4B -- The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 7, 2000
Puck talk
"That's how hockey goes sometimes;
the team that plays the best doesn't
always win. The bounces went their
way tonight. "
- Michigan captain Sean Peach on he
similar but ironic results of this weekend.
K3 r Michigan 4
~FerrsState 2
Ferris State
iiI Michigan
4
2
Key play
Friday, 19:05 left in the third.
Michigan freshman right-winger Andy
Hilbert hats the puck out of mid air past
Ferris State netminder Phil Osaer for the
game winner
Ih ivlchigan Daily hockey writers
picks for the three stars of the week-
end.
- ANDY HILBERT
RIGHT WING
The freshman scored three goals on
the weekend, including the game
winner on Friday night
JOSH LANGFELD-
RIGHT WING
Tied the game Fnday night against
Ferrs State with less than five minutes
to play.
- MIKE COMRIE -
CENTER
The CCHA's leading scorer recorded
two more points to bring his confer-
ence total to 35; his overall total is
41.
Icers split weekend series with
'Dogs.
Michigan 4, Ferris State 2
Michigan 1 0 3 -4
Ferris State 0 1 1 -2
First period -1. UM, Trainor 1 (Merrick, Blackburn),
2:30.
Penalties - FSU, Basile (roughing), 4:48; UM Gassoff
(cross-checking), 4:48; UM, Hilbert (obstruction-hook-
ing), 12:05; FSU, McIver (holding the stick), 16:54.
Second period-1. Basile 4 (Wishart), 13:40 (sti).
Penalties - FSU, Evans (obstruction-hooking), 3:22;
UM, Peach (slashing), 8:01; FSU.Swider(slashing),
11:48; UM, Swistak (high-sticking), 13:46; UM
Hillbert (slashing), 19:50.
Third period-2. FSU, Swider 13 (Wishart), 0:49 (pp):
2. UM, Langfeld 7 (Shouneyla, Hu ntzicker), 16:15; 3.
H ilbert 13 (Mink, Cakmaller),19:05 (pp); 4. UM,
Hilbert 14 (Comrie), 19:56 (en).
Penalties - FSU, Ricciardi (high-sticking), 4:14; UM,
Langfeld (slashing), 10:45; FSU Milan (roughing),
17:28.'
Shotsongol-FSU, 3-915-27; UM,28-18.
Poer Plays - FSU,1 of 5; UM,1 of 5
Saves - FSU, Osaer 1-85 -14; UM, Blackburn 3-&
14-25
Referee - Brian Aaron
Unesmen - Chis Davis, Paul Tunison,
At: Ewigleben Ice Arena
Atteudance: 2,457
Five -year
streak ends
in oss
By Chris Grandstaff
Daily Sports Editor
On February I1, 1995 the Michigan
hockey team carried a lead into the third
period against Illinois-Chicago, but lost
the game 5-4 in overtime.
At that time, current Michigan senior
captain Sean Peach was playing for Team
British Columbia in the Canadian Winter
Games, Michigan coach Red Berenson
was still looking for his first of two
national championships and Illinois-
Chicago was still one season away from
cutting its hockey program.
That date was the last time the
Wolverines lost a game when leading
after two periods.
But on Saturday night at Yost Ice
Arena, Michigan's streak of 123 consec-
utive victories when leading after two
periods was broken by Ferris State.
In the game, the Wolverines jumped
out to an early 2-0 lead behind power
play goals from right wingers Scott
Matzka and Andy Hilbert. But the'
Wolverines could not hold on despite
outshooting the Bulldogs, 33-17.
Ferris State seemed to get all the right
bounces and surprised the Wolverines
with four straight goals, three of which
came in the game's final stanza to win the
game, 4-2.
With the win, the Bulldogs earned a
split for the weekend with the
Wolverines. Michigan won Friday night's
game, 4-2. with three straight goals in the
game's final five minutes.
"It's a game of bounces," Berenson
said. "It's a game of, breaks in close
games like these last two were. All the
rest of the games in the past three years
have been close, so this was not an upset.
If you look at the standings it's an upset,
but Ferris State matches up well against
Michigan."
