48 - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 19, 2001 Shouts from the point "They gct some breaks. I meah that's the story of cny four years playing that team." Michigim senior assistant captain Slott Matzka after losing 4-2 to Michigan State on Saturday. Matzka's. senior class hold:t a 4-9-2 career record against the Spartans. FRIDAY'S GAME Notre Dame 4 Michigan 4 (OT) SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan State 4 Michigan 2 Key play Saturday, 3:38 of third period. With Michigan State holding on to a 2-1 lead, Ryan Miller robbed Michigan's Andy Hilbert of a potential game-tying chance when he snagged Hilberts one-timer on a feed by Scott Matzka. w THE DAILY'S STAR.S The Michigan Daily hockey writers' picks for Michigan's three stars of te weekend. OSH LANGFELD RIGHT WING Langfeld enjoyed a stellar senior night by scoring two goals against Notre Dame and creating several opportuni- ties before going down with an injury against Michigan State. EF JILLSON DESEN Jilson played well offensively in notch- ing three points, including two power- play goals on Friday night. losH BLACKBURN GOALTENDER In steering aside many quality Notre Dame chances Friday night, Blackburn helped Michigan salvage a tie. 'M' SCHEDULE This week: Thursday vs. Lake Superior, Saturday vs. Lake Superior Thrsday: at "Taffy" Abel Aena, 705 p.m. Saturday: at Joe Louis Arena, 7:35 p.m. The first time the Wolverines faced the Lakers, Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn recorded two shutouts. This time, Michigan heads to the Upper Penninsula and then the Lakers bizzarely host a game at "The Joe." HOW THEY FARED No. I Michigan State (24-3-4) lost to Western Mich. 2-4; def. Michigan 4-2. No. 2 Boston Colleg (21-7-1) def. New Boston U. 5-3;:def.New Hampshire 3-2; lost to New Hampshire, 2-0. No. 3 North Dakota (20-5-7) tied Denver 3-3; def. Denver 3-0. No. 4 Minnesota (22-7-2) def. Colorado College 6-1; def. Colorado College 4-1. No. 5 Michigan (21.84) tied Notre Dame 4- 4; lost to Michigan State 4-2. No. 6 Colorado Col. (20-71) lost to Minnesota 6-1 lost to Minnesota 4-1. No. 7 St. Cloud (22-7-1) lost to Wisconsin 3-2; def. Wisconsin 5-1. No. 8 New Hampshire (18.86) lost to Boston College 3-2; def. Boston College, 20. No. 9 Providence (1634) def. Boston University 4-3; tied Boston Universityn5-5. No. 10 Wisconsin (15-114) def. St. Cloud 3-2; lost to St. Cloud 5-1. FRIDAY'S GAME Mchiga 4, Notre Dane 4(0) Notre Dame x 1 °2 0 4 Michigan 0 4 0 0 4 Frst pedod-L1.UND, Gbke15 (Lebda. Inman), 7:12 (pp). Pena ds-UM,Vancik(obstructionsashig),6:21;UMD,. Nielsen (ostnuctiontiookig). 10:58: UM, Cmaeri (hookig), 14:38; UN, Gavin (hokir), 16. Secod pediod -2. UM, Jilson 9 (Cammallei, Hilbert), 2:490(0);3. UM agfeld 12 (Maka, Roemesiy), 8:42; 4. UM, Jillson 10 (Shounyia, Mink), 1324 (p); 5. N. Nielsen 2 (dder),15:22; 6. UM, Largfeld 13 (Camma lei, Hbert), 17:34. Penddes - UND, Clark(interference), 2:34;UND, Komadoski(roughig after whistle) 2-43;UM, Murray (rosghr afterwhistie). 2:43:UM. Cie W (4stUctlfl hooing), 3:02 UM, Gff(roghrg afterwhiste), 10:1; UND, Van Akele(roughig after whistle),10:18; UND, clack (dstructionnppeng).13:02; UN, Nelsen (crosschecking), 13:13; UND, Nielsen (obstn cti n~nipW), 16:59. Thkd plod -7.UN)D, Inman 9 (Calson, Globke), 6:32 (p) 8. UN, Lba 6 (Doder, ODnlp)' 10:43 (sh). Pakim- UM, Bushes(obstn r ookir.2:15: UM. Matzka (interference). 5:28; UND, nman (boardirg)10:06; UND, Clak (crosscheckir), 1203. Ouths- roso. PaiU - UM, Camalleri(roug irg 907; UND, Gbke (roghIg), L07. Sh*aon god - UNs- 77-102- 26; UM -243-44. "P~aya-UND 2of 5;UM 3of 8. Penee:UN!D11(22min);UM8(16mn) Save-UND, Zasoski &2093-40; UM. Backbum 6- 682-22. Reeree-BnanAaron. Liansn - Ken Lads Chis Dais At: Yost IceArena AbwKW ncs6,459. