4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 1, 1999

Puck talk
"Why do referees feel they have to
decide the game?"
- Michigan coach Red Berenson,
displeased with referee Jim Sotiroffs
decision-making in the third period
of Saturday's loss to Notre Dame

Michigan 3

Notre Dame
L Michigan

3
2

Key play
Saturday night, 13:33 remaining in
the game
- Michigan center Bobby Hayes fires a
length-of-the-ice pass to Mike Comrie,
who puts it away to cut the Notre Dame
lead to 2-1 and give Michigan hope.

Michigan State

3



Friday's game
Michigan 3, Michigan State 3
Michigan 1 1 1 0-3
Michigan State0 1 2 0- 3
First period -1. Mich, Van Ryn 7 (Koch,
Berenzweig), 4:15. Penalties - Mich, Comre (trip
ping), 4:22; MSU, Bogle (charging), 7:01; Mich,
bench minor (too many men, served by Ritchlin),
8:13.
Second period - 2. Mich, Koch 3 (Matzka, Jillson),
:58; 1. MSU, Hall 7 (Hodgins, Dolyny), 14:30 (pp),
Penalties- MSU, Patchell (unsportsmanlike con-
duct), 3:18; Mich, Gassoff (unsportsmanlike con-
duct), 3:18, MSU, Hall (high sticking), 7:02; Mich,
Koch (interference, served by Gassoff), 8:46; Mich,
Koch (10-minute misconduct), 8:46; Mich, Koch
(game misconduct), 8:46. Mich, Rominski (trip-
ping), 13:39.
Third period - 2. MSUJ, Kozakowski 3 (Whitten).
2:08; 3. Mich, Rominski 11 (Berenzweig, Ritchlin),
4:28, (pp); 3. MSU, Whitten 9 (Bogas, Horcoff),
14:48, (pp); Penalties - MSU, Insana (tripping),
4:05: Mich Kosick (high sticking). 14:06; MSU,
Weaver (charging). 16:31.
Overtime - no scoring. Penalties - none.
Shots on goal_ Mich 10-11-3-3 - 27; MSU 12-11412-0
-35.
Power Plays - Mich 1 of 4: MSU 2 of 5.
Saves - Mich. Josh Blackburn 12-10-10-0 - 32;
MSU. Joe Blackburn 9-10-2-3 - 24.
Referee - Duke Shegos.
Linesmen - John LaDuke, John Pearson.
At: Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing. A: 6,685.

MiChigan needs
to sole its road
woes for success
OTRE DAME - The Michigan hockey team has seen
its share of brilliant performances at times this season.
At times goaltender Josh Blackburn will be on fire,
performing mind-boggling manuevers to snuff out opposing
opportunities.
At other times the Michigan power play will be on fire,
scoring on the man-advantage three or four times during a
game. Sometimes the Michigan penalty-kill unit is highly
effective, preventing the opposition from taking advantage of
Michigan's penalties.
All of the different parts of the Michigan hockey team
have been spectacular at times this year.
At times.'
Unfortunately for the Wolverines,
they have rarely been able to coordinate y
these times to happen at once. It seems
that if the defense is clicking, the
offense and/or special teams are strug-
gling, or vice versa.
These problems seem to be magni- T.J.
fled even more when the Wolverines BERKA
travel away from Yost Ice Arena. While Teeing
its normal for a team to play better in Off
the comforts of home than in foriegn
territory, Michigan's road woes are
becoming more of a rule than an exception.
With Saturday's 3-2 loss at Notre Dame and Friday's 3-3
tie with Michigan State, Michigan's winless streak away from
Yost has grown to six games.
Since beating Michigan Tech, 4-1, on Dec. 26, the
Wolverines have a subpar 0-4-2 road record. While Red
Berenson and many of the players have downplayed this
streak, it's something that needs to be addressed.
Although the Wolverines have not gotten the job done on
the road, it's not as if they have been blown out. Except for a
4- shellacking at the hands of Ferris State on Jan. 15, the
Wolverines have been competitive during the winless string.
But this closeness has caused the Wolverines a great deal
of frustration. In four of the last five games, the Wolverines
have been either ahead or tied going into the final six min-
utes of the third period.
That frustration boiled over this weekend, as the
Wolverines could have cme away with two wins and four
points instead of one tie and one point.
Against the Spartans, the Wolverines looked as if they
were going to get their first win in East Lansing in four
years, as they held leads of 2-0 and 3-2. But two Michigan
State power play goals, the last coming with 5:12 remaining
in regulation, denied the Wolverines.
Michigan was just as frustrated Saturday, but in a different
way. The Wolverines saw Notre Dame race out to a 2-0 lead
in the first period.
After battling back with two third-period goals to knot the
contest at two, Michigan saw Aniket Dhadphale kill its come-
back bid with the game-winning goal with less than five min-
utes remaining in the contest.
Frustration has been a big part of Michigan's road woes.
But all is not hopeless. With six weeks until the CCHA play-
offs, it would be stupid to give Michigan up for dead.
At this time last year, the Wolverines had been deemed as
vulture bait after being swept by Miami. And we all know
what happened a few months later.
But last year's Wolverines had NCAA regionals at Yost Ice
Arena. With regionals in Madison this season, the Wolverines
had better find a cure to their road woes, or the only team
going to Disneyland will be the Denver Broncos.
- TJ Berka can be reached via e-mail at
berkat@umich.edu.

