4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 24, 2000 Puck talk "That team has no class whatsoever. It's fwstrating when your star players get hacked and there's nothing you can do about it." - Michigan captain Sean Peach on the Buckeyes'questionable plav. Michigan 6 Key Play Fuiday, 10:54 into the third period. Mike Coinrie is cross-checkedfiom behind by Ohio State's Rvan Jestadt sparking a bmwlthat tainted the game. The penalty came immediately afterAndy Hilbert scored Michigan sfinal goal. Ohio State 4 I Confident Koch, Hilbert lead Blue -GEOFF KocH - LEFT WING Koch scored Michigan's first two goals, giving the Wolverines a lead they never relenquished. - ANDY HILBERT - RIGHT WING The freshman scored twice includ- ing Michigan's final goal that sparked a game-defining brawl. - JOSH LANGFELD - RIGHT WING By recording Michigan's fifth goal, the junior broke out of a scoring slump and. put the Buckeys away. By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sports Writer COLUMBUS --- Ohio State, like vir- tually every other team the Wolverines have played this season, made it a point on Friday night to key on and abuse Michigan standout center Mike Comrie. But Ohio State, as virtually every team the Wolverines will play for the rest of this season, learned on Friday that stopping Comrie is a near impossi- bility and that even if the feat could be accomplished the Wolverines are far too deep for it to matter. Comrie was held without a goal, but his linemates, Andy Hilbert and Geoff Koch, scorched the Buckeyes for two goals apiece. "Both those guys played great," Comrie said. "I think our line is really clicking. Our team is on a roll right now and it's great to see." The Wolverines are rolling right now, and they're doing it with all four lines. Last weekend, the Wolverines received surprise goals from Krikor Arman and Craig Murray, and on Friday Josh Langfeld broke out of a season long scoring slump - netting his sixth goal of the season. "We're a tough team to stop because we have four really good lines," Comrie said. "We put a lot of pressure on teams because anybody on this team can score." Every member of the team has stepped up since the break, and the top line has followed suit. Of the 18 goals that the Wolverines have scored since the winter hiatus, the top line has scored nine. Friday night was no different. Koch got the Wolverines on the board first by firing a shot through the five hole of Ohio State goaltender Ray Aho and then broke a 1-1 tie in the second period with his second goal of the game. "Koch really got us going tonight with the short handed goal," Hilbert said. "If we hadn't gotten that goal who knows what would've habpened." But Hilbert's own goals were equally as important. Hilbert broke a 3-3 tie in the third period and scored the games final goal - giving the Wolverines the cushion they needed in the 6-4 victory. With Koch and Hilbert gaining more confidence, and the rest of the team continuing to step up, the offense - already first in the CCHA with 4.12 goals per game - becomes dangerous-' ly potent, especially when Comrie is thrown into the mix. "Koch is a good player," Langfeld said. "Once he gets his confidence this team really gets going. Anytime both of those guys can step up and score we become a hell of a hockey club. "If we can continue to get everyone firing on the right cylinders, and play well defensively we're going to be real- ly hard to beat." Michigan 1 2 3 -6 Ohio State 0 3 1 -4 .First period - 1. UM. Koch 7 (Blackburn). 15:12 (sh). Penalties - OsU, colsant (slashing), 7:01; UM, Murray (slashing), 7:01; OSU, Selleke (hooking), 8:17; UM, Roemensky (highsticking), 1:04; UM, Peach (holding), 13:33; UM, 0tmeyer (charging), 16:05; OSU, Meloche (obstructionhooking), 16:36; OSU, Jestadt (holding), 17:36; UM, Koch (interference), 19:17. Second period - 1. OSU, tLafteche 3 (Freemani, McComck), 1:14 (pp);2. UN, Koch 8 (Canie Camniailen), 4:36 (pp); 3. UM, Ortmeyer 5 (Kosick, Langfeld), 5:28 (pp); 2. OSU, Smith 2 (GuAla, Colsant), 5:58; 3.050, Meloche12 (Aho)11:38 (pp). Penalties -OSU, Selleke (slashing), 2:02; OSU, Crain (high sticking), 4:49; OSU, Ganga(slashing), 6:31; OSUTitus (roughing after the whistle), 7:02; UM, Matzka ( roughing after the whistle), 7:02; UM, Swistak (tripping), 9:35;'UM, Roemensky (slashing), 10:56; OSU, anga (10minutes for diving), 16:18; OSU, Meloche (roughing) 19:33; OSU, Meloche (slash- ing), 19:33; UI, Gassoff(cross-checking), 19:33; UM, M~atzka (hoding), 19:54. Trd period - 4. UM, Hilbert 11 (Peach, Comrie), :49; 5. UM, Langfeld 6 (MinkPeach). 