The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 4, 1997 - 13 'M' freshmen ignite offensive outburst By Fred Link Daily Sports writer Coming into the season, the Michigan hockey team knew its success would be determined in large part by the play of its 10 freshmen. If last weekend's games against Alaska-Fairbanks are any indication, the Wolverines will be fine.' After struggling offensively in a 4- 2 loss to Michigan State, the Wolverines broke out for 10 goals in two games against the Nanooks. A primary reason for the Michigan's offensive outburst was the play of its freshmen, who tallied six goals and five assists against Fairbanks. Freshman center Mark Kosick led the way, scoring the first hat trick by a freshman since Bill Muckalt in 1994. "Kosick jumped up and had a big game Friday," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "He was a much better player this past weekend than he's been." But Kosick was hardly the only freshman to con- tribute offensively against Fairbanks. Forward Josh Langfeld and defenseman Mike Van Ryn continued their strong play. Langfeld netted two goals and added an assist over the weekend, while Van Ryn contributed one goal. Kosick's five points over the weekend gave him 10 points on the season, making him the team's second leading scorer. For Langfeld, the two goals gave him five goals this season, good enough for second on the team. Van Ryn is the team's highest-scoring defense- man with eight points. As good as the freshmen have been, Berenson expects even more contributions from the freshman class as the season progresses and they adapt to playing in the CCHA. "I think you'll see an awakening of more of the fresh- men as we go through the early part of the season," Berenson said. "We think we know what they can do, but they're not all going to do it right away. We are see- ing players play better and play closer to their poten- tial." YELLOW SNOW: Many of the Wolverines were upset with what they perceived as dirty play on the part of the Nanooks - and the referees' unwillingness to call enough penalties on them. Instead, the referees called a pretty even game in terms of penalty minutes. "They played a real physical style of hockey," Berenson said. "They should have had probably six to two - that kind of ratio - in penalties. Unfortunately, the referees don't always see it that way, and they even things up. "So, we're getting penalized for the way the other team is playing, not the way we're playing" In all, the Wolverines were called for 69 minutes of penalties over the weekend, giving the Nanooks 15 power plays, including two five-on-three power play opportunities. "I don't necessarily think we deserved the penalties that we got," said Michigan forward Dale Rominski, whose five-minute major penalty late in Saturday's con- test led to two Fairbanks goals. "They're a dirty team. There was a lot of holding, slashing - the type of stuff that should be called in a normal game but obviously up there it wasn't." THE WANDERERs: After making the 12-hour trip to Alaska last weekend, the Wolverines will be on the road again this weekend. The Wolverines will travel eight hours by bus to Marquette to play Northern Michigan. With all of the time spent traveling, the Wolverines don't have much time for anything other than hockey. "I'm so behind in school, Kosick said. "After this weekend, I think the travel schedule gets a little bit bet- ter, and I'll be able to catch up. Right now everything is focused on hockey for everybody. School has taken a back seat for the last couple of weeks." JOHN KRAFT/Daily The Wolverines, who lost to Michigan State then traveled 12 hours by plane to Alaska, now must make an eight-hour bus trip to Northern Michigan. IRunning as a team, 'M' harriers beat Bad gers By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Writer There's nocontroversy as to who's been the Big Ten king when it comes to cross country. Wisconsin has won 14 of *e revious -16 championships, dating back t 981. But Saturday, the king was dethroned. Te Wolverines broke a streak of con- ferenc dominance by Wisconsin by winngg the Big Ten championship in Coluibs. Michigan won the confer- ence i1t 993, one of only two interrup- tionsUihe Badger dynasty. Th&Wolverines combined top indi- vida-frformances with team depth to *k 1 ititle with 29 points. Wisconsin was; i runner-up with 42 points. It markeaihe sixth time Michigan has won the I3Ten championship under coach Rani shurst. Mihigan's Kevin Sullivan and John Mqtiner have finished 1-2 in all but orTrce this year, leaving cross country fansaicipating the result of their first big-nel clash of 1997. It looked like it would,"e a battle between Mortimer's htding-quick starts and Sullivan's uge Z&k - and it was. Suiuan climaxed a successful return from 1jury, which sidelined him for all of 196;by winning the Big Ten individ- ual i4 in classic fashion. His time of 23:42 for 5,000 meters not only earned him thechampionship, but also gave him the Ohio State course record. Sullivan became only the third runner in Big Ten history to win individual titles all four years. He took the conference's top spot in 1993, '94, '95 and '97, fol- lowing his absence. "We knew Wisconsin was going to be tough," Sullivan said. "I'm really happy with the race." Mortimer turned in a solid perfor- mance, finishing in second place overall with a 24:01, 19 seconds behind Sullivan. It was obviously a bittersweet race for Mortimer, falling behind Sullivan after the four-mile mark. Michigan's Steve Lawrence stepped up big for the Wolverines, completing the course in 24:42. His seventh-place finish overall qualified him for first team All-Big Ten recognition. Lawrence's consistent finishes have been a major reason for Michigan's No. 3 ranking. "We had a pretty good feeling going in," Lawrence said. "We were all psy- ched up." The Wolverines' Jay Cantin was able to stay with Lawrence most of the way, finishing right behind him in a time of 24:45. Cantin earned eighth place over- all, putting him at the head of the second team All-Big Ten roster. Cantin has con- sistently finished in the top five this sea- son, scoring points for the Wolverines, but Saturday he helped to lock up the championship for Michigan. Ann Arbor native Todd Snyder round- ed out the top five for the Wolverines, turning in a gutsy 24:54. Snyder was not racing up to par, due PURDUE PET E AND BvuKYTHE BADGER COULDN'T GET INTO THE UNIVERSITY OF Na READ DAILY' SPORTS! to an illness, yet found enough energy within himself to stick it out for the 5,000 meters. He finished I I th, also qualifying him for second team All-Big Ten honors. "Snyder has bronchitis and is on antibiotics, but he passed five guys in the last 1,000 meters," Warhurst said. "He ran super for the condition he's in." Michigan's Don McLaughlin placed 21st in 25:20. Had there been a tie between the Wolverines and Wisconsin, the team with the higher-finishing sixth man would have won. Chris Bunt (53rd, 26:07), Cory Brown (60th, 26:19), and Mike Wisniwski (68th, 26:30) were the final finishers for Michigan. All three gained valuable experience running in the Big Tens, which will serve them well in the future. Though * Wisconsin has dominated the Big Ten the past 16 years, Michigan was able to top the Badgers with a team effort over the weekend and take the title. LOUIS BROWN/Daily The Wolverines will depend on Bunt, Brown and Wisniewski to help carry the load as Sullivan graduates, and Mortimer possibly redshirting. The season essentially began Saturday for Michigan. s After sweeping through their regular-season schedule with rela- tive ease, the nation is finally getting a chance to see the Wolverines at their best. The showisn't over yet, however. Michigan will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA District IV champi- onships, to be held in Bloomington. The NCAA District IV meet will be the Wolverines' gateway to the NCAA championships Nov. 24, in South Carolina. "We raced the way I expected us to," Warhurst said. "I'm very happy for them." Buy, Sell, Trade V V SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8 kfi 10 a.m. . 4 p.m. vACo