4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - March 30, 1998
Ho
Quotable:
"The crowd was awesome. They
were incredible. It would have been
embarrassing for anyone to not give
their best with this crowd and the envi-
ronment here. Was it fair to have this
game at Yost? Maybe not."
- Michigan coach Red Berenson
"Yeah coach, it was fair."
- Michigan captain Matt Herr
Herr's goal
sparks 'M icers
By Fred Unk
Daily Sports WriterHockey
During the first intermission, things didn't Notebook
look good for the Wolverines. Trailing 2-0
with just a minute to play in the first period,
Matt Herr was given a two-minute minor for slashing. One minute
later, Andrew Merrick was called for boarding and given a five-
minute major and a game misconduct.
So, during the intermission, the Wolverines found themselves
down two goals and facing 4:47 of shorthanded play including 34
seconds two men short.
And the way the Fighting Sioux outplayed Michigan in the second
half of the first period, it seemed almost inevitable that the
Wolverines would fall behind at least 3-0, and their season would be
all but over.
"After the first period, Mel Pearson came down and tried to con-
vince our team that we're not playing our game," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "I mean, they're a good team, but they're not that
good. We're giving them too much respect, and we've got to play our
game and give ourselves a chance."
North Dakota coach Dean Blais thought it would be "game over"
if the Fighting Sioux could go up 3-0 on the power play.
But Michigan managed to kill off the remainder of the Herr penal-
ty. And when Herr came out of the box, Clark found him behind the
North Dakota defense. Herr walked in alone on North Dakota net-
minder Adam Schewitzer and beat him five-hole.
Instead of 3-0, it was 2-1 and the Wolverines were back in the
game.
"Once we scored you could see the momentum change," Berenson
said. "That was a big goal for us. That got us going."
After Herr's goal, Michigan killed off the remainder of the major
penalty and the crowd got back in the game.
"That just ignited the crowd," Blais said. "Up until that point, I
thought we were in control. That just livened them up and changed
the momentum of the game."
WE WANT SHEGOS: Referee Tim Benedetto and linesmen Bill
Jones and John Jones were not popular people with the Yost crowd.
Benedetto disallowed two Michigan goals and called 51 minutes
of penalties on the Wolverines, including a game misconduct and
two 10-minute misconducts.
Throughout the game, Benedetto was harassed by the Yost crowd
with chants of"We want Shegos," a reference to CCHA referee Matt
Shegos.
Shegos was in the building Saturday night, watching the game
from the press box. And apparently, he didn't agree with some of the
officiating either.
After Benedetto disallowed Dale Rominski's game-tyihg goal in
the third period, Shegos reportedly questioned the call, saying
"What the ..."
MARGARET MYERS/Daid
Michigan forward Dale Rominski celebrates what he thinks is Michigan's third goal - prematurely. His goal was waved off due to a penalty
called on Geoff Koch for interference. It was the second Michigan goal called off -- and another example of suspect calls from the referees.
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED: Michigan's nine freshmen played an
important role in the Wolverines' two victories.
Playing without Sean Peach, who remains out of action after suf-
fering a concussion against Notre Dame in the first round of the
CCHA playoffs, the Wolverines were forced to dress four freshmen
defensemen. And much of the burden for stopping North Dakota's
high-powered attack fell to freshmen Dave Huntzicker and Mike Van
Ryn.
"Van Ryn and Huntzicker had outstanding weekends," Berenson
said. "They never got beat one on one. They stopped their top play-
ers, they cleared the puck, and they made all of the right decisions."
Freshman Mark Kosick also played an important role in the
Wolverines' victories. After scoring the game-winning goal against
Princeton, Kosick had two assists against North Dakota.
For their efforts, Van Ryn and Kosick were named to the all-West
Regional team.
HEART ATTACK HOCKEY: Michigan's 2-1 victory over Princeton
on Friday night and its 4-3 victory over North Dakota on Saturda)
were the Wolverine's 15th and 16th one-goal victories on the seas
The previous Michigan record for one-goal victories in a season
10. The Wolverines are 16-4 in one-goal games this season.
And Michigan's experience in close games may have made th
difference Saturday.
"All year long we've been in tight games," Michigan netminde
Marty Turco said. "I think it showed through. Being in tight game
helped us out a lot, so I had all the confidence in the world in thi
team."
PRETTY SPECIAL TEAMS: Against Princeton and North Dakota
Michigan's special teams proved to be a big advantage. Th
Wolverines tallied three power-play goals, one shorthanded goal an
just two even strength goals.
