HOCKEY
The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - March 24, 1997 - =5B
Gophers' time yet to come
As
Andy Knudsen
Daily Sports Writer
GRAND RAPIDS - For years,
hockey coach Red Berenson and his
"Our time will come."
Michigan
team said,
And last year that time came.
Now that motto might belong to Minnesota
coach Doug Woog and the Gophers.
. Since winning the national championship in
1979, Minnesota has reached the semifinals eight
'es and has been in the NCAA tournament 13
ears in a row.
But in Woog's 12 successful seasons behind the
bench, Minnesota has not managed to win the big
prize.
"I feel bad for Doug Woog,' Berenson said yes-
terday, after Michigan ended the Gophers' season
for the second year in a row. "He's done a great job
at Minnesota. They were as good a team as we saw
this year."
Minnesota tied for the regular season WCHA
itle, and lost to North Dakota in overtime in their
nference championship.
Ranked in the top four of most polls, the
Gophers' No. 4 seed seemed questionable and left
them the difficult task of dethroning Michigan to
make the semis.
"It's disappointing when two teams ranked in
the top four do.not have a chance to go to the final
four," Berenson said.
Berenson brought a championship to Michigan
in his 12th season as coach, but 13 could be
oog's lucky number.
Michigan' S
The Gophers' roster is reminiscent of
Michigan's 1995-96 championship team, which
was dominated by underclassmen.
Minnesota will lose only four seniors, none of
whom played on the top two forward lines.
"Our seniors were damn good role players,"
Woog said. "They accepted their roles, and they
did a good job."
The outgoing Gophers scored only 26 of their
team's goals this season.
Minnesota's four freshman skaters, on the other
hand, scored 37.
Dominating Minnesota's offensive production
were the juniors and sophomores.
Minnesota's five junior skaters tallied 53 goals,
while the five sophomores scored 56.
"We were a young team ... and we made good
progress," Woog said. "We eliminated some of our
problems as the season went along - as far as
penalties and taking ourselves out of a game."
Minnesota had to replace some of its key play-
ers of a year ago, like Dan Trebil and Hobey
Baker-winner Brian Bonin.
But Woog liked the ascension of his younger
skaters.
"We needed some people to grow and to fill
some spots," Woog said. "And that started to hap-
pen."
Two-time Hobey Baker finalist Mike Crowley
will return next season to lead the Gophers'
defense, as they -will lose only senior Brian
LaFleur at the blue line.
And back in goal will be Steve DeBus, if
WARREN ZINN/Dafiy
The Golden Gophers left Grand Rapids holding their heads in their hands after Michigan ended their sea-
son for the second straight year.
Michigan hasn't single-handedly sent him into
therapy.
DeBus has a career record of 40-19-1 with
Minnesota but will live in infamy as the victim of
Michigan center Mike Legg's lacrosse-style goal
in last season's quarterfinals.
Michigan captain Brendan Morrison scored in
overtime past DeBus earlier this season in the
College Hockey Showcase, and the Wolverines
shelled him for seven goals yesterday.
But the strength of Minnesota's returning play-
ers makes them a likely candidate to be a presea-
son favorite.
And the time for Doug Woog and the Gophers
to stand on the top of the college hockey world
may finally come.
talented tandem tears up opponents
By Mark Snyder
Daily Sports Writer
GRAND RAPIDS - Some partners only need
one name apiece.
Bartyles and James. Torvill and Dean. Botts
and Mo.
And while the first two tandems are good on
ice, they have nothing on Michigan's twosome.
Against Minnesota yesterday, Michigan cap-
tains Jason Botterill and Brendan Morrison staked
the Wolverines to a quick lead, 33 seconds into the
game, setting the tone for the 7-4 victory.
On what has become a signature play for the
Wolverines, one forward fed the other to give
Michigan an early advantage -- the quickest goal
ever in an NCAA regional game.
The smooth connection while streaking down
the ice was traditional except for one small detail
- this time Botterill fed Morrison for the score.
That's not to say that Botterill, Michigan's lead-
ing goal-scorer, would be denied his usual scoring
chances.
