4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday, March 9, 1998 HOCKEY Quotable: "It wasn't like we were talking about how good we were between periods.... we really wanted to get something going in the third period, and we did not do it." - Michigan coach Red Berenson on blowing Friday's 4-goal lead Michigan Bowling Green 4 -A~ JMichigan I Notre Dame 0 Key play: 'On Feb. 27, Ferris State's Brian McCullough scored in the third peri- od, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 victory. The loss virtually ended Michigan's chance at a title. Emotions run high for seniors in final outing By Fred Link Daily Sports Writer After a Michigan victory, forward Bill Muckalt is usually all smiles. But after defeating Lake Superior 5-2 in his last regular season home game, Muckalt choked back tears as he and fellow seniors Gregg Malicke, Chris Fox, Marty Turco and Matt Herr were honored for their contribution to Michigan hockey. "I remember (former Wolverine) Ricky Willis saying 'Mucks, it's going to be you sitting here in four years,' And I didn't believe it." Muckalt recalled. "Tonight it hit me that this isn't going to last forever. It's coming to a close, and it's really sad. "No matter how much money you make, I don't think you could top this feeling right now. Coming back for my senior year has been just unbelievable. I would turn down what (Sergei) Federov got to come back here." During the seniors' four seasons in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines have posted an impressive 127- 28-1 record. Michigan has won three Great Lakes Invitational titles, three CCHA regular season titles and three CCHA playoff titles and made three trips to the NCAA final four, win- ning the NCAA championship in 1996. Individually, Muckalt's 103 career goals tie him with Mike Knuble and Gilbert Buford for sixth on Michigan's all-time goal scoring list, and his 219 points are good enough for seventh all-time. In the net, Marty Turco's 121 career vic- tories set an NCAA record and his 14 career shutouts are a Michigan record. But it wasn't their accomplishments on the ice that caused Muckalt to become choked up with emotion after the game. The friendship between the five seniors made the night unique. "There's something about my class and the friends you make here - it's something special that can't be replaced," Muckalt said. "No matter where you go, you're going to meet people, but you don't meet Michigan people. And Michigan people are something special. Coach (Red Berenson) always talks about a Michigan man, and I'm sitting here with four of them right now." Three and a half years ago, Fox, Malicke, Turco, Herr, Muckalt and Robb Gordon were freshmen on the Michigan hockey team. On the ice, Turco was called on to replace Steve Shields in net while Muckalt and Gordon developed into reliable scoring threats with 37 and 41 points, respectively. "Turco had the biggest challenge coming in here as a freshman, obviously, as a starting goalie," Berenson said. "And Muckalt worked his way up and became a scorer his freshman year." Away from hockey, the six freshmen spent much of their time in Turco and Gordon's room playing Sega hockey, and their friendship began to develop. Gordon left Michigan after that year to play major junior hockey, but the five others remained. Over the next three years, they lived together and became the best, of friends. As sophomores, they helped the Wolverines capture their first NCAA title since 1964, and last season they were part of a Michigan team that won a record 35 games. But with the loss of nine seniors from last year's squad and the addition of 10 freshmen to replace them, this season was the toughest of the seniors' careers. "This year that class has made the difference on this team," Berenson said. "With Marty shutting the door and giving us a chance in every game, and the way Muckalt took JOHN KRAFT/Dail Michigan hockey captain Matt Herr and his fellow seniors - Gregg Malicke, Marty Turco, Chris Fox an Bill Muckalt - played their final regular-season game in Yost Ice Arena against Lake Superior. Michigan 1, Notre Dame 0 NotreDame 0 0 0 -0 Michigan 1 0 0 - 1 First period -1. UM. Muckalt 30 (unassisted), 00:32. Penalties - UM, Van Ryn (hooking), 2:53; UM, Langfeld (tripping), 6:56; N, Simon (tripping) 17:32; ND, Cotnoir (roughing), 19:39; UM, Langfeld (roughing), 1939. Second period - no goals