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan St. 4, Michigan 2 Injury could cut Langeld's career short Senior may be out four weeks; special teams continue to struggle 0- By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor DETROIT - It was ;n ordinary hustle play turned into disaster. Michigan senior forward Josh Langfeld has been labeled by his teammates and coaches as the "best forward on the ice" for the Wolverines over the past few weeks, partly due to the fact he's been realizing his days are numbered in to HOCKEY Michigan uniform. After scoring two goals Notebook on Friday night on "Senior Night," his last regular-season game at Yost Ice Arena, Langfeld has tallied five points in his last v9even games while making several hustle plays that has opened up opportunities for teammates. But now his college career could be cut short, a little prematurely. Late in the second period of a tied game on Saturday, Langfeld noticed a loose puck in front of the Michigan State net - and his eyes widened. As he raced for the scoring chance, he got his feet tangled up with Michigan State for- ward Adam Hall, then falling backwards on thePt~e in obvious discomfort. Langfeld tried to get up a few times, but he couldn't put any pressure on his right leg, and had to be car- ried off the ice by fellow seniors Bill Trainor and Dave Huntzicker. Michigan coach Red Berenson said after the game that he has a badly-bruised right knee and may be out two to four weeks. While that may be an optimistic prognosis, the Wolverines are deep into the stretch run, with the CCHA playoffs two weeks away and the NCAA Regionals four weeks down the road, making the loss of Langfeld hurt that much nMore. 'Since Jed Ortmeyer is already out for the sea- son with a torn ACL, the Wolverines will be without two of its top seven forwards. "It's a huge loss for is," said senior assis- tant captain Scott Matzka, who is one of Langfeld's best friends% on the team. "He's had a great run, and is playing his best hock- ey of the year. "Hopefully we can take (Langfeld's injury) and gather around it, and try to win some games for:Langer." SPECIAL TEAMS: Michigan coach Red Berenson always emphasizes winning the spe- cial teams battle, and for the second straight weekend he said not doing so was "the differ- enc4 in the game." C'the eight goals Michigan gave up, six of thenj \vere in special teams situations. In both Frid# and Saturday night's game, the Wolverines gave up two powerplay goals and one short-handed goal. But more importantly, the two short-handed goals haunted the Wolverines for the weekend - as they ended up representing the game-tying goal in the Notre Dame game and the game- winning tally in the Michigan State game. "You give up a shorthanded goal and it's going to kill you almost every time," Matzka said. No SAFETY NET: When Michigan held a 4- 2 lead going into the third period Friday night, the Wolverines must have felt pretty comfort- able - maybe a little too much so. Notre Dame's comeback to tie the game proved to be the first time in 19 games this season that Michigan has not won when it held a lead going into the final period. "We don't give up leads in the third period at home," Berenson said. "It shouldn't happen." MAIZED oUr: Saturday's game against Michigan State at Joe Louis Arena marked the second time Michigan has brought out the maize jerseys from the closet, which may be a bad omen. The only two times the Wolverines have sported the maize over the usual blue or white sweaters, they've lost - both times to Michigan State. The last time Michigan wore maize was on November 4th, when the Wolverines were shut out by the Spartans, 1-0 at Yost Ice Arena. 0 BRAUQUINN/Daily Fellow seniors Dave Huntzicker and Bill Tranior help an injured Josh Langfeld off the ice. Langfeld could be out four weeks. Third-period failure lingers into Saturday By Arun Gopal Daily Sports Writer DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily The Wolverines couldn't seem to solve the Spartans' Ryan Miller on Saturday, as the focused goalie never took his eye off the puck. SPA R'TANS Continued from Page 11B "Because of th e timing of it, yeah," the assistant captain said. "We've lost some games this seasoi that we would love to have back and F we could; this game wouldn't be such.a killer. "It's been such a n up and down season for us. At this poihtt, it's a huge loss." The loss drops; Michigan six points back of Michigan Mtate with three games left for both teams: The Spartans would have to drop their td ree remaining games and lose by three goails in their final reg- ular season meeting on March 1 for the Wolverines to have a shot at the title. "They're a good taun, they played well and they scored the gcoals they needed to score,' Michigan cach Red Berenson said of the Spartans. "They didn't give us much and we didn't earn much - they were the better team cti the game" Michigan State stuirted the scoring with two minutes left.iin the first period on a fluttering