Botterill, who at 6-foot-4, 217 pounds is one of
the largest players in the college game, crashed
the net late in the period hoping to bang home a
rebound.
He did, and Michigan went to the lockerroom
with a three-goal advantage, a lead it would never
relinquish.
The play on which Botterill scored -- only 18
seconds before intermission - was initiated by
Morrison.
As teammates, the two have learned what to
expect from four long seasons together.
"The nine (seniors), we've realized from our
freshman year when we played Lake (Superior)
State that our toughest game could come anytime
throughout this tournament," Botterill said.
They made sure that didn't happen against
Minnesota.
Each had two goals and two assists on the
night, insuring that their college careers would not
end short of the next round.
While Morrison and Botterill have been the
heart and soul of Michigan all season long, their
production has grown by leaps and bounds in the
playoffs.
In the five playoff games, beginning with
Michigan's 8-1 thrashing of Alaska-Fairbanks on
March 7, the two have combined for 29 points.
Michigan only played one game this weekend,
so Botts and Mo took the opportunity to collect
some hardware. Both were honored with All-tour-
nament selections for the West Regional, with
Botterill being named most outstanding player.
The uniqueness of the situation, aside from
their outstanding talents on the ice, is their level
heads off the playing surface.
"I thought our line of Botterill, (Bill) Muckalt
and Morrison was outstanding," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "And they proved why they
came back this season. Obviously Botterill and
Morrison in particular, and they're leading our
team."
The coach behind the other bench would prob-
ably rather the duo had made the jump to the pros.
"Morrison made a nice goal, the first goal, so
he gets stuck in your mind," Minnesota coach
Doug Woog said.
Woog is not alone in having Morrison etched
his memory.
Many coaches have been burned by the Hobey
Baker finalist, as evidenced by his mountain of
Michigan records.
Morrison once again etched himself into the
Michigan record books yesterday, setting a mark
for assists in a season. The 57th, one more than
Dave Debol recorded in 1976-77, came, fittingly
enough, on a feed to Botterill.
Later in the game, Morrison would join his
teammate in the 100-goal club at Michigan, an
exclusive enough ' distinction that the two
Michigan seniors are joined by only seven others
in Michigan history.
The pairing may appear odd, with Morrison
standing 5-foot-1I and only 182 pounds (lost in
the shadow of Botterill), but the friendship trans-
lates off the ice as well.
The two live together in a house with a few
other Michigan seniors, so practice is not much
different than dinner for these two.
Another famous roommate tandem of televi-
sion fame - Laverne and Shirley -- was also
inseparable. Now Botterill and Morrison will get
the opportunity to demonstrate their work to the
nation from the girls' hometown.
Morrison and Botterill - meet Milwaukee.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Jason Botterill scored two goals on Minnesota goalie Steve DeBus en route to a four-point game.
O2PH ERS
nt e from Page LB
Muckalt and Chris Frescoln.
Just 34 seconds later, Warren
Luhning's pass found an unattended
Matt Herr at the'Minnesota blue line.
Herr walked in and flicked it over
DeBus' shoulder to make the score 5-0,
and the Gophers found themselves in
quite a hole.
Not all went perfectly for Michigan,
*vwever. Turco lost his chance at a
shutout about four minutes after Herr
scored when he gave up a soft goal to
Minnesota's Erik Rasmussen.
Rasmussen slid the puck weakly toward
the side of the goal, and Turco didn't
even move for it as the puck banked off'
the post and into the net.
But with under 1i minutes to play in
the period, Greg Crozier scored for the
Wolverines to re-establish the five-goal
ad and make the score 6-1.
Still, the Gophers refused to com-
pletely roll over, and some careless mis-
cues by the Wolverines helped
Minnesota narrow the gap and make the
score look respectable.
Rasmussen scored his second goal of
the night on the power play to cut the
lead to 6-2 with 8:02 remaining in the
second period. Rasmussen, who scored
a hat trick against Michigan in
ovember during the College Hockey
howcase, has scored five of his 15
goals this season against the Wolverines.