,:
MINE=

I

MARGARET MYERS/Day
Scott Matzka and the Michigan hockey team fought Michigan State to a 3-3 standstill, despite owning
leads of 2-0 and 3-2 more than halfway through the game.

Penalties ti(
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - If you ask the Michigan
hockey team, the men in the stripes helped a
Spartans comeback that eventually led to a 3-3 tie on
Friday night.
And no, this person isn't a criminal - he's a
*Duke, CCHA referee Duke Shegos.
Three costly penalties whistled by Shegos in the
second and third periods helped to spawn Michigan
State's recovery from a pair of deficits.
The Wolverines had full control of the game after
the first minute of the second period when winger
Geoff Koch slapped a pretty backhand past
Michigan State goaltender Joe Blackburn for a 2-0
lead.
The sophomore had been on a rampage as of late,
netting two goals and two assists in the past four
games and doubling his output of his first 22.
"A lot has to do with confidence," Koch said.
"You start getting to know where you have to be, it
just builds on itself."
But Koch, who assisted on the first Wolverines'
goal, found himselfneeding some assistance in leav-
ing the ice from Shegos.
After the referee whistled the sophomore for an
interference call, Koch disagreed intensely and very
upset. Hand gestures ensued, resulting in Shegos
handing Koch a 10-minute misconduct plus a ten-
minute game misconduct, on top of his two minute
interference call.
"Apparently, I gestured to him," Koch said. "I
wasn't talking to him, it must have been the gesture
that set him off. It was a tough call.
Koch, who was having a career game, added a
new career statistic - tying the Michigan State
record for most penalty minutes by an opponent
with 22.
Michigan coach Red Berenson believed that the
tide of the game turned the Spartans' way after Koch

CHANCES

e up rivalry
might be our best left winger and he certainly was
having a great game.
"To give him 10 minutes was completely uncalled
for. Referees should know how to handle a game like
this"
But the Michigan finger pointing at the men in,
stripes might not have stopped, as Shegos made two,
more game-breaking calls.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the
second period, and the Spartans coming off a flurry
of shots on Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn, senior
Dale Rominski reached out and took a small swipe
at a Michigan State defender's feet - right in front
of Shegos.
The eventual penalty resulted in a Jeff
Kozakowski power-play tally, cutting the Michigan
lead to one.
"Referees played a role in the game tonight,"
Rominski said. "We hate to harp on the referees, but
let's get some consistency here, and let us play hock-
ey. The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry should not
be controlled by the referees - let us use our emo-
tion."
The Wolverines became frustrated again, this time
late in the third when sophomore Mark Kosick was
sent to the box, guilty of high-sticking.
"I was just trying to hold York up so that our
defensemen could have a little more time, and I
guess I got my stick too high," Kosick said.
Josh Blackburn and the rest of the Michigan
defense couldn't find the puck on the penalty kill.
Unfortunately, Damon Whitten did.
The Michigan State winger scored his ninth goal
of the season on that last power play, giving the
Spartans the game-tying goal and keeping their slim
lead atop the conference.
The Michigan power play has now dropped to
fifth in the CCHA after reaching the second spot
earlier this season.
"We just have to work on blocking shots, that's the
key," Rominski said. "We didn't give Blackburn
much of a chance tonight."

