lake Superior State. Michigan
has defeated the Lakers in seven of the
last eight meetings between the two
foes.
This is the second year in a row, and
only the second time in school history,
that the Wolverines have swept Lake
State. Michigan has won seven of its
past eight road games as well, and the
Wolverines' seven-game winning
streak is their longest of the season.
Individually, sophomore
Brendan Morrison is currently on
a roll of his own, having notched at
least a point in each of the past 13
games dating back to Nov. 11 against
Michigan State. Mike Knuble also
has been on a scoring binge, having
recorded 23 points in the past 12
games, including a goal and a game-
tying assist this weekend.
Additionally, forward Kevin Hilton
registered a goal and an assist this
weekend. In the past 11 games, Hilton
has accumulated 19 points. Over the
course of the season, Morrison (38
points), Hilton (29) and Knuble (28)
lead the team in point production.
UNBEATABLE - Michigan is now
12-0 with Knuble, Warren Luhning
and Jason Botterill in the lineup. With
one or more of this trio on the sidelines,
however, the Wolverines are a medio-
cre 4-4.
SWEATING IT OUT-Until this week-
end, the Wolverines were the only team
in the conference that had not played in
an overtime contest this season. They
are now 1-0 when playing a fourth
period, after defeating the Lakers, 4-3,
Saturday. Last season, Michigan went
2-1-1 in overtime, including a win
and a loss against Lake State.
ROLE REVERSAL - Although
Hilton has now returned to his com-
fort zone in a Michigan jersey, he
visited with some new acquaintan-
ces this weekend. When Hilton left
the Wolverines to play for the U.S
national junior squad in December,
he was under the tutelage of Jeff
Jackson, whose full-time jobs are
athletic director and coach for Lake
State. Teammates included Lakers
Bates Battaglia and John
Grahame.
"It was kind of weird. I didn't
Knuble
really get a chance to really get to
know (Jackson). We were only to-
gether for three weeks," Hilton said.
"It was a good experience. He's a
really good coach and I think he
taught me a few things that will
stick with me."
i
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