4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 3, 2003
Chatting into the boards FRIDAY'S GAME SATURDAY'S GAME Key play
3ls Saturday, 3:50 into the 1st
"I wasn't sure If that was a good omen Ferris State 4 Michigan 3
or nte. - With Friday night's early 2-0 Ferris
State lead still fresh in everyone's mind, t
- Ferris State coach Bob Daniels referring to his team's 2-0 Michigan 6 Ferris State 4 the Bulldogs jumped out ahead 2-0 again
lead on Saturday night, one day after the Bulldogs couldn't when a Jeff Legue shot found its way
hold onto an early two-goal lead. through traffic in front of Al Montoya.
0
FRIDAY'S GAME
Michigan 6, Ferris State 4
Kunitz: Montoya 'fell apart for his team'
Ferris State
Michigan
31 - 4
2 31 - 6
First period -2, MICH, 3,FSU -1, FSU 19 Large
(Thomson) 1:31, 2, FSU 14 Kunitz (Legue) 3:20, 3,
MICH 4 Burnes (Gajic) 7:54, 4, MICH 15 Tambellini
(Mink) 11:28, 5, FSU 14 Kunitz 14:46. Penalties-
Team, MICH (too many men) 8:43; Matt Yorki, FSU
(holding) 15:27; Troy Milan, FSU (tripping) 17:25;
Jason Ryzner, MICH (roughing) 19:31
Second perod-3, MICH, 1 FSU-1, MICH 9
Gajic (Rogers) 5:21, 2, MICH 7 Richmond (Ebbett)
12:57, 3, MICH 9 Gajic (Moss) 14:14, 4, FSU 22
Mangos (Thomson) 14:37 Penalties - Scherlinck,
FSU (interference) 06:15; Tambellini, MICH (slash-
ing) 11:33; York, FSU (slashing) 11:33; Richmond,
MICH (high sticking) 15:35; Kinny, FSU (high stick-
ing) 15:35; Kunitz, FSU (goaltender interference)
19:43; Woodford, MICH (hit after whistle) 19:43;
Meyer, FSU (hot after whistle) 19:43
Third period -1, MICH, 0, FSU. Tambellini 15
(Ortenmeyer) 7:27. Penalties- Richmond, MICH
(interference) 03:57; Scherlinck, FSU (slashing)
12:35; Burnes, MICH (interference) 14:34;
Lewandowski, FSU (unsportsmanlike conduct)
14:34; Montoya, MICH (unsportsmanlike conduct)
14:34; Gajic, MICH (roughing after the whistle)
18:17; Rallo, FSU (roughing after the whistle) 18:17,
Roemnsky, MICH (high sticking) 18:17; Kinnie, FSU
(high sticking) 18:17
Shots on goal: MICH 12-17-8 37; FSU 11-5-6 22. Power
plays: MICH 0 of 9; FSU 0 of 4. Saves - MICH, Mon-
toya (186-1) -18; FSU, Brown (18-8-1) - 31.
Referee: Steve Piotrowski.
At: Yost ice Arena. Attendance: 6,917.
SATURDAY'S GAME
Ferris State 4, Michigan 3
By Kyle O'Neill
Daily Sports Editor
BIG RAPIDS - Michigan goalie Al Mon-
toya had his midterm Saturday night against
Ferris State, and according to the Bulldogs'
Hobey Baker candidate, Chris Kunitz, the
freshman didn't leave Big Rapids with a pass-
ing grade.
"I think we had him rattled - I mean the first
shot on net I had went over his glove, and it
wasn't a hard shot or anything," Kunitz said.
"And we just kept pressuring and pressuring
him, and he kind of fell apart for his team. We
had him on the ropes right off the bat.
"Maybe he was a little worried from (Fri-
day) night."
Kunitz was referring to the two times Mon-
toya went down Friday after Ferris State play-
ers had run into him.
For all the critiquing Kunitz gave Montoya,
the senior basically rewrote the test that Michi-
gan's netminder was taking. Kunitz finished the
weekend with four goals and one assist - all
five points coming before Michigan scored in
either game. And with three of the points in Sat-
urday night's first period, he was personally
going to make sure the Bulldogs had a lead they
would not relinquish.
Ferris State grabbed a 2-0 lead four min-
utes into Friday's game, but lost the goal
advantage by the second period. On Saturday,
Ferris State had a 4-0 lead before Michigan
scored at the 7:32 mark of the second period.
