I
14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 21,_1997
Bottoms up for Michigan icers in Ohio
By Fred Unk
Daily Sports Writer
When the Michigan hockey team travels
to Ohio this weekend, they will be facing
two teams at the bottom of the CCHA
standings.
Michigan faces 10th-place Bowling
Green (1-3-1 CCHA, 2-8-1 overall) Friday
night and ninth-place Ohio State (2-3-0, 5-
4-) on Sunday afternoon.
O1espite the Falcons' and Buckeyes'
records, Michigan coach Red Berenson
says the Wolverines can't take these games
for granted.
"I don't think these teams are weak,"
Berenson said. "Bowling Green lost some
players and we lost some players, so I know
they'll be tough to beat."
Like Michigan, Bowling Green lost nine
players from last season's team. As a result,
the Falcons must rely heavily on eight
freshmen and six sophomores to fill the
void.
So far, things aren't going very well for
the Falcons. Excluding their 9-2 victory
ovr Waterloo, the Falcons have averaged
only 2.1 goals per game, while giving up
4.1 goals per game. As a result, Bowling
Green has lost three straight games and
eight of their past I1.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes will be look-
ing for their first win against the
Wolverines in more than eight years.
Since a 7-3 victory on Nov. 19, 1989,
Ohio State has gone 0-26-5 against
Michigan.
Defensively, the Buckeyes have played
well, with goaltender Ray Aho giving up
only 2.7 goals per game. Offensively, how-
ever, Ohio State has had trouble putting the
puck in the net, scoring an average of only
2.6 goals per game in league play.
But the Wolverines have problems of
their own to worry about.
Michigan will be looking to regain its
confidence after giving up a three-goal lead
in a hard-fought 3-3 tie against Ferris State
last Sunday.
"That second period affected the whole
team," Berenson said. "The offense didn't
like it, the defense didn't like it, the coach-
es -everyone didn't like it.
"It's up to the team to learn from that by
staying focused to prevent that from hap-
pening again."
To keep it from happening again, the
Wolverines defense will have to do a better
job of limiting their opponent's scoring
chances.
Against Ferris, all three of the Bulldogs'
"I don't think these
teams are weak."
- Red Berenson
Michigan hockey coach
goals were the result of defensive break-
downs that gave the Bulldogs open chances
in front of Michigan goaltender Marty
Turco.
With better defense, Berenson hopes the
offense will get going as well.
"The team has to play better defensive-
ly," Berenson said. "When our defense
plays well we can get more chances offen-
sively, more opportunities to score."
Offensively, the Wolverines will have to
get some production from someone other
than Bobby Hayes and Bill Muckalt. In the
last three games, Hayes and Muckalt have
scored all six of the Wolverines' goals.
"Bill Muckalt is our best scorer, and he's
proven that," Berenson said. "More players
need to score.
"But Bobby Hayes is playing well, and
we're getting good production from that
line. But we need more contributions from
other players."
Michigan right wing Sean Ritchlin will be trying to smash CCHA cellar-dwellers Bowling Gre
State this weekend.
Tar Heels begin r
era under Gutbri
SPORTSWEA
By Albert Lee
The Chronicle
DURHAM, N.C. (U-WIRE) -
Although the Dean Smith era is over,
it certainly does not mark the end of
the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill's dominance in basket-
ball.
In fact, this year's Tar Heel squad
is as good as ever.
With four out of five starters return-
ing and six of its top seven players
back from a team that won the Atlantic
Coast Conference tournament and
advanced to the Final Four, the Tar
Heels are viewed as one of the
nation's top teams, with a No. 4 pre-
season Associated Press ranking.
But questions still linger for this
squad.
While North Carolina does have
one of the most talented teams in the
nation, whether the Tar Heel's 60-year
-old rookie coach Bill Guthridge will
be up to the task of coaching in such a
tough conference is up is a major
question. He realizes that there are the
inevitable high expectations after fol-
lowing a coach as accomplished as
Dean Smith.
"Of course Dean did an unbeliev-
able job," Guthridge said. "I'm fol-
lowing him, I can't replace him - no
one can replace Dean Smith."
Dean Smith is the total embodiment
of not only North Carolina basketball,
but also basketball as we know it today.
Many of his former players have
played NBA basketball, and many of
his former assistants are currently head
coaches. Some of his prized pupils
include Michael Jordan, Sam Perkin
Brad Daugherty, Phil Ford, Lar
Brown, Roy Williams, George ar
and the list goes on and on._. '
Smith also is the NCAA's all-tin
winningest coach, a record he set wit
his 877th victory over Colorado in thi
past spring's NCAA tournamen
Under Smith's guidance, the T
Heels have recorded 27 consecutiv
seasons with at least 21 wins. In add
tion, North Carolina has been in th
NCAA tournament an NCAA igeor
23 consecutive seasons, a mar h
begun in 1975. However, one n
people often forget is that Guthridg
has been at Smith's side for years
coaching at Carolina.
"Instead of me having to give hit
suggestions and he deciding whetht
to accept them or not, he can give
suggestions and I have to decid
whether to accept them or not.
Guthridge said.
Although Guthridge has never bee
a coach, he knows his Xs and n
has been able to learn from. a leg
endary coach and teacher. He realizt
that winning isn't something that
easily achieved - it will require effo
from everyone involved.
"It was pretty certain that Dea
Smith would do a great job coaching
Guthridge said. "Now we'll have to.s
how this coaching staff and these pla:
ers can respond to the coaching staf
Of course I'm hoping it'll be go
Although this is Guthridge's fir
season at the helm, expectations f
North Carolina basketball. are sti
very high-and rightfully so.
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