With 5:50 left to play in the period,
Minnesota's Casey Hankinson tipped in
a shot from the point, making the score
6-3.
Q-+ .ait ,.,S lof in th c-a
Terriers advance to set up semifinal
rematch with M'; CC also through
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -
Chris Drury's overtime goal gave
Boston University a 4-3 victory over
Denver on Saturday night, securing
the Terriers' fourth consecutive
NCAA semifinals appearance and
seventh in the last eight seasons.
Drury put the rebound off a Chris
Kelleher shot from inside the left
point past the East Region's Most
Valuable Player, Denver's Jim
Mullin, 12:20 into overtime.
The second-seeded Terriers (25-8-
6) appeared to have the game won in
regulation when Shawn Bates beat
Mullin on a breakaway with 3:19 left
in the third period for a shorthanded
score.
But Denver's Erik Andersson
forced overtime when he brat
Michel Larocque from the slot with
just 53 second left in regulation.
NORTH DAKOTA 6, CORNELL 2
A third-period timeout to make
sure his players knew what they
were doing to protect a one-goal
lead turned out even better than
North Dakota coach Dean Blais had
hoped.
Shortly after the timeout, North
Dakota's Jesse Bull and Brad
DeFauw broke open a close game
with goals midway through the third.
n.art-and ',Jn urfhA-ea nt n
College in a semifinal game
Thursday in Milwaukee.
"Their timeout (at 8:12 of the
third) was the turning point in the
game because they picked up the
tempo right away," said Cornell
coach Mike Schafer.
North Dakota led,
NATIONAL 3-2, after two peri-
ods, but Cornell
ROUNDUP (21-9-5) had a cou-
ple of good scoring
chances in the last three minutes of
the second period.
Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron
Schweitzer stopped Vinnie Auger on
a breakaway and turned back Ryan
Moynihan's rebound attempt in the
final seconds,
Bull knocked Mark Pivetz'
rebound past Big Red goalie Jason
Elliott at 9:21 of the third period to
give the Fighting Sioux a 4-2 lead.
DeFauw gave North Dakota a three-
goal advantage at 13:49 with a wrist
shot from the slot area.
"Once we got the fourth goal, I
felt it took the wind out of their
sails," said North Dakota captain
Dane Litke. "And when we got the
fifth I think we all sensed the kill."
Matt Henderson completed the
scoring with an empty-net goal with
5 I eft.n jp
Tony Bergin deflected Jeff
Burgoyne's shot from the point past
Schweitzer.
North Dakota's Curtis Murphy
scored on a wrist shot from the top
of the faceoff circle at 1:11 of the
second period, but Cornell's Matt
Cooney scored on a deflection dur-
ing a power play at 3:52.
COLORADO COLLEGE 5, CLARKSON
4
Darren Clark's goal early in the
third period made the difference as.
Colorado College held off No. 1
Clarkson in a 5-4 victory in an
NCA A tournament quarterfinal
Saturday in Worcester, Mass.
The Tigers (25-14-4) took a 4-0
first-period lead on goals from four
players.
Clarkson (27-10) got on the board
with 7:52 left in the second period
when Jean-Francois Houle beat
goaltender Judd Lambert, who
improved his postseason mark to 11-
I with the win.
T.J. Tanberg, Brian Swanson and
Calvin Efring scored for the fifth-
seeded Tigers in a three-minute span
midway through the first period.
Stewart Bodtker added -a goal with
1:27 remaining in the period to,
break the game open.
Clark's wrist shot from the left
BERENSON
Continued from Page 1.8
Minnesota held the Wolverines at
bay for most of the rest of the first
period. But just when it looked like
the Gophers would escape the period
down by only one, there was
Michigan forward Bill Muckalt on a
breakaway with 1:19 left. He scored
to make it 2-0, and then linemate
Jason Botterill scored with 17.4
remaining.
Just like that, it was 3-0, and the
party was on in Van Andel Arena. No
more than 57 seconds into the sec-
ond period it was 5-0. And if you are
a Michigan fan, you were probably
just kicking yourself for having
stressed about this one.