"I think it gives our guys a boost when we
score first, and it gets guys rolling to keep
going out there," Kunitz said. "Everyone was
excited and it's not like, 'Here we go again.'
Although Kunitz was a main factor early on,
his lack of point production in the third period
was definitely noticeable. But Ferris State coach
Bob Daniels takes the blame for that.
"The only thing I've got to find a way to
(rest him) - but I overplayed him," Daniels
said. "So by the time he hit the third period,
the kid's exhausted and I don't think he can
generate the kind of offense that he does in
the first period. With the penalty kill, the
four-on-four and the powerplay, I just think I
wore him out."
With the win, Ferris State retained its four-
point lead over Michigan that it had going
into the two-game home-and-home series.
And although his Bulldogs sit atop the CCHA
right now, Kunitz is still quite aware of which
team the title goes through come March.
"We'll be excited to play (the Wolverines)
at a neutral site like Joe Louis Arena," Kunitz
said. "We're both top teams in the league, it's
just exciting to play against them."
Kunitz, at 53 points for the season, is one
of the main candidates for the Hobey Baker
Award. And while he didn't leave that
impressed of Michigan's stud goaltender, he
did leave with high thoughts of the Wolver-
ines' leading goal scorer, - freshman Jeff
Tambellini.
"He reminds you a lot of (former Wolver-
ines) Mike Cammalleri and Mike Comrie,"
Kunitz said. "He's ... shifty, real good, sees
the ice well, shoots the puck well and just
gets in the open spots.
"He's going to be a great player in the
future for sure. He's been carrying Michigan
as a freshman, so he's going to have great
things to come in the future."
0
Michigan
Ferris State
0 21 - 3
3 1 0 - 4
First period -1, FSU, Chris Kunitz 23 (Jeff Legue,
Derek Nesbitt) 1:19; 2, FSU, Jeff Legue 18 (Chris
Kunitz, Derek Nesbitt) 3:50; 3, FSU, Chris Kunitz 24
(Simon Mangos, Jeff Legue). Penalties - Jeff Legue,
FSU (hit after whistle) 16:13; Danny Richmond, MICH
(hit after whistle) 16:13; Simon Mangos, FSU (rough-
ing) 16:13; Jed Ortmeyer, MICH (roughing) 16:13;
Brett Smith, FSU (hit after whistle) 16:38; Nick
Martens, MICH (hit after whistle) 16:38.
Second period - 4, FSU, Simon Mangos 7 (Brett
Smith) 1:36; 5, MICH, Brandon Kaleniecki 11 (Jeff
Tambellini, Andrew Ebbett) 7:32; 6, MICH, Jed Ort-
meyer 5 (Brandon Rogers, Danny Richmond) 11:59
(pp). Penalties - Matt York, FSU (hit after whistle)
0:17; Mark Mink, MICH (hit after whistle) 0:17; Troy
Milam, FSU (hooking) 2:05; Nick Martens, MICH
(elbowing) 4:06; Jed Ortmeyer, MICH (elbowing)
8:20; Phil Meyer, FSU (roughing) 10:54; Nick
Martens, MICH (cross-checking) 12:34; Mike Kin-
nie, FSU (elbowing) 13:29; Phil Lewandowski, FSU
(hit after whistle) 20:00.
Third period - 7, MICH, Jeff Tambellini 18 (Brandon
Rogers) 5:25. Penalties - Troy Milam, FSU (rough-
ing) 1:30; Nick Martens, MICH (roughing) 1:30;
Brandon Rogers, MICH (hit after whistle) 8:25;
Andrew Ebbett, MICH (hooking) 14:59; Jason Ryz-
nar, MICH (roughing) 18:43; Brett Smith, FSU (hit
after whistle) 19:20; Danny Richmond, MICH (hit
after whistle) 19:20; Brett Smith, FSU (10-minute
misconduct) 19:20.
Shots on goal: MICH 19-11-7 37; FSU 10-5-17 32.
Power plays: MICH 1 of 4; FSU 0 of 6. Saves - MICH,
Montoya (7-4-16) - 27; FSU, Brown (19-9-6) - 34.
Referee: Steve Piotrowski.
At: Ewiglben Arena, Big Rapids. Attendance: 2,493.