But midway through the second period
on Saturday night, the Bulldogs had
doubts about whether or not they could
match up with the Wolverines. Already
trailing 2-0, and the memory of Friday
night's collapse still fresh in their minds,
SksDAVID KATZ Diy
Scott Maka, pictured here earlier this season, scored the Wolverines first goal on Saturday night, but the Wolverines still lost, 4-2.
Ferris State 4, Michigan 2
Ferris State 0 1 3 -4
Michigan 1 1 0 -2
First period--1. UM, Matzka 6 (PeachOrtmeyer),
19:05 (pp).
Penalties - UM, Matzka (obstruction-holding), 2:08;
UM, Jillson (cross-checking), 2:33; FSU, Lewis (high-
sticking), 8:19: UM, Roemensky (trtppng), 11:19;
FSU, Schroder (roughing after the whistle), 11:19.
FSU, Wishart (tripping), 17:00; FSU, Lewis (obstruc-
tion-?making), 1829.
Second period --2. Hbert 15 (Comrie, Jlison),10.05
(pp); 1. Lightfoot 5 (McCullough, Collins), 14:46.
Penaties - FSU, Dube (obstruction-hooking), 5:49;
FSU; Wishart (obstruction-tripping), 9:30; UM, Trainor
itrippingl, 16:39.
Third peiod-2. FSU, Kunitz 14 (Lewis), 2:09; FSU,
McCullough 17 (Dube, Collins), 9:28 (pp); FSU,
McCullough (Kozak, Dube), 19:48 (en).
Penalties - FSU, Mclver (10-minute misconduct),
2:18; FSU, Kunitz (slashing), 4:36; UM, Team (too
many on ice). 7:35; UM, Jilson (cross-checking), 9:28;
FSU; Collins (interference), 13:39; FSU, Mclver (rough-
ing), 14:29; UM, Jillson (holding the stick), 14:29:
FSU, McIver (roughing), 18:46; UM, Gassoff (10-
minute misconduct), 19:48..
Shots on goal - FSU, 4-7-6-17; UM, 13-10-10 -
33-.
Power Plays - FSU, 1 of 5; UM, 2 of 8
Saves - FSU, Owen 12-9-10 - 31; UM, Blackburn 4-
63-13
Referee - Mark Wilkins
liresnen - John Pearson, Brent Gawlik
At: Yost Ice Arena
Attendance: 6,579
on the Ferris State bench, many of the
Bulldogs hung their heads, devoid of
hope. With just over five minutes to play
in the period, though, things started turn-
ing around for Ferris State.
Forward Brian McCullough made a
great curl move to get into position in
front of the net and fired a wrister at
Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn.
Blackburn, who suffered his first loss of
the new millenium on Saturday, knocked
down the shot but forward Rob Lightfoot
was there to send the rebound into the
back of the Michigan net and lift the spir-
its of the Bulldog bench out of the dol-
drums.
"Our first goal in the second period
sparked us," Ferris State coach Bob
Daniels said. "On the bench it was very
quiet; it was a pretty solemn group.
When we got that goal to pull within 2-1
you could feel the belief spread through-
out the team."
Chris Kunitz then tied the score for the
Bulldogs redirecting a Scott Lewis shot
from the point, which deflected off of a
shoulder pad and was sent flying past a
surprised Blackburn.
McCullough, the Bulldogs' leading
scorer finished off the Wolverines with a
power play goal midway through the
third and an empty netter in the game's
final moments with the Wolverines hold-
ing a six to four man advantage.
The game was strangely similar to
Friday night's contest when it was the
Wolverines who scored three straight
goals to win the game. Freshman Andy
Hilbert netted the game winner with just
under one minute to play when he batted
a shot from forward Mark Mink out of
the air and past Ferris state goaltender
Phil Osaer.
This weekend's tough contests may
have been the result of injuries. Michigan
was without the services of Mark Kosick
for the entire weekend and forwards
Craig Murray, Geoff Koch and Josh
Langfeld all missed game action because
of injury or illness at some point during
the weekend.
The biggest
game? Not
for Mickhikan
hey looked at me as if I had
just asked if the world was
round.
"It's the biggest game of the season
they replied. "Tickets have been sold
out forever."
The question I had asked: Why was
there all this hype Friday night in Big
Rapids over the Michigan-Ferris State
hockey game?