This was no mistake. The
Wolverines weren't pounding the
Gophers by accident last night.
They were ready for this one,
thanks in no small part to coach Red
Berenson.
This was the sixth consecutive
season the Wolverines had earned a
first-round bye in the NCAA tourna-
ment.
And every time, the .Wolverines
had come out a step behind.
Although they had won four out of
their last five regional appearances
coming into the game, the
Wolverines trailed in most of them,
and all were decided by only one
goal.
As beneficial as the bye may seem
in theory, the down time can be
nerve-wracking.
"The worst part is waiting to play,"
ivmicnigan r, mineusa
Minnesota 0 3 1-4
Michigan 3 4 0-7
First period -1. UM, Morrison 29 (Botterill), 0:33; 2.
UM. Muckalt 26 (Botterill,) 18:41; 3. UM, Botterill 36
(Luhning, Morrison), 19:42 pp. Penalties - UM,
Merrick (checking from behind), 2:58; UM,.Sloan
(checking from behind), 3:28; MN, Kohn (holding).
9:30; UM, rescoin (interference), 16:18: MN.
Rasmussen (high-sticking), 18:57. Second period -
4. UM, Botterill 37, (Muckait, Morrison), 0:23: 5. UM,
Herr 29 (Luhning, Turco), 0:57: 1. MN, Rasmussen 14
(unassisted), 5:31: 6. UM. Crozier 5 (Peach, Hayes).
9:07: 2, MN, Rasmussen 15 (unassisted). 10:58 pp;
3. MN, Hankinson 17 (Berg, Crowley), 14:10 pp:7.
UM. Morrison 30 (Sloan), 17;35 (4-on-4). Penalties
MN, Hendrickson (slashing), 1:31; UM, Crozier (hih-
stocking), 4:54: MN, Berg (holdhing), 5:15; MN,
Clymer (slashing), 6:17; UM, Legg (holding),10:55;
UM, rescoln(interference). 13:27: MN. Hankinson
(hitting after whistle), 16:44: UM, Peach (hitting after
whistle), 16:44: UM, Madden (10-min.misconduct),
17:35: MN. Smith (roughing), 18:01. Third period-
4. MN, Spehar 20, (Hankinson, Abrahamson), 0:54.
Penalties - UM, Sloan (interference),.2:22; MN,
Hankinson (tripping), 3:41; UM, Peach thigh-sticking),
8:36: UM, Rominski (slashing). 9:15; MN,
Abrahamson (slashing), 19:56.
Shots on goal - MN 10-105 - 25, UM 14-186
38.
Power Plays - MN, 2 of 9: UM, 1 of 8.
Saves - MN, DeBus 11-14-6 - 31, UM, Turco 10-7-4
- 21.
Referee - Tim Benedetto.
Linesmen - Brian Sullivan, John Jones.
A~t: Van Andel Arena. A: 8,926.
you want to be the No. I, seed,
Berenson said. "We got that, now
you got to make the next step."'Bt te m ch bly oe
But the much ballyhooed
Michigan teams of recent history
had not been able to make that step
with ease.
"All the hoopla around the team
can be a negative distraction"
Berenson said. "First couple years,
we went into these tournaments and
we thought we were better than
everyone. And we were, but we did-
n't prove it."
To keep his team on an even keel
may have been a more difficult a
task this season than in the past.
There's no way this team could
lose, no matter what it did, at least
that's what everyone said about a
Michigan team that set the school
record for victories in a season yes-
terday night.
But Berenson wasn't about to let
his players believe that, even if it is
true.
"I don't want you listening to all
the fans and everyone around saying,
'Oh you're gonna do this, and you're
gonna do that,'" Berenson empha-
sized to his.: team last week.
"Because all that is lip service, and
that doesn't get the job done on the
ice."
The Wolverines did a stand-up job
this time. And much of the credit has
to go to Berenson. He has guided
this team perfectly. Not once all sea-
son has he allowed his players to
look past anything. One game at a
time - it's a cliche and Berensop
works it to a tee.