6:59 (pp); 6. UM, Hilbert 12 (Cammalleri, Nilson); 10:54 (pp); 4. 0,SU, Ganga 12 (Signoretti, Jestadt) 18:39 (pp Penalties - UM, Kosick (hooking), 1:36; OSU, Signoretti (cross-checking), 5:56; UM, Swistak.(high- sticking). 7:22; QSU, team (too-many men on ice), 9:19; OSU, Sellecks (high-sticking),9:36; OSU, Titus (roughing x 2), 10:54: OSU, Dufour (5minutes fight- ing), 10:54; oSU, Dufour (10 minute major/ game dq), 10:54; OSU, Jestadt (roughing x 2), 10:54; UM, Cammallei (roughing x 3) 10:54; UM, Jilson (5min- utes fighting), 10:54; UM, Jillson (10-minute major/game dq), 10:54; UM, Roemensky (roughing), 10:54; UM, Conmrie (roughing), 10:54; OSU, Broccoli (hlding), 14:59, UM, Vancik (interference), 16:55; UM, Huntzicker (holding), 18:0. . Sots on goal - UM, 86-13 -27; OSU, 813-13 - I I DANA LINNANE/Daily Andiv Hilbert scred two fgoals for Michianen route to the Wolverines' 64uvictory: Extra-curicular actties leave M fuming SUDi if a p matic appli Ohio d you know? According to NCAA hockey rules, layer drops his gloves during a fight, he is auto- aly ineligible for the next game - the rule ed to Michigan's Jeff Jilison after his tussle with State's Jean-Francois Dufour,. e 17,343 fans witnessing Friday's Michigan-. State game composed the largest crowd to witness a college hockey game at a campus site s set an NCAA record. off Koch recorded all 16 of his points this sea- n only nine out of the 21 games he played. lation: if Koch scones, he'll probably score again ame night. By Geoff Gagnon Daily Sports Writer COLUMBUS -They stood virtually alone near the Ohio State net, their arms bulging with the bundle they'd collected. As officials sorted out the details of Friday's third period fight, the captains sorted out the treasure trove of equipment that littered the ice. With care, Michigan captain Sean Peach and Ohio State captain Andre Signoretti traded a collection of gloves and sticks only moments after their teams were trading punches. In something that is becoming a bit of a trend, emo- tions boiled over midway through the third period as a game delaying skirmish erupted resulting in two ejec- tions, two fans getting thrown out and two cups of Yoo Hoo tossed as well. As fists flew near the Ohio State net, the wild alter- cation on the ice aroused the NCAA-record crowd and the fans in the stands were soon involved in the melee, too. By the time Peach and Signoretti had gathered the sticks and gloves, arena officials were doing their own cleaning as Coke and chocolate milk stained the ice. Michigan players said, though, the real stain on the game was created by Ohio State after the Buckeyes threw a late hit that leveled Michigan forward Mike Comrie, igniting the brawl. "They were a dirty team tonight," Comrie said. "They didn't play like an NCAA team - they played classless at times. (Michigan coach Red Berenson) mentioned to us that they would probably loose their heads at certain times and they did." The night was bittersweet for Berenson, who was happy to see his team skate away with a 6-4 win, but upset about the circumstances surrounding the game. "I think it was pretty obvious when (Andy) Hilbert scored the goal that one of the Ohio State players cross-checked Comrie, who had nothing to do with the play, then hit him again, and pretty soon our players are in trying to protect Comrie, and you've got a real prob- lem," Berenson said. That real problem, as Berenson and others see it, is something that the Wolverines have been forced to contend with as opponents trying their best to stop Comrie, draw him