8 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSTuesday - Tuesday, January 17, 1995 C WUI I Li fld 0J 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 S ,._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. 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