backhander by Andrew Bogle from the left circle that eluded goalie Josh Blackburn glove-side for the lead going into the first intermission. Blackburn appeared to be screened by the Spartans' John Nail on the shot. Craig Murray brought the Wolverines back at the 4:26 mark of the second peri- od, directing a rebound past Michigan State's Ryan Miller for the powerplay goal and a 1-1 score. Replays showed Miller making the initial save on Murray's shot, then defenseman Jon Insana knock- ing the rebound in with his knee. What followed was a period ofphysical, fast-paced hockey before Michigan was dealt two crucial blows at the period's end. Forward Josh Langfeld got his right knee caught underneath Michigan State forward Adam Hall and slid into the left corner of the offensive zone in intense pain with under two minutes left in the period. Langfeld sustained a bruise to his knee and is out two to four weeks. During the penalty, defenseman Jeff Jillson took a roughing penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, Hall tipped a Brian Maloney pass by Blackburn stick side for the 2-1 lead and momentum swing. Four minutes and 15 seconds into the third period, Hall and Maloney struck again, this time on a shorthand- ed 2-on-1. Blackburn stopped Maloney's initial shot, but Hall slammed the rebound into a wide- open net for the 3-1 lead and the clincher. Maloney added another goal and Matzka scored with 41 seconds left. On Friday, Michigan held a two-goal lead as late as six minutes into the third period before Notre Dame's David Inman and Brett Lebda scored to put Notre Dame back on par at 4-4. Michigan fired a bevy of chances on Notre Dame goalie Tony Zasowski but to no avail. DETROIT - Early in the third period of Friday night's game against Notre Dame, the Yost Arena public address announcer spoke up. "Ladies and gentlemen, a CCHA score you'll be happy to hear," he said. "A final from Kalamazoo - Western Michigan 4, Michigan State 2." Upon hearing that, the Michigan faithful exploded. At the time, Michigan State was five points ahead of the Wolverines in the race for the CCHA regular-season title. A Spartans loss meant that Michigan had an opportunity to make up some ground.{ All the Wolverines had to do was hold their 4-3 lead over the Fighting Irish, a team situated at the bottom of the CCHA standings. That was when the unthinkable happened. It started at the 6:32 mark of the third. On a powerplay, Notre Dame's David Inman flipped a loose puck past an out-of-position Josh Blackburn to cut the lead to 4-3. Then, the Fighting Irish shocked the Yost crowd with a shorthanded goal at 10:43. Ryan Dolder picked up a loose puck in the defensive zone and zoomed down the center of the ice on a breakaway. Dolder's shot was stopped, but Brett Lebda was there to put in the rebound, tying the game. The game ended in a 4-4 deadlock. Although the Wolverines gained one point on Michigan State, they were visibly disappointed at their inability to close out a game they were in con- trol of. Fast-forward to Saturday night's game at Joe Louis Arena against those same Spartans. Faced with a virtual must-win situation, Michigan buckled. The Spartans jumped on top of the Wolverines SCHWARTZ Continued from Page IB makes such perfect sense. Pressure was coming from every- where - from coach Red Berenson, from inside the players themselves and from the banner that hangs over center-ice at Yost Ice Arena and reads "CCHA Champions 2000." It reached a crescendo at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday night when the two intra-state rivals took the ice for the faceoff. The Wolverines had two choices - keep the race alive or watch Michigan State win the title chase. Essentially, what's the differ- ence between second place and fifth place? They both host first-round playoff series. "We've put a lot of pressure on Self-destruction What looked like a great situation for Michigan went awry quickly. Friday, 6:00 of third period: Michigan leads Notre Dame 4-2, Michigan State loss announced to Yost crowd, Spartans' five-point CCHA lead in jeopardy Friday, 5:00 of overtime: Notre Dame ties Michigan 4-4. The next night, Michigan State defeats Michigan 4-2, which virtually clinches league title for Spartans. early and established control of the game.. In spite of that, Michigan was only down 2-1 entering the third period. But any thoughts