scored. Penalties - UM, Hayes (interference), 8:19; ND, Cotnoir (tripping, roughing), 8:19; ND, Van Arkel (roughing); 11:02; UM, Fox (roughing), 11:02; ND, Andrusiak (hook- ing), 11:25; UM, Herr (roughing), 11:25; UM, Peach (interference), 11:39; UM, Crawford (high sticking), 18:39; ND, Eaton (tripping), 19:22. Third period - no goals scored. Penalties - ND, Van Arkel (high sticking), 3:44; UM, Herr (interfer- ence), 4:26; UM, Crawford (broken stick), 7:48; UM, Herr (high sticking), 18:26. Shots on goal - ND 15-13-7 - 35; UM 11-5-3 - 19. Power Plays - NDO0 of 7; UM 0 of 4. Saves - ND, Eisler 10-5-3 - 18; UM, Turco 15-13- 7 - 35. At: Joyce Center Arena A: 2,667 d a . over the team when Matty was hurt early - I just thought that was great leadership from this class." And with the leadership and strong play of the senior class, the Wolverines have had another excellent year, compiling a 26-9-1 record. But more important for the seniors, they've had one more year together. "The best part about playing on this team and living with these guys is learning about life," Turco said. "It's coming to the rink, and it's going home with these guys and knowing that these guys will be your friends until the day you die." As Berenson said, "Robb Gordon doesn't know what he missed." Get out the Maulox, fans -tpky offtzne m E2dIIP'.Uz"O:Y.IIII t s , Michigan 5, Bowling Green 4 Bowling Green 1 1 2 - 4 Michigan 4 1 0 -5 First period -1. UM, Crozier 11 (Peach), 6:27 (pp); 2. UM, Matzka 3 (Rominski, Muckalt), 12:54; 3. UIM, Herr 11 (Muckalt), 14:17 (pp); 1. BG, Faulkner 8 (Price, Williams), 18:19; 4. UM, Langfeid 16 (Herr), 19:14. Penalties - BG, Price (tripping), 6:13: BG, Williams (high sticking), 8:43: UM, Herr (tripping), 9:15:UM, Rominski (high sticking), 10:20; BG, Williams, (slashing), 14:14; BG, Schueller, (slashing), 14:50. Second period - 5. UM, Merrick 3 (Matzka, Ritchlin), 15:48; 2. BG, Schueller 4 (Williams, Faulkner), 19:53. Penalties - BG, Desjarlais (trip- ping), 7:56; UM, Van Ryn (holding), 11:53; BG, Holzinger (roughing), 12:34; BG, Mass (cross-check- ing), 13:20; BG, Ham (high sticking), 16:50. Third period - 3. BG. Bonvie 12 (Ham), 4:47; 4. BG, Price 13 (Holzinger, Bonvie), 7:15 (pp). Penalties - UM, Rominski (roughing), 6:46; IUM, Fox (roughing), 12:15; BG, Price (high sticking), 12:15; UM, Rominski (tripping), 14:15. Shots on goal - BG 2-7-5 -14: UM 22-10-8 - 40. Power Plays - BG 1 of 5; UM 2 of 8. - Saves - 8G, Timm 18-9-8 - 35; UM, Turco 1.6-3 - 10. Referee - Matt Shegos. Unesmen - Tony Molina, Steve Mclnchak At: Bowling Green Ice Arena. A: 3,232. OTRE DAME -Talking with the general Michigan hockey fan, I've been asked the ques- tion, "So, is the hockey team going to do good in the playoffs, or what?" First of all, it's "do well," - not, "do good." And second of all, I don't know. Of course I don't - I've been wrong all season. I thought this team would surprise No. 2 Michigan State two weekends ago and stake a strong claim toV first place. That didn't happen. The Spartans swept SHARAT Michigan con- vincingly and RAJU have the inside Sharat track going into in the Dark the playoffs. I figured the Wolverines would be playing close games during the first half of the season and would return to blowing out teams in the second half of the season. Wrong again. In fact, Michigan games are just as nailbiting now as when the season began. This past weekend is a prime exam- ple. The Wolverines had Bowling Green by the short-and-curlies Friday after exploding to a 4-1 first-period lead. By the end of the game, Michigan was clinging to a one-goal lead and escaped with a 5-4 victory. The Wolverines have been doing this tight-rope act all season long. If you want to sum up the 1997-98 regular- season Michigan hockey campaign without using any words, all you need to do is show a tape of the final 1:24 seconds of last Saturday's game. White-knuckled and most certainly out of Maalox, the Wolverines man- aged to pull out a victory from the jaws of near defeat. Again. But that is how it has been. If coach' Red Berenson didn't have a heart con- dition before this season began, there's a good chance he has one now. His team has given him few chances to relax on the bench. Back on Oct. 11, 1997, the Wolverines played their first game of the season against higher-ranked Minnesota. Trailing by two goals early, the Wolverines rallied and won. By one goal. A quick glimpse of