The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 29, 1999 - 58
Key play e - , Key play
12:16 left in the second period of Friday 10:00 left in the third period of
night's first-round game against Denver New Hampshire 2 Saturday's quartefinal against New
- Responding to a pair of quick Denver goals Hampshire
that established a 3-0 lead for the Pioneers, - Michigan center Bobby Hayes takes his
Michigan coach Red Berenson calls a crucial Michigan 1 OT own faceoff and fires it home to tie the
timeout to settle things down. score at one, giving Michigan new life.

M' first-round ta1ly
ties best in history

Time to come back
The Michigan hockey team came back
from a 3-deficit a ainst Denver on
Friday night, in e mark for the best
0omeba in VCAA playoff history.
Here's every important game note as it

New Hampshire faithful
cheer Wildcats past Blue

By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
WORCESTER, Mass. - Even for a team
that seemed to always come from behind,
Friday night's 3-0 Denver lead might have
made a few minds question Michigan's ability
"do it again."
after all, the Wolverines had attempted only
four shots in the first period. They didn't get
their first shot on goal until the 14:12 mark of
the first period. And for 28 minutes of the
game, Michigan was held to four shots on goal
total.
Meanwhile, the Pioneers were skating faster
than Lewis and Clark through the mountains.
Denver piled on three goals over the first half
of the game.
, own 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament to one
he hottest teams in the nation wasn't the
position Michigan wanted to be in.
But the clock indicated there was still more
than half a game left. And when the third
Denver goal registered on the scoreboard, the
Wolverines looked to their leader and coach,
Red Berenson, for an answer, a fix, anything to
cure their present woes.
Berenson would call a timeout that led to
one of the greatest Michigan comebacks in his-
t9ry as it tied the record for largest comeback
n NCAA Tournament game.
'I think we just needed to refocus and just
start over again. We weren't doing the things
we needed to do on the ice, all of the little
things.'
"I told them I didn't care about the score.
we'll start over again."

Suddenly, as if B4renson had given his play-
ers a magic potion, Michigan came to life.
The Wolverines spurted to finish the second
period with two goals - both by Michigan's
third line - and 12 shots, almost all coming in
the last seven minutes.
"I think coach - obviously with his experi-
ence - it was a great move by him," senior
Dale Rominski said. "We weren't playing our
game at all and that Ivas huge for our bench"
Michigan's other lines started to click in the
third period.
The Wolverines would go on to score three
more goals from three different players in the
third, while holding Denver to one shot on goal
in the last 27:44 of the game.
"They really came after us in the second half
of the game," Denver Coach George Grozdecky
said. "My hat's off ,tD Michigan. They did a
great job in the midst of some big adversity."
Denver players were shocked at the com-
plete turnaround and credited Berenson with
the rejuvenated Michigan effort.
"The timeout they called was the critical
turning point for them, Denver's Joe Ritson
said. "It seemed like they had us running
around the rest of the game"
Michigan, for what seemed like the thou-
sandth time, spawned another great comeback
in the playoffs.
The Wolverines did it last season against
North Dakota when they were down by two
goals at two separate junctures, and they did it
Friday night, down three goals to the a team
that had won nine straight.
"Certain games in the past we have been

6:49 left -1st
5:48 left-- 1st
12:16 left - 2nd
12:16 left-- 2nd
3:49 left - 2nd
6:20 left - 3rd

Joel Engstrom taps a
Patterson pass past
Blackburn for the only
After almost 14 minutes
of Denver dominance in
the Michigan zone, the
Wolverines finally get
their first shot on goal
from Jeff Jillson.
Michigan, with only two
shots on goal, gives up
two goals in just over a
minute. Denver takes a
3-0 lead.
Berenson calls timeout.
tells his team to "start
over"
Michigan finishes the
last seven minutes of
the second period net-
ting 8 shots and two
goals from its third line.
Thanks to a screen from
Mark Kosick, Mike
Comrie struts by the
Denverdefense and
slams home Michigan's
fifth goal of the game.