Continued from Page 11
most courageous rally of the season.
Bobby Hayes' pass traveled the length
of the ice to a streaking Mike Comrie
who buried his chance to cut the
Michigan deficit in half with 13:33
remaining in the contest.
"We needed a goal to give us some
hope, and we got that goal,; Berenson
said.
They got another break.when Notre
Dame's Ben Simon tried to kick a loos
puck to goaltender Forrest Karr, but'
trickled loose to Hayes, who fired it
home for just his second goal of the
season and a 2-2 tie.
Michigan's momentum was lost as
quickly as it had been gained, though,
when Mike Van Ryn was whistled for
interference by referee Jim Sotiroff
with 6:27 left in the game. The Fighting
Irish crashed the net, and Aniket
Dhadphale slipped a rebound pa
Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn
for a 3-2 Notre Dame advantage.
"It's unfortunate that the referee
decided to call a penalty in the last min-
utes of the game;" Berenson said.
The Wolverines had their chance
with the extra man when Notre Dame's
Jay Kopischke was sent off for tripping
with 3:34 to go, as Karr had lost his
goal stick and the Fighting Irish were
scrambling to negate a scoring oppor-
tunity.
Friday's 3-3 tie with Michigan State
was a disappointment for the
Wolverines, who never trailed in the
game, yet the draw prevented the
Spartans (14-2-5, 20-3-5) from amass-
ing an almost deadly four-point lead in
the CCHA standings.
Michigan got a lucky bounce right at
the start, as Mike Van Ryn's shot from
the point deflected off a Spartan an
past Michigan State goaltender Jo
Blackburn for an early 1-0 lead at 4:15
of the first.
Despite the Michigan goal, it was the
Spartans who had the lion's share of
scoring opportunities in a free-flowing
opening period, and Josh Blackburn
turned away 12 shots in the first stanza.
Yet it was Michigan that dominated
the first minute of action in the
Michigan State zone. Geoff Koch loft-
ed a nifty backhand top shelf to exter
the Wolverines' lead to 2-0.
"It was a great goal," Berenson said.
"That was the best backhand I've seen
in a long time."
With just 5:30 remaining in the sec
ond period, Michigan State finally
found the net, on a tip-in by Adam Hall
for a power-play goal.
And the Spartans weren't done,
either. Jeff Kozakowski got the equaliz-
er for Michigan State just 2:08 into tt
third period, as Michigan saw its two
goal lead, and the game's momentum,
escape their grasp - for a while.
Dale Rominski tipped in a Bubba
Berenzweig shot for a power-play goal,
giving the Wolverines the lead again.
Michigan State's power play proved
to be its most dangerous weapon, going
2-5 as the Spartans' Damon Whitten
tied the game with 5:12 left.

Notre Dame 3, Michigan 2
Michigan 0 0 2 -2
Notre Dame 2 0 1 -3
First period -1. ND. Simon 13 (Dusbabek.
Jurkowski),1:58:2. ND, Cotnoir 4 (Dolder), 11:04.
Penalties- Mich, Vanclk (holding), 9:47; ND,
Simon (slashing), 10:38; ND. Carson (holding the
stick), 11:23; ND, Van Arkel (roughing after the
whistle), 14:52; Mich, Koch (roughing after the
whistle), 14:52; Mich, Langfeld (elbowing). 16:46:
ND, Cotnoir (tripping), 17:16; N, Jurkowski (check.
Ing from behind), 18:22.
Second period - no scoring. Penalties - ND,
Dadphale (elbowing), :37; Mich, bench minor
(delay of game), 3:22; ND, Van Arkel (slashing),
10:49: Mich, Peach (cross checking), 16:26.
Third period -1. Mich, Comrie 14 (Hayes, Van
Ryn), 6:27; 2. Mich, Hayes 2 (unassisted). 11:11.
3. ND, Dhadphaie 14 (Carlson, Simon), 15:18 (pp).
Penalties- ND, Jurkowski (hooking), 2:19; ND,
Fraser (roughing after the whistle), 3:55; Mich,
Rominski (roughing after the whistle). 3:55; ND,
Borega (roughing after the whistle), 5:50; Mich,
Koch (slashing). 5:50; Mich, Van Ryn (interfer-
ence), 13:33; ND, Kopischke (tripping). 16:26;
Mich, Huntzicker (hooking), 18:20.
Shots an goal - Mich 12-79 - 28; ND 11&67 -24.
Power Plays - Mich 0 of 8; ND 1 of 6.
Saves - Mich, Blackburn 9.66 - 21; ND, Karr 12-
7-7 - 26.
Referee - Jim Sotiroff.
Linesmen - Brian Troester, Tony Molna.
At: Joyce Center, Notre Dame. A: 2,667.

