4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 11, 2002 0 Slap shouts "Who is kidding whohere? We're not supposed to be up 4-0." - Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone after the Lakers jumped out to a four-goal lead in Friday's game en route to a 4-3 win. FRIDAY'S GAME Lake Superior 4 Michigan 3 SATURDAY'S GAME Lake Superior 1 Michigan 4 SUNDAY'S GAME 4r Lake Superior 1 Michigan 4 Key play Sunday, 40.8 seconds left in the first With the series' deciding game scoreless, junior Mike Cammalleri gave Michigan a lead they wouldn't lose on a spectacular play during a 5-on-3 powerplay. 0 THE DAILY'S STARS The Michigan Daily hockey writers' picks for Michigan's three stars of the weekend. Mike Camnimalleri Center Michigan's alternate captain notched a hat trick on Saturday night as part of a five-goal, two-assist weekend. Eric Nystrom Forward The freshman assisted on Cammalleri's game-winning goal and scored one of his own in yesterday's win. Michael Woodford Forward Woodford scored a powerplay goal in Friday's loss and then lit the lamp with the all-important first goal in Saturday's must-win for the Wolverines. M' SCHEDULE CCHA Tournament - First Round This week: Saturday - CCHA Semifinal Joe Louis Arena, 2:05 p.m. Sunday - CCHA Championship Joe Louis Arena, 3:05 p.m. With a win in both of next weekend's game, the Wolverines will capture thier fourth CCHA Championship. It would be Michigan's first CCHA Tournament Championship since 1998-99. With the top seed in the tournament, Michigan will face the lowest remaining seeded team from the play-in games. How THE Top 10 FARED No. 1 New Hampshire (25-6-3) def. Merri- mack 6-2, def. Merrimack 5-4 No. 2 Denver (28-7-1) def. Michigan Tech 5- 1, def. Michigan Tech 8-1 No. 3 Minnesota (26-7-4) def. North Dakota 7-2, North Dakota 4-3 No. 4 St. Cloud (278-2) def. Minnesota- Duluth 6-3, Minnesota-Duluth 5-4 No. 5 Michigan State (2475) def. Bowling Green 4-2, def. Bowling Green 4-3 No. 6 Michigan (22-9.5) lost to Lake Superior 4-3, def. Lake Superior 4-2, not finishedpyet No. 7 Maine (20-9-7) def. Boston College 7-3, def. Boston College 4-2 No. 8 Boston University (23-8-5) def. Provi- dence 3-2, Providence 4-2 No. 9 Cornell (21-6-2) def. Yale 2-1, def. Yale 4-2 No.10 Colorado College (20-11-3) def. Alas- ka-Anchorage 6-1, Alaska-Anchorage 1-0 FRIDAY'S GAME Lake Superior 4, Michigan 3 Western Michigan 3 1 0 -4 Michigan 0 2 1. -3 Ristpedlod - ILSSJ, Bahusz4(unasssted), 0:36 (sh); 2. LSSU, McNanara 10 (Peterson), 2:32;3. LSSU, Bachusz 5 (Davis, Nightingale), 14:07.Penaies- LSSU, McNanara (checking from behind), 0:23; LSSU, Bachusz(holding), 7:34. Secondpedod-4. LSSU, McNamara 11(Bchusz), 5:44;5. UM, Werner 4 (Swistak, Moss), 7:09; 6. UM, Woodford 7 (Moss, Komisarek), 7:56 (pp). Penaties- LSSU, Bahusz (crosscohecking, 747; UM, Moss (goalender interee), 10:25; UM Woodford (inerence), 1709. Thkd pedod- 7. UM, rteyer12(Cammlleri,Gajic) 1811Penes- UM, Gjic (roghing), 0:32 LSSU, Thomipson (ro ghig) 032; LSSU, Dalen (hdig) 10:20. Shosongol-UM,17-1312-42; LSU, 592-16. Power Plays-UM,1 of 4; LSSU, of2. Saves- UM, Blackbum-(58:37,12416); UM, Enpty net- (1:23, 00); LSSU, Violin -(60:00, 3942). Reree-Steve Mcnchk unemen - Kevin Largseth, John Philo At Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor Attendnice:6,608. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 4, Lake Supedor 1 Michigan no longer has room for error By Chris Burke Daily Sports Writer The top-seeded Michigan hockey team finally disposed of No. 12 seed Lake Superior yester- day in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. But while the playoff motto for most teams probably falls along the lines of "Survive and advance," the Wolverines were not supposed to have HOCKEY to put that cliche into use. Michigan entered the Commentary t1best-of-three series as one of college hockey's hottest teams, having won nine of its last 10 games. The Lakers, mean- while, were floundering all alone in last place in ; the conference and were riding a 10-gameTwin- less streak into Ann Arbor for the weekend. On paper, this didn't have the looks of an epic series. Things changed after Lake Superior scored 4 F the first four goals of Friday night's opening game, and it became clear that the Wolverines weren't going to cruise into the CCHA semifi- nals. "When you think you're a first-place team and TOM FELDKAMP/Daily you're playing what you think is a last-place The Wolverines rejoice after a Mike Cammalleri goal. The team, you don't always play your best," Michi- junior scored five goals in three games over the weekend. gan coach Red Berenson said. Anzalone ays Violn Ro First R Lake Superior was in last place, and it was there for