And Saturday against North Dakota, the Wolverines killed sevei
penalties including a five minute major.
Hayes redeems himself,
scores winning goal for Blue,
By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
For Michigan's Bobby 'Maize'
Hayes, Saturday's game couldn't have
been scripted any better.
One week earlier, the junior center
had never seemed so demoralized. As
Hayes stood outside the lockerroom at
Joe Louis Arena ink
Detroit after a dev-
astating 4-2 loss to
Ohio State, he
mumbled as he
tried to explain
what happened.
"It's a very dis-
appointing loss,"
Hayes said. "Not
so much that we 'Maize' Hayes
lost on the score-
board, but we let down the name
Michigan.' We let down the University
today."
It was a bold statement, probably one
that was too harsh, but it encapsulated
the devastation Hayes felt after making
a crucial mistake late in the game
against the Buckeyes. Hayes cleared a
puck from behind Michigan's goal line,
which was intercepted by Ohio State's
Louie Colsant. Colsant then slapped the
puck past Michigan netminder Marty
Turco to make the score 3-2 and give
Ohio State the lead for good.
Afterward, Hayes solemnly took the
blame for his mistake while he wished
for a chance at redemption.
But at the start of Saturday's game, it
looked like Hayes wasn't going to get
another chance, especially against a
lightning-quick North Dakota squad.
The Fighting Sioux jumped out to a 2-0
lead over the Wolverines, and looked to
close out the game after the first period.
But a shorthanded goal by Matt Herr
early in the second period closed the
gap for Michigan, giving Hayes and the
rest of the Wolverines life. With
renewed vigor, Hayes took the ice sec-
onds after Herr's goal and fired a shot
along the right goal line which appar-
ently tied things up for the Wolverines.
Unfortunately for Hayes, the goal
never materialized - it was called
back because Michigan had men in the
crease. It was a controversial call by the
officiating crew - the first of many on
the night.
After another goal put the Sioux up
3-1 in the second period, Hayes was
frustrated again by the officiating. An
episode following North Dakota's goal
landed Hayes in the penalty box with a
10-minute game misconduct penalty.
The call hurt the Wolverines even more
than usual, considering fellow center
Andrew Merrick had been disqualified
earlier in the contest. As one of the
team's strongest penalty killers, losin
Hayes also hampered Michigan's spe
cial teams.
The officiating "was somewhat frus
trating' Hayes said. "I look at myself a
an important player on this team. I fe
like if this team's going to win I have t
play well defensively, and I have to co
tribute offensively.
"I don't think (staying focused) w
problem. I knew no matter whatA
score was, or what I actually did -
knew (committing the penalty) wa
wrong - the team still needed me.
wasn't going to let them down."
And Hayes didn't let his teammat
down. After a 10-minute absence in th
penalty box, Hayes returned to th
game late in the second period. H'
late-game heroics pushed Michiga
over the top. Hayes scored the g'
winning goal with three minutes leIC
the game.
Undoubtedly, Hayes was grateful f
the chance to redeem himself - esp
cially after a disappointing outing
week earlier.
"I wanted to be a bigger factor in th
game,' Hayes said. "I took the I
minute misconduct and let my tea
down. I knew I had to go out there an
do whatever I had to do to help the tea
win ... I was very fortunate to scor
goal."
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Michigan junior center Bobby 'Maize' Hayes and defenseman Dave Huntzicker get
a little cozy after Hayes scored the game-winning goal against North Dakota.
FARAH
Continued from Page 1B
skating circles around them. After building a 2-0 lead, it
seemed as though North Dakota - which averages about
five goals per game - had nothing to worry about.
Even I had my doubts. Michigan outplayed Princeton
the night before, but it took a lucky goal from Mark
Kosick to put the game away. After a sloppy loss to Ohio
State in the CCHA Tournament semifinals, I wasn't sure
that the Wolverines had the resolve to pull off a big upset.
Every time I got my hopes up before a game against
Michigan State, they were dashed to the ground summar-
speed with their size and by moving the puck well. Their
defensemen kept the Sioux out of dangerous open-ice sit-
uations, sticking to their men like glue.
The offense played with a precision it's lacked for
awhile. The Wolverines made the extra pass and held back
an extra second before shooting to get open looks at the
net.
Matt Herr and the rest of the seniors skated with confi-
dence - they simply would not lose. Junior Bobby
'Maize' Hayes recovered spectacularly from a nightmar-
ish error in last weekend's game against Ohio State.
And the freshmen, well ... they just didn't look like
freshmen. Mark Kosick proved he's one of the team's top
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