aJble £idciftuu Daig
S PmI *R - x"S
Sports desk: 647-3336
sportsdesk@umich.edu
SECTION B
MIZE
MICHIGAN 70, IOWA 69
"Looking out the window, you'd just see guys walking on the
wings of the planes, shoveling the snow off the roof of the planes.
It's such a different world... "
RUSsIA, IN THEIR WORDS
With students on recess and the Michigan hockey team in Detroit,
Mike Cammalleri, Mike Komisarek and Andy Hilbert were sleeping in a castle,
half a world away.
Page 8B
Late 'M'
Down three with
nine minutes left,
Blue salvages tie
By Arun Gopal
Daily Sports Writer
rally stuns Broncos
KALAMAZOO - With II minutes and 30
seconds left to play on Saturday night, Western
Michigan captain David Gove gave his team a
seemingly insurmountable 4-1 lead by tapping
in a puck that had trickled underneath Michi-
gan goalie Josh Blackburn.
Gove's second power-play goal of the night
electrified the standing-room-only crowd of
4,347 at Lawson Ice Arena - certainly, the
upstart Broncos would hold this lead and earn
a split of the weekend series.
But, as the saying goes, that's why they play
the game.
Michigan (11-4-2 CCHA, 17-6-4 overall)
staged an unlikely rally, scoring three unan-
swered goals in the final 11 minutes. The last
of the three, courtesy of senior Mark Kosick,
tied the game with only 1:1 1 left on the clock.
As a result, Michigan escaped with a 4-4 tie
and won three-out-of-four points on the week-
end. The Wolverines throttled Western Michi-
gan (9-4-4, 16-5-4) 5-1 at Yost Arena on
Friday night.
The three points give Michigan sole posses-
sion of second place in the CCNA, five points
behind top-ranked MichiganState.
"The way the game went, it could've been a
weekend where we got only two points,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said "I liked
the way our team bounced back."
For Michigan, the early portion of Satur-
day's contest played out like numerous other
games this season. The Wolverines came out
flat and sluggish, and before they knew it,
Western Michigan had taken the lead.
Only 2:19 into the game, the Broncos' Paul
Davies streaked down the left wing, blew by
Michigan defenseman Mike Roemensky and
fired a wrist shot that eluded Blackburn high to
the glove side.
The Broncos didn't waste much time pour-
ing it on. With Kosick in the box, Western
Michigan's lethal power play made the score 2-
0. Gove picked up a rebound off of a shot by
Mike Bishai and fired it past an out-of-position
See BRONCOS, Page 4B
Jed Ortmeyer's hit on Western Michigan's David Gove got him a game misconduct.
Hockey team demonstrates true
res'lience in surprising comeback
AP PHOTO
Michigan's Chris Young reacts after Dean Oliver's missed shot at the buzzer cost Iowa the game.
It was Michigan's first road win of the season.
At long , rd ito
Wolverines survive last-second scare at No. 16 Iowa
By Ryan C. Moloney
Daily Sports Writer
By Dan Williams
Daily Sports Writer
IOWA CITY - Following its most cele-
bration-worthy win of the season, a jubilant
Michigan basketball team stormed the Carv-
er-Hawkeye Arena court after Dean Oliver's
last-ditch baseline fadeaway drew iron, offi-
cially granting the Wolverines a miraculous
70-69 road victory over No. 16 Iowa.
"At first I thought the shot was good,"
*lichigan junior Chris Young said of Oliver's
miss. "I jumped as high as I could and con-
tested it. I turned around and watched it hit
rim, and I went crazy."
The Wolverines appeared reborn as they
utilized clutch shooting' and a mostly-suffo-
eating defense to top the Hawkeyes (3-2 Big
Ten, 14-4 overall), who were previously
unbeaten at home. The Wolverines (2-3, 8-8)
never trailed in an immaculate performance
Ond hardly resembled the struggling team
that had been lambasted in all prior road
games.
"We're very happy to come in one of the
greatest environments you can possibly play
in and get a win against a team that sits atop
the Big Ten conference," Michigan coach
Brian Ellerbe said.
"Our kids can be very resilient when they
want to be."
After a dominant first half, Michigan held
on for dear life in the game's waning minutes
to eke out a victory.
Iowa's star trio of Oliver, Luke Recker and
Reggie Evans scrambled to turn a double-
digit deficit into a near victory. But Evans
and Oliver both misfired with less than 10
seconds remaining, leading to Michigan's
post-game melee.