left the ice.
"It didn't help

our team," Berenson said "He

Next
Opponents
HOME Q"AN" CA"
LAKE SUPERIOR
OHIO STATE
Westem Michigan

Blackburn vs. Blackburn, take two
.

Feb. 13

By David Den Herder
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING -- The sellout
crowd at Munn Arena was, as usual,
loud and very much involved in Friday
night's hockey game. In fact, Michigan
State coach Ron Mason said that he
hadn't heard the------------
Spartan faithful this Hockey
rambunctious since
the glory days of Notdoo,
the 1980s. ---------
But despite constant yelling, clapping
and singing, something was missing
from the Munn cheering section.
There was a noticeable abscence of
goaltender taunting.
Although both netminders played
respectably, it's doubtful that respect
was the reason the crowd layed off
Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn.
With his namesake alone, Joe
Blackburn foiled any chanting oppertu-
nities for the student section.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Joe
Blackburn also foiled any chance of
Michigan escaping Munn with two
points.
The Michigan State goalie saved the

only three shots in overtime, and fin-
ished the night with 24 saves to notch
his first split decision with the
Wolverines.
But despite the solid game, he admits
the goals that went in weren't all that
impressive.
"When you have two teams that play
so good defensively, all the goals pretty
much have to come on slop and lucky
breaks around the net," Joe Blackburn
said. "There really wasn't a pretty goal
the entire game."
That may have been true, but it didn't
mean Joe Blackburn wasn't impressed
with Michigan's Josh Blackburn -who
had 32 saves and was named the game's
second star.
"I thought that Blackburn from
Michigan played an excellent game,"
Joe Blackburn said. "It was kind of nice
to get out of here with a tie. If someone
would have said (after the first period)
'we're going to tie it,' I would have said,
'you're joking."'
No joke, but Joe has yet take a win
from Josh. The only time this season the
Spartans have beaten the Wolverines
was in December at Joe Louis Arena. In

net for Michigan State that night was
backup goaltender Mike Gresl.
And despite the loss and tie with
Michigan thus far, Joe Blackburn said -
he has a little extra motivation to beat
the Wolverines.
"I grew up a Michigan fan," said Joe
Blackburn, who hails from Livonia.
"I think it's a little bit bigger for me
than for some of the other guys from
Canada. I mean, all they know is
Michigan State. Me - all my relatives
are Michigan fans, so when I go home
I've got to hear it from them if I don't
beat these guys."
HUrING SEASON?: Mason described
Michigan State froward Jeff
Kozakowski as a "Michigan killer" after
he recorded his third goal against the@
Wolverines this season to tie the game
on Friday.
Interesingly, three is also his total for
goals on the season.
"We needed that goal to tie it, to get
the crowd going, and it really excited us
on the bench," Kozakowski said.
"We've got another big game with them
down at Joe Louis -hopefully I'll get a*x
couple down there, too?' -

....,- .A.... :X.m~N-Y-yN.:.. -- -' V --'f- ..7*. .:
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Michigan coach Red Berenson said that Josh Blackburn's play helped keep the
Wolverines in the game Friday night against CCHA leader Michigan State.



L



Ohio State sweeps Western, takes third by itself

From staff reports
Ohio State used a pair of home victories over con-

the second period with three goals, spearheaded by
Eric Meloche's power-play tally at 7:19.

up the win in goal for the Falcons.
MIAMI 2, FuERus STATE 2;

>''-Yi