Six freshmen from the auto-body-
technician depart-
ment at Ferris
State used an old
banged-up car for
what they called
Smash Michigan'
It cost fans one
dollar to take a
swing with a STEPHANE
sledgehammer at
the vehicle painted OFFEN
maize and blue. Off tie
They only do Record
thSonce a year-
for their biggest game of the season.
But you probably don't even know
where Big Rapids is. Don't worry, each
and every person at Friday night's game
knew exactly where Ann Arbor is.
The Ferris State fans even made up
their own obscene version of "The
Victors" to taunt Michigan players.
Does anyone at Michigan even knowW
a single line from the Bulldogs' fight
song? And more than that, how many
people at Michigan even knew that
Ferris State's mascot is a Bulldog?
The biggest-game-of-the-season
theme is quickly becoming redundant.
This season the Michigan hockey
team travels to Bowling Green,
Michigan State, Miami, Ferris State,
Ohio State, Northern Michigan and
Alaska. And without a doubt, the other
team's arena will be sold out, the fans
will be at their loudest for what they say
is "their biggest game of the season."
And maybe it is - for them.
But L hate to break it to all the fans in
Ohio - even those down in Columbus
- and the ones over in western
Michigan, you can't all be Michigan's
biggest game of the season.
You can pound on the glass, smash
cars, scream obscene chants and claim
that you are the loudest fans that the
Wolverines have ever encountered, but
the fact is that Michigan can only have
so many rivalries - sorry.
Michigan-Michigan State, that is a
hockey rivalry.
These are two teams that split confer-
ence games and conference champi-
onships, and continue on to the NCAA
tournament. These are two teams that
are consistently atop the CCHA. That's
what constitutes a rivalry.
And to those fans in Columbus, this
year you just didn't make the list.
Michigan's No. 1. You're No. I I -
that's out of 12 in the CCHA.
While the Buckeyes hooted and
hollered after they managed a tie last
weekend in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines
treated the tie more like a loss. While
these two schools may be listed as the
greatest rivalry in sports history, each
individual team has to prove itself in
order for Michigan to consider it a foe.
Most of the players from these less
established programs would have given
an arm and a leg to play at Michigan. In
fact, Ohio State goalie Ray Aho wanted
. to go to Michigan but was not recruited
by the Wolverines. Who could ask for
' more then a prestigious educational rep-
utation combined with one of the best
hockey teams in the nation?
The Wolverines are consistently in the
spotlight with regionally televised games
and games at Joe Louis. But that's natur-
al. With success comes national recogni-
tion. And with success and national
recognition come admiration.
That admiration spawns the competi-
tiveness of the opposition. The
Wolverines take it as a comnpliment that
every CCHA school will be gunning for
them. Everyone is on their "A" game
facing Michigan, forcing the Wolverines
to play the same caliber of hockey.
So I have one message for the rest of
the CCHA, Keep it coming. Sell out
your arenas with only your loudest fans
(a perfect example is the Ferris State
Dawg Pound), bring your "A" game and
k .:- nc i n
Same script, two different stages for M' icers
By Uma Subramanian
Daily Sports Writer
NEXT WEEKEND
Friday: Westem Michigan
7:35 p.m.
Saturday: vs. Western
Michigan 7:05 p.m.
The Wolverines play host to the Broncos
for a two game set at Yost Ice Arena
.10. 1 Wisconsin (21-6-1) aet. MichiganT ec, 5-3;
dd. Michigan Tech,3-0.
No.2 North Dakota (18-7-3) lost to St. Cloud,3-0
tied St Cloud, 1-1
No. 3 New Hampshire (1942) tied Merrimack.
2-2; def. Maine -0
No. 4 Boston University (16-6-6) clef. Mass.
Amherst 3-2.
No. 5 Mhigan (20-7-1) def. Feris State, 4-2; lost
to Feris State, 4-2.
No.6 Boston College (17-7-1) def. Mass. Lowel,
5-2.
No.7 Maine (15-6-4) lost to New iampshie 1-0.
No.8 Michigan State (18-2) def. Lake Superior'
3-0; lost to Lake Supeior, 3-1.
No.9 Rensselaer (16-7-1) def.Dartmouth,24.
