The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday -Monday, March 25, 1996 - 5B Legg's stick tricks pay offin quartei win By Alan Goldenbach Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - It was the last thing he did before leaving the ice. It was the last thing anyone inside Munn Ice Arena could expect. Including Mike Legg. Legg, the Michigan right wing, practices it every- day but with few intentions ofever using it. Accord- ing to several of his teammates, he just likes to have fun with the puck and try to do neat things with his stickhandling. But what Legg pulled offyesterday in the Wolver- ines' 4-3 victory over Minnesota crossed the line between just fooling around with the puck and doing something that would leave Wayne Gretzky doing a double-take. Legg practices this trick where he lays the puck on the side of his stick and whips it toward the goal, similar to the motion used by a lacrosse player when taking a shot on goal. He practices it everyday, including yesterday, before the game. Legg learned the trick from Billy Armstrong, a former Western Michigan player, who now plays for the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League. Legg practiced with Armstrong over the summer and picked up the trick. Practicing it even- tually became habitual. "I tried it everyday in practice a couple ofhundred times," Legg said. "But I had never seen it in a game." The last thing Legg did before leaving the ice during the pre-game skate, was practice his little trick --simply doing what he always does. By now, it may have become more of a superstition than actual preparation for a game situation. But midway through the second period yesterday, Legg finally got a chance to show off what he had been doing in practice all season long. He took a feed from John Madden behind the Gopher net and waited a moment. Suddenly, all the time he spent fooling around after practice came back to him. He was going to attempt the move. At lightning-quick speed, Legg was able to posi- tion the puck at just the right spot on his stick and in one fluid motion, flung the puck past Minnesota goaltender Steve DeBus. Despite the fact that Legg pulled off the move as perfectly as he could, DeBus was probably more shocked at the mere idea of the move rather than its effectiveness. "I have to be alone behind the net," Legg said about the best way to pull of the move. "If somebody's on me, there's no way I can do it. But I figured I'd give it a shot. "It's something I try out and testand see if I still got it." Legg figured right. Not only for his teammates, but for the 6,000-plus fans at Munn Arena who were all trying to sneak a peak at one of the press box televisions for a replay. Jaw- dropping shock doesn't begin to explain the reaction of the "Munn-sters" to Legg's goal. At the postgame press con- ference, the media was imme- diately dubbing Legg the next lacrosse superstar. "I've never played lacrosse before,"Legg said when asked ifhe had thought abouta career in the sport. Legg Legg's teammate Bill Muckalt took it upon himself to put his two cents in. "I have (played lacrosse)," Muckalt said, "and I still can't do that." Where would Legg and the Wolverines have been without his goal? Besides the tremendous ability involved, it was a big goal for Michigan. It tied the game at two and, more importantly, Minnesota never led again. "When Legger came back and scored that goal for: us, that put yoursense ofhumor to the test," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "But in the midst of the game, that was a huge goal for us. "Mike's one of the last guys to leave the ice at practice everyday. Whatever he's doing, it's work- ing." Oh my, is it working. Michigan defenseman Mark Sakala blocked this Dave Larson offering, but Marty Turco had to deal with most of the rest, spurring the Wolverines o a°4-3 victory over Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament yesterday in East Lansing. "We were in awe," Muckalt said of the score. "We see it all the time in practice, but it takes guts to do it in a game." Legg's goal is more common to lacrosse than to hockey. In fact, it is practically never seen in hockey. Legg received the puck behind the net from John Madden and skated around for position in front of the crease. He kept the puck on the side of his stick and whipped it up, over and past DeBus, looking more like a lacrosse player than a hockey forward. "I have to be alone behind net (to do it)," Legg said. "I tried to use. gravity and flipped the puck on my stick." The third period proved to be a see- saw fight, with the two squads exchang- ing goals until Muckalt's game-win- ner. All in all, every Wolverines goal, except for the final one, was scored on the power play. "We got beaten in the special teams today, and we didn't need that," Woog said. "It was not going to be in our advantage (to play a special teams game)." The NCAA semifinals will be tele- vised Thursday on ESPN2. In the first matchup, the No. I seed from the West bracket, Colorado College, faces No. 2 seed Vermont from the East at 2 p.m. Michigan, the second seed from the West bracket, faces off against the No. 1 seed from the East, Boston University, at 8 p.m. in the second game. Tickets for the semifinals and the final will go on sale today at 8 a.m. Tickets are $72 for all three games and will be on sale at the Michigan Ticket Office until noon tomorrow. To order, call 764-0247. Tickets can also be ordered through Riverfront Coliseum at (800) 232- 9900 or (513) 721-1000. Minnesota 2 0 1-3 Michigan 1 1 2-4 First period - 1, MINN, Checco 8 (Trebil), 3:38 (sh); 2, UM, Muckalt 25 (Morrison, Halko), 8:32 (pp); 3, MINN, Moser 10, 11:56 (pp). Penalties - Madden, UM (roughing), 2:34; Wasley, MINN (roughing), 2:34; W. Smith, MINN (holding), 2:34; Botterill, UM (hooking), 6:04; Berg, MINN (hooking), 8:24; Legg, UM (slashing), 8:59; Sloan, UM (high-sticking), 10:41; Hendrickson, MINN (cross-checking), 13:21; Arnold, UM (tripping),.17:01. Second period - 4, UM, Legg 14 (Madden), 7:06 (pp). Penalties - Botterill, UM (high-sticking),:08; Crowley, MINN (roughing), 5:25; Schock, UM (holding), 18:28. Third Period - 5, UM, Luhning 20 (Morrison, Muckalt), 7:33 (pp); 6, MINN Hankinson 16 (Larson, Zwakman), 14:59; 7, UM, Muckalt 26 (Morrison), 17:59. Penalties - Trebil, MINN (high-sticking), 7:10. Power plays - MINN, 1 of 6; UM; 3 of 5. Shots on goal - MINN, 13-7-2-22; UM, 3-8-9-20. Goalie saves - DeBus, MINN 2-7-7-16; Turco, UM 11-7-1-19. Referees - Mike Noeth, Alex Dell. Linesman - Jack Dunn. At: Munn Ice Arena. A: 6,043 Minnesota left wing Jason Godbout won this battle with Michigan's Matt - Herr, but his Golden Gophers lost the war. Minnesota is going home withou an appearance in the NCAA semifinals for the first time In three years after a 4-3 loss to the Wolverines yesterday in East Lansing. WALKER VAN DYKE/Daily COTSONIKA Continued from Page 11 7-3 sometimes, but ifthose three goals' were given up in the third period, the night was a disappointment. That discipline has paid off at' crunch time. Michigan won its last two games', because of it. Against Lake Superior in the CCHA - title game, a late goal that tied the' score didn't derail the Wolverines. They won despite the setback, 4-3. Last night, the Gophers tied it at-' three with a little more than five min--, utes remaining. Michigan survived 4-3. The memories shouldn't allow this poise. When the momentum shift against Michigan near the end of the' game, history should shake the confi- dence from the Wolverines. This might have happened in past years,{ but it didn't last night. Michigan is- prepared mentally. But are the ghosts gone? "Coach told us that we can't get too high when we score, and we can't get- too low when they do," Halko said. "We have to stay focused. We can't get rattled. We've got another thing" to accomplish." - One more goal. - Nicholas J. Cotsonika can bd reached over e-mail at cotsonik@umich.edu: Vermont, Colorado College earn berths in semis;'M'to face Boston U. 1996 NCAA hockey tournament I - .