HocKEY The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 16, 1998 - 58 He is a true freshman - he's S fresh out of high school. There are times I look at him and think he should be our stick boy. V * Key play: Goalie Marty Turco made an amazing glove save on a Tim Leahy breakaway during the third period in Friday's victory over Miami (Ohio), The save enabled Michigan to hang on to a one goal lead. Despite size, Kosick continues to impress Pranay Reddy aily Sports Writer You have to wonder about Michigan's second-leading scorer when coach Red Berenson thinks he belongs on the team's equipment staff. Center Mark "Kosick has improved a lot as a young player," Berenson said. "He is a true freshman - he's fresh out of high school. "There are times I look at him and think he should be our stick boy." While his 5-foot-7, 187-pound listing in the Michigan media guide seems a bit generous, Kosick has raised eyebrows this season - 'spite not being a physical presence. With a three-point performance this past weekend, Kosick tied junior Bobby Hayes with 37 points on the season - second only to Bill Muckalt's 53. "He is a young player and he has come a long way in terms of his development this season," Berenson said. "We've given him a lot of defensive responsibility and he's learned, he's improved. I think that's helped him in the offensive goal." Friday night against Miami (Ohio), Kosick's equalizing power-play goal in the second period was not your typical freshman play. "Kosick made a great play on the goalie by hanging on," Berenson cd. "He looked like a veteran player when he faked him. That was a ery poised play by a freshman." It wasn't the first time that Berenson has lauded the freshman for showing experience beyond his years. Kosick broke out in an Oct. 31 game at Alaska-Fairbanks, where the Victoria, B.C. native torched the Nanooks with a hat-trick. Since then, Kosick and Hayes have been Michigan's most prolific playmakers, providing a spark for scorers like Muckalt and Matt Herr. And Kosick has emerged from behind the shadows of fellow fresh- men Josh Langfeld and Mike Van Ryn, who grabbed most of the headlines from Michigan's deep recruiting class. Berenson said Kosick's determination night-in and night-out has Evided the benchmark for an ideal freshman player - as well as set- ting him apart from the rest of the pack. "He shows up every night," Berenson said. "There are some kids that might go into a tough, physical road game and all of a sudden they start taking the long way to the puck or maybe don't want to take a hit. "It doesn't bother him, he really wants to play." While Berenson continues to heap praise on the promising young player, Kosick realizes the impor- tance of his quick adjustment to the college game - especially to a team in the middle of a tight confer- ence-title chase. With that in mind, Kosick has assumed responsi- bility for the out- put of his line - a line that normally features Herr and Langfeld. "We definitely need more than just one line scor- ing goals," Kosick said. "Come play- :.M. off time, there are guys whose pri- mary concern is going to be shut- Center Mark Kosick is proving he's more than j ting down Michigan's second-leading scorer, with 37 point Muckalt and Hayes." As of late, Kosick's line has responded. In a game against Lake Superior on Feb. 7, all three linemates added a goal in a 4-1 victory - an achievement duly noted by nearly every Wolverine. In fact, it could be argued that no one enjoys the notion of an added scoring punch more than Muckalt, whose scoring has tailed off lately. The senior has been targeted by teams in the past few weeks, result- ing in an even more urgent need for a balanced scoring attack. rPAULiAJLAN Ia iiady ust a 'stick boy' this season. The freshman tied Bobby Hayes as ts. Bill Muckalt leads the team with 53 points. According to Muckalt, the cry has been answered - not only by Kosick, but by all the freshmen. "We don't necessarily have 10 freshmen on the ice, everybody's an upperclassman," Muckalt said. Of course Muckalt, ever the joker, wasn't satisfied leaving his state- ment at that. "A couple of guys maybe still got a bit of growing up to do off the ice," Muckalt quipped. Muckalt ends drought with No. 100 against RedHawks By FredLink Daily Sports Writer Finally ... After weeks of frustration, Bill Muckalt finally scored the 100th goal of his career in Michigan's 3-1 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Friday. After scoring 25 goals in his first 23 games this season, Muckalt found himself just two goals away from 100 for his career. But in the next seven games the senior forward scored just once, and coming into Friday's game, he seemed to be stuck on 99 career goals. ---.