the Wolverines had of winning were dashed - Michigan State scored two goals in the first 10 minutes and cruised to a 4-2 win. Afterwards, one could only look at Michigan's disappointing perfor- mance and wonder if Friday night's third-period collapse was still weigh- ing on the Wolverines' minds. "Last night's game may have hurt us a lot more than we think, because we lost some momentum in the third period," Michigan assistant coach Billy Powers said after Saturday's loss. "I thought if we could've had a strong third and really come into this game on a high with a win, it might have made a bigger difference." In defeat, the Wolverines attempt- ed to downplay the significance of winning the regular-season champi- onship, but the frustration of losing the crown to Michigan State was evi- dent. "The playoff champion is the one who gets the automatic bid," to the NCAA Tournament, forward J.J. Swistak said. "The league champion, all it is is a pride thing. But, it is a little disappointing." ourselves," assistant coach Billy Powers said. "We have goals and one of them was to come in first place. "First place is no longer a goal. We have the CCHA Championship that we want to be in, we want to play for the highest bid we can pos- sibly get. There's a lot to play for and a lot of hockey left in the sea- son." Pressure did this team in. Now it's- going to have to rise to the chal- lenge of the nation's elite teams. Like Powers said, only one goal is out of reach. There are still two more - the CCHA Tournament and the NCAAs. It's anybody's guess how the Wolverines will react. . if v1 Michigan St. Michigan 1 1 2 4 0 1 1 2 First peod- 1. MSU, Bogie9(Patchell), 18:00. Pnalties -MSU, Hall (roughig).9:57; MSU,.Nail (inter. ference), 15:43; IM, Komisaek (high stickirg), 18:20. Second pedod-2. UM, Murray 7 (Jillson, Shouneyia), 4:26 (pp); 3. MSU, Hall 14 (Maloney, tiles), 18.41(pp). Penmes-MSU, Maloney (crosscheckirg),3:43; UM, Vancik (holdirg), 7:11; MSU, Maloney (tppirg), 7:16; UM, Jillson (roughirg), 1502; MSU, Patcheil (slashirg), 15:02; UM; Jillson (roughirg),18:16. Thild ped-4, MSU, Hall 15 (Maloney, Dolyny),4:15 (sh); 5. MSU Maoney 9 ([yny), 11:14 (pp); 6. UM, Matka 8 (Kosick, Shouneyia), 19:39. Penites - MSU, Patchell (checkig from behind), 3:19; MSU, Nail (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:42; UM, Komisarek (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:42; MSU,. Patchell (roughirg), 5:42; UM,Vancik (roughirg), 5:42; MSU, Patchell (roughing), 5:42;UM, Vancik (roughirg), 5:42; MSU, Dolyny (hookirg), 8:35; UM, Shouneyia (slah. ing), 8:35; UM, Hilbert (hooki), 9:45; UM, Blackburn (roughurg), 10:34; MSU. Insana (obstnuctiorionprg), 13:35: MSU, Goodenow (roghing), 17:26: UM, Matzksa (roughirg), 17:26; MSU, Bogle (roughirg),18:02;UM, Hilbert (chargirg), 19:17. Shotsongo-MSU,912-10-31; UM,51-12-27. PwPlys - MSU, 2of 5;UM 1of 7. SaUes - MSU, Miller 5911 -25; UM, Blackburn811-8 -27. Referee - Mark Wilkins. Lhimmeun - Brue Vda, Patick Bracco. At Joe Luis Arena Atte AN KNe:G19.95. PArxIRWISE RANKINGS Talk about this story and other Michigan sports news at michigandaily.com/forum. I Left in Heading into the Fet+. 10-11 series with Northern Michigan, IVchigan controlled its destiny. Three poits behind Michigan State with :;even games to play - including two Eigainst the Spartans - Michigan &essentially needed to win out for ;the title. Feb. 10: Michigan 3, Nmrthem Michigan 1; Michigan SAte 4, Alaska-Fairbanks 1. Nothing changes as both teams win. Feb.11: Northern Michig i 2, Michigan 0; Michigan State 3, AlasA a-Fairbanks 0. With the loss and the SpaI tans' win, Michigan is five back, andtiro longer con- trols its fate - it now neea's three the dust J Michigan State losses rather than the two in the remaining head-to-head matchups. Friday night: Michigan 4, Notre Dame 4; Western Michigan 4, Michigan State 2. The Wolverines are back in control of their destiny.. Saturday night: Michigan State 4, Michigan 2: The Spartans clinch at least a tie for the CCHA crown, - and all but destroy 1~Michigan's. On to the tournament. BRENDA N O'DONNELL/Daily f. , ; : 'r Jon Schwartz can be reached at - jlsz@umich.edu ;. i ; _ i _____ _____________ _. _ _____ _ ... i. , f YI # f x # a a Feb. 19 standings from www.uscho.com Team RPI 1. Michigan State 0.6247 r- PWR 29 A' .:P . CCHASTAND]LIN' S CCHA ROUNDUP CCHA LEADERS REMAINING SCHEDULE'