into the penalty box - or worse. "The referee's got a tough job, but it's still his responsibility to protect the players," Berenson said. "You've got a player like Mike Comrie who's a great player, maybe the best player in this league, one of the top players in the country, and we need the officials to protect him." Friday night, where the officials left off, Jeff Jillson With new lines, 'M'! reinvents powerplay,.,, By Uma Subramanian Daily Sports Writer COLUMBUS - When it was at said and done, exhaustion was all that lingered. As they strolled out of the visiting. lockerroom at Ohio State, all the Michigan hockey players wanted was, to go home. The Wolverines had just come out on top, 6-4, over the Buckeyes in the longest, possibly, most brutal contest they had played al year. After the game, there was no jubil- tion in the air and no sense of victory., Michigan was just tired and frustrated. "It's a disappointing way to finish a game off," Michigan captain Sean Peach said. "That team has got no. class whatsoever. It's frustrating when, your star players get hacked all night and you can't do anything about it.", But ironically, or perhaps justifi- ably, it was the Buckeyes' penaltie* that led to their demise and the rebirth of Michigan's power play offense. Though the game was brutal, there were a couple of bright spots that must have made Michigan coach Red,. Berenson smile - at least a little bit- Michigan's power play, which has been noticeably stagnant, finally emerged from its two-month hiberna- tion.~ In past seasons, Michigan has typi cally lingered around a 20-percent power play conversion percentage. So, the 18.3-percent tally that the,, Wolverines carried into Friday's game,; didn't appear all that low - at least on the surface. But the fact is that through 11 games in mid-November, the Wolverines had converted on 25.3- percent of their power play opportuni- ties and scored 24 times on the mane advantage. Then, suddenly, power play produc- tion fell off and Michigan only con- verted nine times in 13 games. All that changed Friday when the Wolverines used Ohio State's ill- advised penalties to their advantage. and scored four clutch goals to put the Buckeyes away. The penalty killing unit was also effective as Geoff Koch opened th scoring with a short-handed goal 15:12 into the first period. Last week in practice, Michigan coach Red Berenson tweaked the power play units and created offensive, machines. The first power play unit now con- sists of Andy Hilbert, Mike Comrie and Geoff Koch - Michigan's top, line that has notched 34 goals - plus freshman Mike Cammalleri, who has I1 tallies of his own. The second unit features Michigan's junior line of Josh Langfeld, Scotf Matzka and Mark Kosick. Freshmen, Jed Ortmeyer and Mark Mink rotated into the fourth forward spot on the line. Berenson's new units were success ful - each recorded two .oals. "The puck started to go in and bot,, units had good puck control anc moved it well," Berenson said. "If you have that many power plays (11) and. you score on the first couple, you get, some confidence." Also, junior Josh Langfeld, who led last year's squad in goals but has struggled this season, recorded his. sixth goal in Friday's win. "It feels great when you score, especially when you haven't beep scoring for awhile," Langfeld said. "It. was a big goal; it put us up by two. t felt good - really good. But we gave up a lot of opportunities tonight. There was a lot of cheap stuff going on and the game took a little too'. long." UANA LINNANE/Uaily As Mike Comre is leveled by Ohio State's Ryan Jestadt, a melee ensued resulting in two disqualifications. Ge n i esa filled in. Emotions flared when Ohio State's Ryan Jestadt cross-checked Comrie from behind after Hilbert's sec- ond goal. As Comrie rose, so did tensions as Ohio Sate's Jean- Francois Dufour held Comrie's head before Jillson sep- arated the two. While other Buckeyes continued to assault Comrie as the Michigan forward skated to the bench, Jillson was trying to drive Dufour away from the confronta- tion. But