------------- With less than a minute remaining in Hockey Friday's game, Muckalt finally got No. 100. With Miami goaltender Trevor NOtebook Prior on the bench for the extra attacker, ----------------- Matt Herr stole the puck at center ice and fired it off the post. Muckalt picked up the rebound and slid it into the open net. "It was a pretty nice pass by Matty off the post," Muckalt joked. "I was going to pick the top corner, but the way things have been going, I decided to put it right in the middle." Even Michigan coach Red Berenson wasn't impressed with the way Muckalt scored his 100th. "You needed to take the goalie out for him to score," Berenson kidded. Saturday, Vancouver Canuck's coach and General Manager Mike Keenan was in attendance to watch Muckalt, a ninth- round draft pick of the Canucks in 1994. And he did not disappoint, blasting a shot from the left face- off circle past Northern Michigan goaltender Duane Hoey for his 28th goal of the season. "Bill Muckalt has had a great season," Keenan said. "He shows the ability to put the puck in the net. "He's certainly got some great offensive skills, but at the same time he's demonstrated some solid leadership skills." With his goal on Saturday, Muckalt has 101 goals for his PAUL TALANIAN/Daily Michigan forward Bill Muckalt found plenty to celebrate this weekend after top- ping the century mark in career goals, Friday night. He tallied No. 101, Saturday. career - tied with Neil Celley for ninth place on the Michigan career goal scoring list, and only one tally behind Hobey Baker winner Brendan Morrison. YOU'RE JUST STUCK: During the second intermission of Friday's game, the Zamboni's engine blew, leaving the vehicle stranded at center ice directly in front of the visitors' bench. As the arena staff struggled to get the Zamboni off the ice, they were taunted with chants of "English majors," by the impatient crowd. The third period was delayed for nearly 30 minutes as the Zamboni was slowly towed off the ice, and the skid marks left by the vehicle left the ice in rough shape in the Miami end of the rink. "Fortunately, the ice wasn't a factor in the game," Berenson said. BE MY VALENTINE: In Friday's Daily, someone left a Valentine's day message for freshman forward Josh Langfeld. "I've seen your moves on the ice, the secret admirer wrote. "Soon, I'd like to show you my moves. Langfeld saw the message on Friday when someone attached the paper to the door of his dorm room. "It was pretty funny," Langfeld said. "But I don't know who did it. It wasn't any- body on the team." Langfeld Langfeld showed his moves Saturday, scoring Michigan's second goal of the game. HURTING: Michigan lost two players to injuries in Friday's game. Midway through the first period, freshman center Scott Matzka was checked hard into the boards and had to leave the game with a separated shoulder. Early in the third period, Michigan forward Sean Ritchlin left the game with a groin injury. Both players missed Saturday's game, but may be ready against Michigan State. his career and placed him 10th on the all-time list. After a goal on Saturday, 1B he moved into ninth place. e Wolverines all But the biggest story of the week- end isn't even about the weekend vic- (s swept the tories at all. The biggest story is that rd nearly a month Michigan begins arguably the most made it a point to crucial week of the season. n Friday. The . This week the Wolverines prepare d to hold a strong for a two-game title-fight showdown ngle goal on only against No. 3 Michigan State that that featured per- may determine the CCHA regular- ome crowd of the season title. The Spartans trail Michigan by only three points in the !d, 1-1, in the sec- standings. gan center Mark Additionally, Michigan State s from Langfeld coach Ron Mason has 799 career vic- e left side. Kosick tories. Just one victory over the long enough for Wolverines is all he needs to capture revor Prior to go No. 800. ted the shot over "You can look at it two ways: the of the net. pressure is on us or the pressure's on ed Michigan with them," Berenson said. "The pressure a secure a victory. is on them as much as anyone. minute to play in They're the home team and they have Ien net, Michigan to put on the show. ickalt grabbed a "We're going to show up and I and fired it in the think our team will be excited about t's 100th goal of playing that game." Friday's gae Michigan 3, Miami (Ohio) 1 Miami 0 1 0 - 1 Michigan 1 1 1 - 3 First period - 1. UM Van Ryn 4 (Hayes, Muckalt), 13:39. Penalties - MU. Bodnar (slashing) 12:34; UM Herr (slashing),=12:34. Second period - 1. MU Buzzell 5 (Tropper, Andreev), 12:40; 2. UM Kosick 10 (Langfeld, Muckalt), 17:50 (pp). Penalties - MU, Harrold (interference), 14:47; MU, Tropper (interference), 17:27; UM, Herr (interference), 19:15. Third period - 3. UM, Muckalt 27 (Herr), 19:42 (5x6 en). Penalties - MU. Chateau (interference), 1:46; UM, Fox (holding the stick), 11:04. Shots on goal - MU 4-10-5 -- 19; UM 5-14-11 - 30. Power Plays - MU, 0 of 2; UM 1 of 