several reasons. It doesn't have much of an offense, or that much talent, or even a clear No.1 goaltender before this weekend. But what the Lakers did have was a solid enough game plan to give Michigan a quick les- son in Playoffs 101. Lake Superior utilized a defensive trapping system to the best of its ability. The Lakers were clearly inferior physically and talent-wise, but their defensive-minded system kept them in the series for the entire weekend. They didn't have a chance of matching up with the Wolverines man-for-man so they, as Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone described it, did the best with what they had. It almost turned out to be good enough. Statistically, it's hard to say that Michigan didn't play well in Friday's 4-3 loss - they out- shot Lake Superior 42-15 and dominated the tempo for much of the game. But Lake Superior had four legitimate scoring opportunities during the game - off of blocked shots, bad bounces and poor defense - and it capitalized on all four of them. That's why the Lakers had the Wolverines facing elimination on Saturday and yesterday. From here on out in the CCHA playoffs and the NCAA tournament, Michigan won't have backup days to recover from the mistakes it makes early on. It's one and done in the postsea- son now. And when that's the case, it's the teams that do what Lake Superior did and take advan- tage of their chances that continue to advance. There also has to be some concern amongst the Wolverines about how successful Lake Superior was in its ability to execute its suffocat- ing game plan. If the outmatched Lakers were able to play Michigan as closely as they did for three games, what will the Wolverines do to counter the defensive-minded strategies of teams loaded with talent -like Michigan State? Looking back, Lake Superior's onslaught in the first 25 minutes of Friday's game might turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to the Wolverines. They had been hitting on all cylinders at the close of the CCHA season and looked unstop- pable. All of a sudden on Friday night, the Wolver- ines were human enough to make the worst team in the CCHA look like world-beaters. Thankfully for the Wolverines, they had enough to take out the Lakers in three games. Now, and for the rest of the postseason, they need to show what they can do to the opposition when there's only one opportunity. al id to the Joe oundlh I in hopes of By Naweed Sikora Daily Sports Writer What was supposed to be a thrashing at Yost Ice Arena turned into one of the toughest weekends of the season for the Michigan hockey team. The Wolverines welcomed last- place Lake Superior to Ann Arbor for a first- round CCHA Tournament series, and the Lakers responded by embarrassing them in Friday night's game. But even though Michigan fought back like it was supposed to and will move on to the Super 6 at Joe Louis Arena this weekend, Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone was by no means upset with his team. Not only did the Lakers' win over top-seeded Michigan Friday night give them a major confidence boost for the future, it was an indication that their program is begi niug to, move in the right direction. This long-term vision is what concerns Anzalone at the moment, and after this weekend, this vision seems to be taking shape. Anzalone, who returned to Lake Superior this season to rejuvenate a program that he personally built up in the 1980s, knew who the better team was coming in this weekend. He admitted that if his team lost this series, it would not surprise him at all. But his team's effort in each of the three games proved that the Lakers have progressed since he took over. "This is not about winning the series," Anzalone said after his team won Friday night. "This is about having something to cling to for the future. I hate to say this, but if Michigan wins in three, and we competed in all of the games, I can say that we've taken a baby step. "Right now, we are a 12th-place program just trying to get into the middle of the pack. We are doing the best we can with what we've got." rebuildi*ng A big reason why Lake Superior contended with Michigan this weekend, and quite possi- bly its greatest hope for escaping from the CCHA cellar next season, is freshman goalie Matt.Violin. Violin started all three games against Michigan this weekend, stopping 92 of Michigan's 101 shots. "The guys played really well in front of me and they're giving me a lot of support in the lockerroom," Violin said. Despite Violin's success this season (.908 save percentage), Anzalone was wary of play- ing his young goalie too much. Violin played in just 21 games, while backup goaltenders Terry Denike and Scott