Dufour ripped Jillson's helmet off and in an instant Michigan's 220-pound sophomore put his gloves to the ice and his fists to Dufour as officials concerned themselves with other action behind the net. While Jillson was successful in landing a series of blows before the two combatants mutually ceased fire, it seemed the Buckeyes were the real winners. For his part in the fight, Jillson will miss next week- end's rematch with Ohio State in Ann Arbor. But the 6- foot-3 defenseman makes no apologies for his efforts to protect his teammates. "It's disappointing that I won't be able to play next week, but you have to do what you have to do and if that means sticking up for teammates, so be it, Jillson said. And while Jillson reluctantly accepts his spectator status for Saturday's showdown, his teammates ques- tion the ruling that puts Jillson in the stands. "It's a real shame that we're forced to protect our best players like the way we were tonight," junior defenseman Bob Gassoff said. "People make decisions to go after top players and to try to draw our team into fighting and it's just unfortunate that a guy like Jillson, who was simply protecting a teammate is the one that is penalized." Gassoff said that far too often players recklessly play with a spirit of invincibility, knowing that they can vir- tually attack anyone on the ice with little repercussions. "We need to keep these people accountable, and it's a shame that it means loosing a guy like Jillson next week," Gassoff said. Hampshire (18-5-4) tied Northeastern, on Friday; tied 4-4 (CO) Saturday. nsin (19-6-1) defeated MSU-Mankato, day; lost to MSU-Mankato 3-0. Dakota (16-6-2) defeated Minnesota r lost to Minnesota 5-2 on Saturday- gan (20-6-0) def. Ohio State, 6-4 on No. 5 Maine (15-4-4) did not play. No.6 Boston University (14-6-4) def. Massachusetts-Lowei ,5-0. No.7 Michigan State (17-7-1) tied Rensselaer, 2.2 (O); beat Rensselaer, 4-1. No.-B Northem Michigan (16-6-2) did not play. No.9 Boston Colege (13-7-1) did not play; lost to' Providence, 4-3. No. 10Rensselaer (13-7-2) tied Michigan State, 2- 2(OD;lost to Michigan State, 4-1. BUCKEYES Continued from Page 16 their own hands when Ohio State ral- lied for two goals to tie the score- after two periods. "We got off our game when we started yapping back at them," Koch said. "Coach emphasized that we need to keep our mouths shut and go out there and play our style versus their style." And in the third period, the Wolverines heeded their coach's advice. The Wolverines reducing their rough play, used Ohio State penalties to their advantage, scoring on two more power play opportunities. After Hilbert's first goal of the game, 49 seconds into the period, junior Josh Langfeld sealed the vic- tory for the Wolverines, giving them a 5-3 lead. Coming off a scoring slump, Langfeld blew a shot past Aho on the power play. "They like to play after the whis- tie," Langfeld said. "And like coach said that's going to hurt them. We'll get on the power play and beat them on the power play." Ice Palace or Brick Barn? With its state of the art amenities, Ohio State's often empty ValueCity Arena at the Jerome Shottenstein Center is regal - certainly not raucous. How does the million-dollar Buckeye compound compare to the field house on State Street? .A 6 Team Michigan Michigan State Northern Michigan Lake Superior Notre Dame w 14 12 11 10 L 4 5 3 7 7 CCHA T Pts GP 0 28 1.8 0 24 17 2 24 16 1 21 18 4 18 18 GF GA, 76 41 54 24 55 35 47 43 38 50 OVERALL WL T 19 6 0_ 17 7 1 16 6 2 11 12 1 10 13 5 What Happened: After Andy Hilbert scored Michigan's sixth goal, Ohio State's Ryan Jestadt cross-checked Mike Comrie from behind. Comde's team- mates came to his aid as Jeff lson wrestled Jean-Frandos Dufour away from the melee. Dufour and Jilison fought as officials held back other players and separated other skirmishes. Exhausted, the two mutualy agree to stop the fight before "some- {u .r..AA} l - U Opened in 1999 - * Original cost - $106.5 million TOTAL CAPACITY: * 49 private luxury boxes 171500 * Home to Buckeye hockey and basketball i I