3. Saves- MU, Prior 4-13-10 - 27; UM, Turco 4-9-5 Referee - Steve Piotrowski. Linesmen - Dave Kronenberg, Mike Poliski. At: YostIce Arena. A: 6,559. a Michigan 4, Northem Mich. 2 Northern Mich. 1 0 1 -2 Michigan 2 1 1 -4 First period -1. UM, Rominski 10 (Kosick, Arman), 13:57: 1. NM, Holly 5 (Metro, Barabonoff), 16:25 (pp): 2. UM,: Langfeld 15 (8erenzweig, Herr), 19:20 (4x4). Penalties - NM, White (roughing) 5:30: UM, Merrick (charging), 5:30: UM, Peach (cross checking), 16:11: NM, Smith (roughing), 17:51; UM, Hayes (hooking), 17:51, NM, Metro (holding the stick), 19:16; UM, Muckalt (high stick- ing), 19:16. Second period - 3. UM, Berenzweig 5 (Kosick, Huntzicker), 1:33 (4U4) Penalties - NM, Young (cross checking), 0:26: UM, Herr (roughing), 0:26; NM, White (holding), 8:58; NM, Barabonoff (high sticking), 10:46; UM, Rominski (roughing), 10:46; NM, Schmidt (roughing), 12:54; UM, Hayes (rough- ing), 12:54; NM, Vigier (cross checking), 15:10; UM, Van Ryn (holding) 19:29.. Third period -4. UM, Muckalt 28 (Crawford, Peach), 7:56; 2. NM, Phillips 3 (Welsing), 8:48. Penalties - NM, Trudeau (hooking), 2:11; UM, Muckalt (high sticking). 5:16; NM, Sheptak (hook- ing), 9:31; UM, Peach (holding), 11:04. Shots on goal - NM 4495 - 18; UM 8.15-7 - 30. Power Plays - NM, 1 of 4; UM 0 of 4. Saves - NM, Hoey 6-146 - 26; UM, Turco 4-9.5 -18. Referee - Roger Graff. Unesmen - Sean Newekl, John Nowasatka. At: Yost Ice Arena. k 6,526. ed from Page 1B over Miami (Ohio) on Friday night. So maybe, just maybe, it seems logical to assume that peo- ple would have actually been interested in the Northern game after, well, the Northern game. Silly mistake. Oh, questions were asked after the game. They were about a game, and they did involve teams, one of which happened to be Michigan. But the other team discussed had as little to do with the upper peninsula as a low-fat pasty. Michigan State, not Northern, was the focus of most of the *estions. Michigan State, not Northern, was the team on everyone's minds. Everyone, that is, except the Wolverines. Sure, the Michigan players are looking forward to this week- end's series against the Spartans. How could they not anticipate one of the greatest rivalries in college hockey? They've had Feb. 20-21 circled on their calendars for months now. But Saturday night against Northern, the Wolverines were focused on one thing: beating the Wildcats. That was why, despite some sloppy mistakes, they were able to win. And that's hy, Michigan is on top of the CCHA. It could have been different. With the Northern matchup sandwiched between two crucial contests, the Wolverines could have easily overlooked the CCHA's latest addition. Friday night against Miami, Michigan didn't need any spark. After getting swept by the RedHawks in Oxford, the Wolverines were primed for revenge. The crowd at Yost Ice Arena, though always loud, buzzed with even more energy than usual. Motivation was not a problem Friday, but it could've been Saturday. Northern, after a strong start in conference competition, has stumbled to fifth in the CCHA. The Wildcats split a two-game series with Wolverines earlier in the season at Marquette, but Northern's victory wasn't exactly decisive. Factor that in with fatigue caused by Michigan's tough win over Miami the night before, and the Wolverines could've used one of a number of excuses to slack off against the Wildcats. The operative word in the last sentence was 'could've'. Saturday, the Wolverines put Miami behind, ignored the aches in their shoulders and legs, and even forgot about the war with Michigan State that will take place this weekend. Michigan ignored all the distractions and got the job done. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't pretty. The Wolverines were a slower than usual, and lacked the precision they will need for when they play the Spartans. But when all was said and done, Michigan did what it took to get the victory. That's what mattered Saturday night, no matter what happened before, and no matter what loomed in the future. That's what kind of team Michigan will have to be if it wants to continue its success as the teams get tougher and as the chal- lenges get more difficult in the postseason. The Wolverines took care of business when it counted. OK, fine. Now let's get on to the Michigan State game? - Chris Farah can be reached via email at cjfarah@umich.edu. ICERS Continued from Page performance by th season. The RedHawk Wolverines in Oxfo ago, and Michiganr exact revenge o Wolverines manage Miami team to a si 19 shots in a gamet haps the rowdiest h season. With the score tie ond period, Michig Kosick took a pas and skated in on th held on to the puck Miami goaltender T down, and then lif Prior into the backt The goal provide the lead it needed t With less than ar the game and an op left wing Bill Mu Matt Herr rebounda net. It was Muckal Ir i- .. A .I Io . A J 4