How THEY FARED
No. 1 Maine (21-3-4) def. No. 5 New
Hampshire 3-2, lost to No. 5 New Hamp-
shire 4-2
No. 2 North Dakota (21-4-3) lost to No. 3
Colorado College 4-1, lost to No. 3 Col-
orado College 5-3.
No. 3 Colorado College (21-2-5) def. No.
2 North Dakota 4-1, def. No. 2 North
Dakota 5-3.
No. 4 Cornell (174-0) def. Colgate 3-1,
lost to Colgate 2-1.
No. 5 New Hampshire (18-5-3) lost to
No. 1 Maine 3-2, def. No. 1 Maine 4-2.
No. 6 Boston College (16-6-3) def. Mass-
achusetts 9-0,
No. 7 Michigan (18-7-1)lost to No. 9 Ferris
State 4-3, def. No. 9 Ferris State 6-4.
No. 8 Minnesota (14-7) def.to Nebraska-
Omaha 4-0, lost to Nebraska-Omaha 3-1
No.9 Ferris State (19.8-1) def. Alaska-
Anchorage 4-1, def. Alaska-Anchorage 4-0.
No. 10 Ohio State (18-6-3) def. Notre
Dame 2-0, tied Notre Dame 3-3.
No. 11 Denver (1774) def. Wisconsin 7-
1, def. Wisconsin 4-1.-
No. 12 St. Cloud State (13-10-3) def.
Michigan Tech 4-2, lost to Michigan Tech
4-3.
No. 13 Harvard (13-61) def. Brown 3-1.
No. 14 Boston University (15-10-2) def.
Merrimack 5-0.
No. 15 Minnesota State-Mankato (12-7-
9) def. Minnesota-Duluth 4-1, def. Min-
nesota-Duluth 5-3.
CCHA ROUNDUP
Fdday's games:
Miami 5, MICHIGAN STATE 3
Bowling Green 5, NEBRASKA-OMAHA 0
Micmam 6, Ferris State 4
NOTRE DAME 3, Ohio State 3
Saturday's gaymes:
Ohio State 2, NOTRE DAME 0
MICHIGAN STATE 3, Miami 2
FERRIS STATE 4, MIchigan 3
NEBRASKA-OMAHA 6, Bowling Green 3
CCHA STANDINGS
Michigan goaltender Al Montoya got the best of Ferris State star Chris Kunitz here in the second period of Friday's game, but Kunitz still scored four goals on the freshman netminder on the weekend
6
q
BULLDOGS
Continued from Page l.B
"We definitely put ourselves behind the
eight ball," Michigan senior captain Jed Ort-
meyer said. "But we like a challenge. We def-
initely got one right now. (But) this race isn't
over with yet."
Ferris State jumped out in front 1:19 in
when Kunitz scored his third of four goals on
the weekend, as he beat Michigan goaltender
Al Montoya above his left shoulder while
skating into the middle of the zone. Then just
over two minutes later, Jeff Legue deflected a
Kunitz shot between Montoya's legs. That
gave the Bulldogs' top line two goals against
Michigan's top line of Tambellini, Ortmeyer
and John Shouneyia in its first two shifts.
"We had some mental breakdowns, and
they were able to capitalize," Ortmeyer said.
Kunitz lit the lamp again when he received
a pass that was cycled to him after Eric Nys-
trom lost the puck at the Michigan end. He
shot a slow roller that went through Mon-
toya's legs. The score then became 4-0 early
in the second, as Simon Mangos put the puck
between Montoya and the near post on a Bull-
dog three-on-one break.
"They weren't great scoring chances, but
the puck was going to the net," Berenson
said.
Michigan started to control play for the
remainder of the second period, outshooting
the Bulldogs 11-5.
The Wolverines finally broke through when
Ebbett dished the puck off to Tambellini, who
found freshman Brandon Kalenecki on the
near side right in front to tap it in. Then on
the powerplay, Brandon Rogers received a
pass from Danny Richmond and beat Brown
top shelf.
Michigan had its chances early in the third,
but Ferris State took back the game, the series
and possibly the first league title for any team
other than Michigan or Michigan State since
1996. The Wolverines' penalties took them-
selves out of a comeback. Ferris State's initial
goal rush was too much to overcome.
"I don't know if we were quite ready for it,
or if we were a little too comfortable," Ort-
meyer said. "But it's definitely tough spotting
a team four goals and trying to come back."