By Chris Duprey
Daily Sports Editor
WORCESTER, Mass. - Michigan is used to
playing in front of loud crowds, and should've
felt right at home Saturday night in Worcester's
Centrum Centre against New Hampshire,
except for one thing - the arena was primarily
rooting for the Wildcats.
Playing in a hostile environment was almost a
foregone conclusion when
Michigan learned it was HOCKEY
being sent to the East
Regional, far away from Notebook
Midwest fans who might be---------
inclined to root for the Wolverines.
And with Ohio State knocked out of the tour-
nament a day earlier, any Buckeye fans who
might have been inclined to root for Michigan
and the CCHA had packed up and headed for
home.
The hostile crowd might not have damaged
the Wolverines' drive, but it certainly aided
New Hampshire in its effort to advance to the
Frozen Four.
"The crowd was unbelievable," New
Hampshire's Ty Conklin said. "I could've sworn
we were playing in the Whittemore Center
(New Hampshire's home rink)."
Both the Wildcats and the crowd had another
motivation behind them: revenge on Michigan,
after the Wolverines took a 4-0 victory in last
year's NCAA semifinals.
MICHIGAN GO-GETTERS: Despite failing to
pull the upset over New Hampshire, two of the
six players named to the East Regional
All-Tournament Team were Wolverines.
Senior defenseman Bubba Berenzweig and

goaltender Josh Blackburn were the honorees
- the only two members of a team that did not
advance out of the regional.
Berenzweig was one of Michigan's main
offensive weapons against the Wildcats, and
was often successful carrying the puck and
leading offensive rushes.
Blackburn, meanwhile, had the best weekend
of his career to date.
Defensive breakdowns on Friday night
against Denver made him look shaky, but the
freshman made key saves down the stretch to
aid Michigan's comeback effort.
His play against Denver was just an appetiz-
er, though. Blackburn was at the top of his
game against New Hampshire, turning away 32
shots - most of which required acrobatic,
sprawling saves - to keep Michigan in con-
tention.
"He played like Marty Turco," said Michigan
coach Red Berenson, in reference to the man
who occupied the Michigan crease before
Blackburn's arrival. "He looked invincible. If
there were any questions about Josh Blackburn,
I think those questions have been answered."
CONFERENCE SWEEPS: Hockey East came out
of regional play as the big winner this past
weekend.
All three of the Hockey East schools in the
tournament - Maine, Boston College and New
Hampshire - advanced out of their respective
brackets to claim a trip to the Frozen Four.
Both of the ECAC representatives, St.
Lawrence and Clarkson, were eliminated.
Clarkson had the best chance to move on, as the
No. 2 seed in the East, but fell to Maine in a
blowout.

able to come back - North Dakota last year,"
Rominski said. "We've proven that we can
come back, and as a senior, you don't want to
end your season like that. We knew it was
important not to worry about the score, but
Michigan hockey."

Kariya helps ,
BY U.J. Berka
Daily Sports Editor
WORCESTER, Mass. - There is no doubt
that Maine captain Steve Kariya has a lot to live
up to.
The diminutive, 5-foot-7 senior center is the
younger brother of Paul Kariya, a perennial
NHL All-Star center for the Mighty Ducks of
Anaheim.
With that legacy, and the
f that Paul was also a EAsT
to Bear, is indeed a lot
to live up to for Steve. But Notebook
the Hobey Baker candidate"------------
did something this weekend that his brother
never accomplished - scoring six points in an
East Regional game.
Kariya's six-point game, an East Regional
record, occurred during Maine's 7-2 destruction
of Clarkson on Saturday evening. Kariya's
record-setting evening of three goals and three
s impressed the Golden Knights and their
coh, Mark Morris.
"He's pretty dynamic," Morris said. "He's
quick, hard to hit and hard to catch. There's not
much to grab onto and defend"
Kariya's remarkable performance wasn't lost
on his coach, Shawn Walsh, who also saw
Kariya add a goal and an assist in Friday's 4-2
win over Ohio State.

Maine roar to Frozen Four

"He put on a Hobey Bker-like performance,"
Walsh said. "It reminded me of a (Paul) Kariya
performance from 1993: It was an unbelievable
performance by an unbelievable player"
Walsh wasn't the only one who thought
Kariya was unbelievable, as a media panel
unanimously named Kariya the Most Valuable
Player of the East Regional.
THE MOST EXCITING PLAY IN HOCKEY:
Although second-seeded Clarkson got drubbed
by third-seeded Maine Saturday, the Golden
Knights did take advantage of one of the most
exciting and rarest play tin hockey, the penalty
shot.
The shot, which occurred with just over three
minutes left to go in the second period, was
called after a Maine defenseman illegally cov-
ered the puck in the crease during a scrum in
front of the Maine goal. David Evans took the
shot and beat Maine goaltender Alfie Michaud
high on the glove side for his second goal of the
game to pull the Golden Knights to within two
goals.
According to Morris, Evans - who had only
scored four goals previous to Saturday - was
very excited about the penalty shot and demand-
ed to be the one to take it.
"I've played a lot of three on three with David
and he's pretty crafty," Morris said. "I asked
David if he wanted the shot and he said 'Damn

