6B - The Michigan Daily - SPQRTSWednesday - January 8, 1997 M' icers survive Lake State Ninth straight trophy is reward at season's halfway point By Jim Rose Daily Sports Writer Lake Superior goaltender John Grahame stood a few feet from the goal mouth, hunched over, hands on his knees, head bowed between his legs. His net was off its moorings, both magnets dis- placed from their slots. His stick was shat-' tered in three pieces. A stray glove lay near-' by.Chaos. Another pile formed nearby. This- one con- sisted of i ,Michigan hockey players, yelling and cheering and jumping on one another. Again, chaos. And there was the puck. The only object in its rightful place, exactly where Matt Herr put it. Just across the goal line, right where the net had been. The score: 5-4, Michigan. Another Great Lakes Invitational championship. Nine in a row. lierr's goal, with 51.2 seconds remain- ing, won the tournament for the Wolverines and shattered Lake Superior's chances like a failed goalie stick. The Lakers came into the Dec. 28 contest on a roll. Winners of eight of their last 10, the guests from the Upper Peninsula were a surprise for most of the 18,209 fans at the Joe Louis Arena, who purchased their tickets expecting the now-familiar Michigan-Michigan State matchup in the final. Lake Superior's 5- 0 blanking of the Spartans the night before relegated highly-touted Michigan State to consolation game-status and had the Lakers looking for their first GLI crown in only their second appearance. But more important, it gave the Lakers another shot at Michigan. Just because the Lakers live way off near the Arctic Circle doesn't mean they don't read the newspapers. They knew about the Wolverines. They knew every major poll available listed the Wolverines as the No. 1 team in the nation. Remember, it was only Oct. 12 that Michigan traveled to Sault Ste. Marie to open the season and rudely defeated Lake Superior, 4-2, on its home ice. Oh, the Lakers wanted this one. They wanted it bad. And why not? What better way to gain respect than to journey to the rest of civ- ilization and beat the defending national champs in front of a huge crowd? And for a brief moment - less than 37 seconds, actually - Lake Superior had a lot of people believing that this would finally be the year when Michigan's reign of GLI dominance would come to an end. Lake Superior senior Mike Peron tied the game with 1:28 left, and suddenly, the Lakers had life. All they had to do was tread water for 90 seconds, and then look for a break in overtime. But they skipped the 90 seconds part. Grahame did the first part right. He made a brilliant save on a streaking Bill Muckalt. But he gave up a rebound. And Herr buried it. And Michigan won the GLI. For the ninth straight time. Lake Superior coach Scott Borek tried to play down his team's disappointment. He made no mention of Grahame's defeated pose at the end of the final peri- od. He even referred to the game as an "exhibition." Someone should tell him they don't give out trophies for exhibition games. "There's another championship in this building that we hope to carry the trophy from," Borek said, referring to March's CCHA tournament. Sour grapes, anyone? But no matter. After the game, there was another pile of discarded sticks and gloves and helmets, this one in front of the Michigan net. For just a few minutes, the Wolverines were able to throw aside their tools and enjoy the first tangible results of what was an amazing first half of the season, as the seniors collected their fourth GLI championship trophy. And even so, you couldn't help but think that Borek was at least coming from the right direction. Because after all, there's only a month and a half until March ... JUNAI HAN LURIE/Special to the Daily Dale Rominski and the Wolverines pushed aside Michigan Tech, 6-1, on Dec. 27 in the first round of the Great Lakes invitational. Michigan defeated Lake Superior, 5-4, the following night in the championship game to win its ninth straight GLI tournament title. Three Wolverines were named to the All-Tournament team. Cornell's 3-3 tie with Michigan. 'a great. oportunity to gain respect' nationally By Mark Snyder Daily Sports Writer Before his squad faced the Michigan hock- ey team last night, Cornell coach Mike Schafer was frank about his team's expecta- tions. "This is a great opportunity to gain respect on the national scene," he said. Cornell needn't worry about national recognition any longer. The Big Red left Yost Ice Arena with a 3-3 tie against the defending national champs, leaving a lasting impression on the Wolverines and quieting the Michigan faith- ful. "(Cornell) really impressed me," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They work hard and check well. They're a good team." The Wolverines, who had won every game at Yost since the beginning of last February, were impressed with Cornell's physical play. From the beginning of the game, it was Cornell's intention to play Michigan tight. "I thought we came in here ready to win," Schafer said. "And not (just to) hang on." in the first period, it was Cornell's physical play that kept the game close. The Big Red sent six players to the penalty box, repeatedly thwarting Michigan scoring chances. According to Schafer, however, his team had a different game plan to keep the game within reach. "(The Wolverines) are very good at going for the jugular,' Schafer said. "We have to be ready to rise to that challenge for four to five minutes after they score a goal." Cornell's patience was rewarded time and time again. While Mike Legg's goal was the sole score of the opening period, Cornell had held the Wolverines at bay. At 3:46 of the second period, Cornell got the equalizer and kept on the attack. "We controlled the momentum and didn't let (Michigan) get away from us," Schafer said. After another Michigan score, Cornell per- severed and came back once again to even the score. The tie after two periods was the same as