Murray played in 16 and 11, respectively. "Matt is a freshman," Anzalone said. "He is not that strong yet. He is a goalie that is just starting to learn how to lift weights" But even though Violin might not be the go-to guy yet, he made a strong case for him- self this weekend. Anzalone needs a goal- tender to build his program around, and Violin is the perfect candidate. The freshman was recruited by Anzalone prior to this season, and Violin said that he wanted to come to Lake Superior because he liked the small-school atmosphere. He also said there was a lot of support from the Sault Ste. Marie community. Violin has been pleased with what Anza- lone has done this season. Even though the Lakers were the worst team in the CCHA with only four regular season conference wins, the team is in position to improve. "At the beginning of the year, guys were running all over the place on the ice at prac- tice," Violin said. "I think he's really turned that around. The skill and discipline has improved. "It's always good to have a coach who is up front with you and tells you what you need to improve." Best-of-three series Mar. 8-10 No. 1 Michigan No. 12 Lake Superior No. 4 Alaska-Fairbanks No. 9 Ferris State No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha No. 8 Notre Dame No. 6 Western Michigan No. 7 Ohio State No. 3 Northern Michigan No. 10 Miami (Ohio) Play-in round March 15 Semifinals March 16 Northern Michigan Notre Dame Michigan lowest remaining seed Michigan State highest remaining seed championship game March 17 Ohio State Alaska-Fairbanks No. 11 Bowling Green No. 2 Michigan State Under the new CCHA Tournament format, the six teams that advance from the first round are re-seeded for the Super 6 Championship at Joe Louis Arena next weekend. The team with the highest original seed coming out of the first round will be re-seeded as one, the next' highest team will be two, and so on. The top two re-seeded teams will get a bye in the play-in round, and play the winners of that round in the semifinals. Dwight Helminen 0 TOM FELOKAMP/Daily Cammallen takes over series Things get personal as sparse crowd sees Williams bid adieu By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Writer Lake Superior Michigan 0 1 0 -1 2 0 2 -4 Rrst peiod - 1. UM, Woodford 8 (Gjic, Henderson), 5:03; 2. UM Cammaileri 17 (unassisted), 10:32. Penalties-UM, Komisarek (hooking), 10:56; UM, Ortmeyer (slashing), 16:56; LSSU,Nightingale(obstruction-hookirg),19:38. Second peod-3. LSSU, Cheesman 5(Magnuson, Peter- son), 12:40. Penltes-LSSU,Thompson(tripping), 8:18; UM, Gajic (slashing), 9:08. Third peiod - 4. UM Cammalleri 18 (Komisarek, Shouneyia), 15:16 (pp); 5. UM, Camialleri19 (Vancik) 17:50 (empty net). Penltie- UM, Burnes (checking from behind), 1:02; LSSU, McNamaa(holding), 14:34; LSSU, Pochmaa(high sticking), 18:29; UM, Woodford (high sticking), 19:35; LSSU Mushaluk (slashing), 19:35. Shosongod-UM,17-910-36; LSSU, 745-16. PowrPas- UM, lof4; WMU,0of 4. Sas-UM, Backburn-(:00, 15-16); LSSU, Denike - (3:51,1-1); LSSU, Violin - (55:16, 31-34); Empty net - (0:5310). Reeree-Steve Mclnchak Lkenm- Kevin Largseth, John Philo At Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor Attendance: 6,634. SUNDAY'S GAME Michigan 4, Lake Superior 1 Lake Superior 0 0 1 - Michigan 1 1 2 -4 Fkst pedod- 1. UM, Cammalleri 20 (Komisarek, Shouneyia), 19:19; 2. Penltes- UM, Mink (interference), 4:30; UM, Swistak (obstructiorn-ooking), 11:35; LSSU, Pochmara (high sticking), 14:19; UM, Gaic (crosschecking), 14:19; LSSU, Dahlen (obstructionhioking),17:26; LSSU, Reid (hooking), 18:33; UM, Ortmeyer (highsticking), 19:51. S Uond perod -2. UM, camiallen 21( 'strom, Ortmeyer), 4:32. Penalties- LSSU, Thompson (minor penalty), 9:43; UM, Moss (obstructionliooking),10:44. id pemod - 3. LSSU, Bachusz 6 (Davis, Mushaluk), 2:00; 4. UM, Nystrom (carrnalleri, Ortmeyer), 8:46; 5. UM, Shouneyia 10 (unassisted), 18:53. Penalties- UM, Gajic (obstructionhooking), 1:15; UM, Roemensky (interference), 9:50; UM, Rogers (holding), 13:14. Shoson goa-UM, 7-118-26; LSSU,463-13. PowerPlays-UM,1of2; LSSU,1of 7. Sa22s- UM, Bakbum- (60:00,12-13); LSSU, Violin - (57:04, 22-25). LSSU, Empty net (2:56,041) Referee - Steve Mclnchak Liesmen- Kevin Lagseth, John Philo At Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor Attenndance: 5.879. Friday night, the Michigan hockey team dug itself a hole. In the next two games, forward Mike Cammalleri put on his working gloves and dug his teammates out of it - almost single-handedly. In the deciding game of the Wolverines' best-of- three, first-round CCHA playoff series against Lake Superior last night, Michigan held a 5-on-3 advantage with less than one minute remain-_ ing in the