No. 10 Northern Michigan (19-7-2)def.Westem
Michigan, 6-3; def. Western Michigan, 7-1.
Dave Huntzicker lay sprawled on the
ice in front of the Michigan bench for
nearly a full minute while play continued
around him.
Though Huntzicker later returned to
action, the image of him struggling to
crawl toward his bench painted a chilling
picture that Michigan fans detested.
But in a way, the image was almost
representative of Michigan's struggles
this past weekend against Ferris State.
In both contests, the home team rode a
volatile 2-1 lead into the late going
before the visitors rallied to score three
goals in the third period. Adding to the
irony was the fact that in both contests,
the crowd favorites seemed destined to
win and outplayed their opponents.
"That's how hockey goes sometimes,"
Michigan captain Sean Peach said. "The
team that plays the best doesn't always
win."
For instance, on Friday, Ferris State
outshot Michigan, 27-18; Saturday, the
Wolverines outworked the Bulldogs tak-
ing 33 shots to Ferris' 17.
Yet in both contests, the home team
fell, 4-2. In fact, the games played out so
similarly, they could almost have been
scripted, telling the same tale with its
ironic ending in favor of the traveling
team.
"I felt that Friday night we were the
better team, and we had the majority of
scoring chances," Ferris State coach Bob
Daniels said. On Saturday, "Michigan
had the better chances - maybe because
they were at home and they are hot.
Maybe they deserved (Saturday's) game
a little bit more than they did (Friday's)."
Yet despite these similarities, there
were significant, tangible elements that
twisted the tales. The biggest difference
in the games was stellar play by the vic-
torious goalie - Josh Blackburn on
Friday; Ferris State's Vince Owen on
Saturday
And then there were injuries.
Throughout this campaign, Michigan
has had a series of injuries to prominent
players, but thus far they had not been
simultaneous.
This past weekend, center Mark
Kosick, who has 14 goals on the season,
suffered a knee sprain against Ohio State
and did not play in either game against
the Bulldogs.
But on Saturday night, Michigan was
even more severely shorthanded having
lost starting winger Geoff Koch to back
spasms and Josh Langfeld, who scored
the tying goal late in Friday's game, to a
sprained ankle. Not a single line that
played Friday remained intact on
Saturday.
"We've got injuries to blame - we
lost Koch, Kosick and Langfeld and with
them a third of our goals," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "Tonight they
might have made a difference in the
game; but I can't blame that. We
should've been able to win this game."
The home-and-home series turned out
unpleasantly for the local fans. But
though both crowds probably felt the
same when it was all said and done, dur-
ing the game was a different story.
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Even Jeff Jillson, pictured here earlier this season, and his return to the lineup after
a one game suspension could not propel the Wolverines to a sweep this weekend.
Ferris' blue-collar crowd knows how
to have a good time. The student cheer
and jeer as they see fit.
Encouraged by classmates, Ferris
senior Nate Richmond decked out in
Steve Urkelesque attire, ridiculed the
Michigan faithful and their supposed
intellectual superiority.
The Ferris fans even rewrote 'The
Victors, but the new rendition, is not suit-
able for publication.
On Saturday night, the Yost crazies
were out in force, but even in their chant-
ing, you could see a difference. The
cheers at Yost are organized and well
thought out and everyone learns them.
Does that make a difference? Perhaps.
Regardless, the two contests ended in
exactly the same manner. A lone player
from the visiting team skates toward an
empty net and fills it, resoundingly
bringing the game to a close.
Team
Michigan
Northern Michigan
Michigan State
Lake Superior
Notre Dame
W
15
14
13
13
9
L#
5
4
7
8
8
T
1
2
1
5
CCHA
Pts GP
31 21
30 20
27 21
27 22
23 22
GF
83
75
62
57
46
GA
48
48
32
50
58
OVERALL
W L T
20 7 1
19 7 2.
18 9 2
14 13 1
12 14 6-
By relinquishing their 2-1 lead in the third peri-
od, the Wolverines broke a 123 game streak.
They had not lost a game in which they led head-
ing into the thiri period since February 11, 1995.
. With the three tallies he notched this weekend,
e __. . -. U.I. . -. U,,."Lyes[
i
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