right."'
No QurrE PELE: The Maine-Clarkson game
also saw its share of controversy when Maine's
third goal underwent a video review.
The goal, which occurred with 1:46 left to go,
came about when Maine defenseman David
Cullen sent a centering pass in front of the
Clarkson goal, and it appeared that Dan Kerluke
kicked the puck past Shawn Grant.
After consulting the video review, the Black
Bears' goal was allowed, because the goal judge
said a Clarkson player kicked the puck in.
"The referee said it was kicked in, but
because it went off one of our players' skates he
had to award the goal," Clarkson forward Ben
Maidment said. "It was a real back-breaker for
us."
No CIGAR: Although the Black Bears were
given a goal by the review judge against
Clarkson, the goal judge took a tally away from
Maine on Friday against Ohio State.
The mini-controversy occurred during the
middle of the first period with the Black Bears
ahead 1-0, when Cory LaRose beat Jeff Maund
to seemingly put Maine up by two goals.
But it was ruled that Maine high-sticked the
puck into the net, erasing the goal from the
scoreboard.
It was of no consequence, though, as Maine
beat Ohio State, 4-2.

AP PHOTO
Maine celebrates its 7-2 victory over Clarkson In its quarterfnal game on Saturday. Steve Karya led the
Black Bears with three goals and three assists.

4 Denver
Midi igan5,
Dener '3
5 Michigan
3 Maine
Maine 4
Ohio. State 2
6 Ohio State

1 New Hampshire
New Hampshire 2
Mchigan 3It(OD
5 Michigan
EAST

1999 NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament
2 Michigan State
1 New Hampshire 2 Michigan State an State 4,tate 4
Sco'ortacs c|*she 3 Colorado College
3 Colorado College coo CollegS.
Finalist
6 St. Lawrence


Na monal Champion
AeFrozen Four
Anaheim, Calif.
SeinifinalsApril'1
final, April 3

Boston College stuns
Sioux; State advances

WEST

3 Maine
Claks 2
2 Clarkson

i

4 Boston Collegej

Finalist
3 Maine
1

4 Boston College
5 N. Michigan

4 Boston College

MADISON (AP) - Jeff Giuliano's
second-period goal and Scott
Clemmensen's 31 saves helped fourth-
seeded Boston College to a 3-1 upset
over top-seeded North Dakota in the
NCAA West Regional yesterday.
The Eagles advance to the Frozen
Four in Anaheim, Calif., Apr.1-3, where
they will play Maine in the semifinals.
Boston College is the third team from
the Hockey East Conference to make
this year's NCAA Frozen Four.
After a scoreless first period, Boston
College opened the
scoring when Chris WEST
Masters collected a Roundup
rebound that hit the
crossbar and put it
past the Fighting Sioux's Karl
Goehring.
Boston College's Mike Lephart was
credited with the assist on the goal,
which came 10:26 into the second peri-
od.
North Dakota's Lee Goren tied the
game at the 13:47 mark when he put a
breakaway shot past Clemmensen.
Brad Williamson was given an assist.
Giuliano's game-winner came when
he eluded two North Dakota defenders
and found the back of the net at the
17:45 mark. The Eagles' Brooks Orpik
received an assist on the play.
Rntnn Cn1ege's Brian Gionta later

Michigan State (29-5-7) will face
New Hampshire in an NCAA semifinal
Thursday.
Hall had two goals and Bryan Adams
added three assists for the Spartans.
Jesse Heerema had two assists for
Colorado College (29-12-1), which was
denied its third Frozen Four appearance
in four seasons.
Trent Clark's wrister off the glove of
Michigan State goalie Joe Blackburn
gave Colorado College a 3-2 lead with
8:39 remaining.
It was the Tigers' first shot on goal of
the period, while the Spartans had taken
12 to that point.
But Hutchinson knotted the score
with a blast from the right point on the
power play with just 1:40 left.
The Tigers protested the goal, alleg-
ing that a Spartans player was standing
in the crease, but the instant replay
judge affirmed the score.
Then with 1:08 left, Hall took a shot
from the left hash marks that glanced in
off the glove ofTigers goalie Jeff Sanger.
Replay also confirmed Hall's score.
The Tigers were awarded a power
play with 28 seconds remaining when
Michigan State's Mike Weaver was
called for holding, but couldn't take
advantage.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead just
1:56 into the game when freshman Joe

1 North Dakota

The Frozen Four - California style

,

. ....

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Boston College
4 - West

Maine -
3 - East
Overall record: 29-6-4
Conference: Hockey East

Michigan State
2 - West
Overall record: 29-5-7
Conference: CCHA ,

PHC

F 7 I --4i- it

New Hampshire
1 -East
OveraNl record: 27-114
onference: Hockey East

Overall record: 27-114
Conference: Hockey East

C


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