the result at the end of regulati.on as each team netted one more goal in the third period to force the overtime. The two teams went scoreless in overtime, and the game will go down as one Michigan captain Brendan Morrison would rather not remember. "For us, the tie is disappointing," he said. "It's almost like a loss. You've got to give Cornell credit. Yost is a tough place to play." Michigan had won every contest on its home ice this season, often in dominating fashion. But Cornell put an end to the Wolverines' 11-game home-winning streak dating back to last season. While Yost is often perceived as a difficult arena for visitors, Cornell had a more than a few supporters on its side. A large contingent of Cornell fans made its presence felt, waving signs and inciting cheers, despite being hundreds of miles from its home rink. As one of the more vocal visiting crowds to visit Yost this season, its taunts follow through until the very end. One Cornell student, Larry Weintraub, traveled more than 600 miles just to take in this contest. "I think (this trip) is pretty representative of what Cornell fans will do to support their team," he said. Following the game, cheers from the Cornell fans rained down from the perch atop of the north end. It was not the first time Yost has felt the presence of these die-hards. It was in the spring of 1991 when Corne* made its mark on Yost Ice Arena and sparked many of the chants common to the arena today. The NCAA best-of-three regional series that season was the last time the Big Red vis- ited Yost. While Michigan advanced in the tournament, the Big Red left an indelible imprint on Yost with its cheers. But when Cornell departed last night, all it left behind was a disappointed Michiga team, and it was the visiting fans who werl happy. When asked whether the trek was worth it, Weintraub was quick to respond. "Without a doubt," he said. WARREN ZINN/Daily Cornell celebrated after last night's 3-3 tie with Michigan. The Wolverines, however, treated the tie on their home ice as a loss. DEVILS Continued from Page 3B literally and figuratively. Pasadena is a suburb of the City of the Angels, and you don't go to the Rose Bowl without beating the Bruins and Trojans. The Sun Devils beat both, but it wasn't easy. They came from three touchdowns down to beat UCLA and needed dou- ble overtime to dispatch the men of Troy. Arizona State was 7-0 and the Pac- 10's Rose Bowl favorite. Two victories later, the Sun Devils welcomed California to Sun Devil Stadium with a Rose Bowl berth on the line. What was supposed to be a tight game turned into a rout early in the fourth quarter. With just a couple of minutes remaining and Arizona State leading, 35-7, an announcement was made that with the victory, the Sun Devils would represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl. Bad move. The game never even finished. As delirious fans rushed the field, the officials had two options - to be trampled or to race to the locker- room. Fortunately, they chose the latter. Arizona State fans tore down the goal posts with :21 still showing on the clock. The Sun Devils were 10-0 with just one regular season game remain- ing - at Arizona. Arizona State's recent series with Arizona makes Ohio State look suc- cessful against Michigan. Prior to this season, the Sun Devils had defeated the Wildcats just twice since 1981. And after the Wolverines upset the Buckeyes earlier in the day on Nov. 23, many predicted Arizona State would meet with similar misfortune. Instead, the Sun Devils van- quished Arizona, 56-14, in a game that wasn't even that close. A break here and there and Arizona State would have won the game 77-7. From there, it was on to Pasadena, and you know the rest. Disappointment is sure to linger in the desert Southwest for sometime. You don't come that close to the national championship, fall short, and then feel good about it. But a year after Northwestern rose from the ashes to conquer the Big Ten, Arizona State did the same to the Pac-10. The Sun Devils became the rags-to-riches story of 1996. So, chin up Tempe. This season, you were more than a part of something good. Heck, you were more than a part of something great. ' You were a part of something spe- cial. - Barry Sollenberger can be reached over e-mail at jsol@umich.edu. CORNELL Continued from Page 11 Vinnie Auger, in front of the Michigan net, received a pass fror behind the goal and beat Turco top- right to tie the game at two. Turco kept Cornell in check throughout the period with several big saves. Early in the period, Cornell's Tony Bergin was alone in -front of the net with the puck, but a sprawled out Turco blocked the puck wide left. And with two minutes left in the period, Turco slapped away a lose puck that was sitting in front of a- wide opee right side of the net, just inches from the goal line. Before Cornell tied the game for good in the third period, the Wolverines went ahead 3-2 just over six minutes into the period when right wing Warren Luhning grabbed a lose puck in front of the Cornell net. Luhning hesitated, and then skated to the right and scored behind Elliott. On Dec. 31, Michigan trounce Ferris State, 11-1, but couldn't contin ue its winning ways. Cornell 3, Micnigan 3 Cornell 0 2 1 0-3 Michigan 1 1 1 0-3 First period -1. UM, Legg 9 (Crozier, Schock), 16:09. Penalties - CU, Auger (trip- ing), 0:43; UM, Sloan (cross-checking), 4:04; CU, Bergin (interference), 4:27; UM, Madden (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:46; CU, Auger (cross-checking), 5:44; UM, Botterrill (hook- ing), 6:19; CU, Papp (holding), 10:06; CU, Cooney (slashing), 14:09; UM, Ritchlin (rough- ing), 14:09; CU, Auger (roughing), 14:09. Second period-1. CU, Wilson 4 (Knopp), 3:46); 2. UM, Morrison 12 (Schock, Muckalt), 8:14; 2. CU, Auger 5 (Cooney, Dailey),.14:45 (nn) Penalta - IIM Merrick (rnghing\. 9. U U 747-9400 1220 S. University Above McDonalds, Kinko's TANNING FYr 'V. "T"I 4" 1WA T ('I II 11I I