first period and the score HOCKEY tied at zero. As junior John Shouneyia and Notebook sophomore Mike Komisarek passed the puck back and forth near the left side of the blueline, Cammalleri snuck to the right circle and received a pass from Komisarek. He found himself in a one-on-one situation with seemingly unbreakable goal- tender Matt Violin. Cammalleri skated in and as Violin came out of the crease, he proceeded to play him like a fiddle, faking left then quickly moving to his right for an easy flip-in. "I just tried to have some patience, and I was able to get it around him," Cammalleri said. "It was good for our team to get the first one in." "(Cammalleri is) a difference maker," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "He thrives in big games. We've been getting a lot of shots but not a lot of goals. He's a goal scorer." Cammalleri added another goal and an assist in Michigan's 4-1 victory over the Lakers last night, which upped his scoring numbers for the weekend to 5- 2-7. In Saturday night's game, with his team facing elimi- nation, the junior scored the Wolverines' last three goals in their 4-1 win, earning him his first hat trick of the season. Saturday, on a similar play to his first goal last night, Cammalleri received the puck from Komisarek in the right circle. But this time, he fired a one-timer that gave Michigan a 3-1 lead late in the third period. It was just another clutch goal from Michigan's leading goal scor- er (21). The Wolverines' played without Cammalleri from Jan. 19 to Feb. 23, rolling off a 7-2-1 record without their star, who was sidelined with mononucleosis. In his second full series back in the lineup, all signs point- ed to full recovery as he was the most dominating play- er on the ice all weekend. "After today, having played three (games) in three (nights) like that, I don't feel tired right now," Cammal- leri said. EXTRA-CURRICUIAR ACTIVITY: As the first period of last night's game came to a close with Michigan leading 1- 0, a verbal war began between Michigan freshman Eric Nystrom and Lake Superior coach Frank Anzalone. The two adversaries yelled from bench to bench, but it was nothing too serious. "(Nystrom) is a competitor," Anzalone said. "It was just competitive chitter-chatter. It was nothing more than 'You jerk, you bum.' It was all about Michigan trying to defend its turf, and us trying to invade it. He just stood up for his team." When Nystrom scored Michigan's third goal on a pass from Cammalleri, Komisarek was in the Michigan zone taking care of some personal business with Lake Superior forward Chris McNamara. The players were tied up against the boards and McNanara grabbed Komisarek's head and pulled his helmet off. Komisarek retaliated by punching McNamara in the back of the head just as Nystrom's backhand found the net. When the defenseman saw his teammate had scored, he skat- ed away from McNamara - who was being held down by the referee - with his arms in the air and a price- less grin. No, THANK YoU: Yost Ice Arena public address announcer Glen Williams is known for contributing many traditions to the Michigan hockey experience, especially his "you're welcome" - or lack their of - in the last minute of each contest. Last night, in what could have been Williams' last game announcing for the Wolverines after 33 years, he mixed up his routine just a bit. When the students thanked him for notifying them of the time left in regu- lation, he responded with a heart-felt "No, thank you." UNDER 6,000: Last night's game - one that could have ended Michigan's season with a loss - produced the lowest attendance (5,879) since the Blue-White exhibition game on Sep. 28. UN-FAIRwISE?: By virtue of its loss to Lake Superior Friday night, Michigan dropped from No. 4 in the Pair- wise Rankings (which mirror the NCAA Tournament selection process) to No. 10. 9 TOM FELDKAMP/Daily Lake Superior goalie Matt Violin was often in the right place at the right time as he kept the Lakers within striking distance of a stunning upset over Michigan this weekend. LAKERS aways in a two-minute span, both of which K ebeat Blackburn cleanly through his five-hole. ContinuedLfrom Page B nrirddedtw rea L.Jtt ake Su ero add d V to more oa LI i than a minute into the game, Lake Superior's Chris McNamara got a breakaway from his own blue line and slid the puck through Blackburn's legs for a shorthanded goal. It was the first of two Lake Superior break- before Michigan was able to get on the board. A late Jed Ortmeyer goal would pull Michigan to within 4-3, but it was not able to force overtime as Lake Superior held on for the upset. *9 Lh 7-4z- JM I / N c A f 1ISNncv XJ * L Nnc C Y 7 >Nn.~ II L 9 V q- A Vq IaAft N & i