The stunning victory potentially puts an
end to the road slump that Michigan has been
mired in throughout the season.
"It would have really been a shame if that
went in," Iowa coach Steve Alford said. "I
have no intent in a team winning when they
only play five minutes. I thought Michigan's
kids worked harder and they deserved that
win tonight."
While the game's end saw Michigan hold-
ing on by a fingernail, the first 20 minutes
saw the Wolverines assemble their finest half
of the season, thoroughly dominating Iowa in
nearly every aspect of the game.
Michigan led by as many as 15 points in
the first half and went into halftime with a
36-24 lead.
The Wolverines turned the ball over just
five times and shot 48 percent from the field
See UPSET, Page 58
KALAMAZOO - Eight minutes and
29 seconds into the third period Satur-
day, Western Michigan's David Gove
stood untouched next to the Michigan
crease with the puck on his stick and
saucers for eyes.
Michigan's Josh Blackburn had gotten
only a piece of a Steve Rymsha drive,
and the sight of the country's No. 2 lead-
ing scorer parked in front of an empty
net looked like a snapshot destined to
haunt the Wolverines in their sleep for
weeks to come.
After Gove's stuff, Andy Hilbert took
a seat for 10 minutes after tossing a few
too many choiced barbs at referee Brian
Aaron.
Situations in hockey don't get more
desolate - down three goals, halfway
through the third period, a hostile arena,
a hot goalie and your best player unavail-
able for nearly the remainder of the
game.
"Down 4-1 it would have been easy to
pack it in and go home embarrassed,"
Michigan center Mike Cammalleri would
say after the game.
"Miracle" is an overused cliche in this
particular sport and no one will go so far
as to say it. But the last sixth of the game
See COMEBACK, Page 4B
No. 1len
rock Bucks
By Swapnil Patel
Daily Sports Writer
For Ohio State, what could be worse than
two straight losses to its archrival, Michigan?
Not even at full strength yet, the top-ranked
Michigan men's gymnastics team thrashed
No. 3 Ohio State for the second week in a row.
After easily beating then-No. 2 Ohio State
in Chicago last week, the Wolverines put
forth a dominating effort on Saturday for the
1103 fans at Cliff Keen Arena, amassing a
total of 215.5 points while the Buckeyes man-
aged to tally only 210.4.
A five-point margin of victory may not
seem dominant, but in gymnastics it is similar
to beating the Buckeyes by 35 in football.
"Five-point-one ... I usually feel that a
point equals a touchdown, so that's about
five touchdowns," Michigan coach Kurt
Golder said. "I'm sure they were probably
mad as hell last week because we beat
them when we were ranked No.1 and No.
2, especially with our rivalry.
"I'm sure there would have been nothing
better for them than to have come up to
Ann Arbor and pull an upset, but we just
got off to a good start and kept it going
through the whole thing."
This season's domination has taken place
without injured tri-captain Justin Toman, who
is recovering from reconstructive knee
surgery last August and is considering red-
shirtina for the remainder of the season.
Ray, women
ro over field
By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Writer
On a night that was expected to showcase
an individual, the Michigan women's gym-
nastics team made a statement.
Former Olympian and Michigan freshman
Elise Ray made her debut for the Wolverines
on Friday night. With Ray in the lineup, No.
11 Michigan scored 196.200 to pound No.21
Iowa and No. 9 Minnesota, which scored
194.100 and 193.675, respectively. The win
served notice to the Big Ten conference that,
when this team is firing on all cylinders, it is
tough to beat.
"It was an awesome night," Michigan
coach Bev Plocki said. "Our goal every year
is to not lose a meet within the conference,
and both these teams that we beat tonight are
very reputable programs."
Ray led the way for the Wolverines with a
second place all-around finish. Competing
for the first time since the end of the Summer
Olympics, Ray scored a 39.175 - bested
only by Iowa's Alexis Maday with a 39.250.
"I had a blast," Ray said of her first Michi-
gan competition. "I was really nervous going
in, but all of the girls were really supportive."
But the debut of Ray did not take the spot-
light away from the rest of the team. With solid
performances across the board, the Wolverines
again displayed their incredible depth.
Senior tri-captain Bridget Knaeble won
the uneven bars with a 9.900 and tied team-
E : Tnatra'r F nnaear i.. mi rnt riAn
JEFF HURVITZ/Daily
I