the first and lass games of the season, it would seem that this team hasn't matured at all. Of course, that's not true. Michigan has the unfortunate distinction of being a marked team, the highlight of every other team's schedule. Again, I don't know how the Wolverines will do in the postseason. Michigan can beat anyone in the coun- try or be beaten by nearly anyone in the country. So in the postseason, pack some extra-strength Pepto Bismol and be ready for the same edge-of-your seat hockey. That much is certain. - Sharat Raju can be reached at sraju@umich.edu MARGARET MYERS/Daily Michigan forward Bill Muckalt scored a goal and recorded two assists this weekend. He finished second in CCHA scoring. IRISH Continued from Page 11B back," Michigan defenseman Mike Van Ryn said. "When we only have (a lead of) one goal, I think we're just more concentrated on the game because we don't really have a cushion." After splitting the previous weekend with a 2-1 loss to Ferris State and a 5-3 victory over Lake Superior, Michigan was down three points to Michigan State in the conference standings heading into Friday's game with Bowling Green. After this weekend - and a split for Michigan State - the gap is just one point, but there is a gap, nonetheless. Second-place Michigan will face Notre Dame (12-14-4, 17-174) again - this time in the first round of the CCHA tournament on Friday. If the tournament is anything like Saturday's game against the Irish, the Wolverines are in for a hard- fought defensive struggle - and maybe more heart- attack hockey. Michigan's Bill Muckalt opened up the scoring quickly with an unassisted goal from the left slot 32 seconds into the game. But a back-and-forth tempo prevented either team from getting into an offensive rhythm and closed the scoring the rest of the contest. Notre Dame had some opportunities, outshoot- ing the Wolverines 35-19, but Michigan goalie Marty Turco made solid stops throughout the night, and the Michigan defense cleared most of the rebounds before the Irish could get second- chance opportunities. Most of the action occurred at opposite ends of the game - first when Muckalt scored his lone goal in the opening minute, and last when Notre Dame tried to capitalize on a 6-on-4 advantage in the game's final minute. Michigan captain Matt Herr was awarded a five minute major for high sticking at 18:26 in the third, giving the Irish two extra players when Notre Dame pulled goalie Matt Eisler with 40 seconds left in the game. Notre Dame had a couple of chances, but Michigan defenseman Chris Fox finally cleared the puck. "A lot of desperation hockey - we're hanging on," Berenson said. "And I don't know that the penalties are always the right calls, but I think Herr's penalty was deserved. And we had to kill it." Michigan's defense had to deal with adversity all night long. One of the Wolverines' top defensemen, Bubba Berenson, sat out after twisting his knee Friday against Bowling Green. On top of that, fresh- man defenseman Dave Huntzicker went out during the Notre Dame contest with a hip-pointer. "When you're playing without them, it makes it a lot tougher," Van Ryn said. "Bobby (Gassoff) and (Scott) Crawford did a great job stepping up, and I thought they played real well." Berenzweig and Huntzicker will probably be ready for this weekend's series against Notre Dame, Berenson said. Considering the problems the Wolverines had in Friday's game against the Falcons, Michigan can use all the help it can get. The Wolverines opened against Bowling Green (6-21-3, 8-27-3) looking like the best team in the CCHA - regardless of the standings. Michig played as if it was on the power play the whole fir period, outshooting the Falcons a whopping 22-2. More important, the Wolverines used a barrage of goals from Greg Crozier, Scott Matzka, Josh Langfeld and Herr to lead Bowling Green, 4-1, heading into the second. Then something happened. The Wolverines stopped moving the puck well and took just 10 shots in the second period. Michigan scored just one more goal - from Andrew Merrick late in the second -and allowed the Falcons to draw within one at 7:15 in the third. "The first period might've been our best of the season," Berenson said. "We dominated, we never let them get started, and we did all the things we want- ed to do. ... And then we got into some bad habits. "We just got away from our whole game plan in the second period."