Late whistles spurn comeback bid
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Writer
Team
Ferris State
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Western Michigan
Miami
Northern Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha
Notre Dame
Alaska-Fairbanks
Bowling Green
Lake Superior
w
1L
1:
1:
1:
19
9
7
6
4
1
CCHA
L
4 5 1
2 4
2 5
1 71
1 70
0 10
0 7 1
12
T 10
11
1 13
1 16
T
1
2
1
1
0
2
1
1
3
5
2
1
Pts
29
26
25
23
22
22
21
19
17
17
10
3
overall
W L T
19 8 1
18 6 3
18 7 1
15 10 2
13 12 1
16 12 2
14 10 2
11 14 3
9. 13 6
9 12 5
7 16 2
4 18 4
BIG RAPIDS - Four goals
down in a hostile road environment
would have been tough enough for
the Michigan hockey team to over-
come. But struggling to make up
that ground
while killing HOCKEY
penalties proved Notebook
to be too steep a
hill for the
Wolverines to climb in Saturday's
loss to Ferris State.
Michigan took 12 penalties, dam-
aging the comeback bid. Three of
those whistles came late, forcing
the Wolverines to play four of the
final 10 minutes with fewer than
five men on the ice.
After the game, it wasn't his
Wolverines that coach Red Beren-
son was upset with.
"I don't know if it was as much
us taking a penalty as it was some-
one deciding that it was a penalty,"
Berenson said. "It's not like it's
black and white. I just thought that
this game had too much on the line
to be calling penalties that ...
(were) judgement calls."
One of those whistles was direct-
ed at Brandon Rogers for a hit well
behind the play. The penalty cane
just three minutes after Jeff Tam-
bellini had cut the Bulldogs' lead to
4-3 with Michigan's third-straight
tally. The two-minute minor
promptly shifted the game's
momentum and brought the raucous
crowd at Ewigleben Arena back
into the game.
"That's the problem even being a
referee, is every time a player falls,
if there's contact, is that a penalty?"
Berenson said after the game. "A
lot of times it's out of the corner of
your eye, just like it's out of the
corner of my eye."
BACK AGAIN?: Milan Gajic hung
around the ice after the pre-game
skate Friday, just like he always
does. But instead of firing pucks at
the open net or skating a few extra
circles in the Michigan zone, the
sophomore forward sat quietly on
an empty Wolverines' bench. His
eyes locked intensely forward.
So far this season, Michigan has
been waiting for the Burnaby, British
Columbia native to breakout.
On Friday, he seemed to have an
added focus, and that translated
into his best game of the season.
Gajic's two goals led the Wolver-
ines to the 6-4 win.
But Gajic's most important con-
tribution may not have been his
goal scoring. Just eight minutes
into Friday's game, with the
Wolverines already trailing 2-0, the
sophomore squeezed the puck
through a defender's legs to a wide-
open Andy Burnes in the slot.
Michigan's alternate captain waited
a second before firing a wristshot
under the crossbar that brought the
Wolverines back into the game.
"It just seemed like the puck was
going my way," Gajic later said.
"Every time I turned around, it was
right there."
The sophomore's second-year
TONY DING/Daily
While Michigan's Milan Gaic (right) had two goals Friday night, it was Ferris State
that had the last word, holding the sophomore scoreless in Saturday's loss.
I
a
struggles have been widely dis-
cussed. As a freshman, he tied for
sixth on the team in scoring and
showed flashes of why he set a
record for goals, assists and points
for the British Columbia Hockey
League's Burnaby Bulldogs two
seasons ago. But before this week-
end, he had managed just five goals
and six assists on the year and sat
out games against Bowling Green
on Nov. 8 and 9 due to academic
suspension.
"I've been concerned about him,
because he's a better player than
he's shown," Berenson said. "And
tonight he showed some flashes of
Milan Gajic. Obviously he can real-
ly help our team out if he plays that
well with the puck."
CCHA LEADERS
Through Jan. 12 - League games only
Player G A P
1. Chris Kunitz, FSU 20 19 39
2. Mike Kompon, Miami 11 17 28
3. R.J. Umberger, OSU 10 16 26
4. Jeff Legue, FSU 12 13 25
5. Greg Hogeboom, Miami 14 10 24
6. Brd FstMSU 8 14 99
Thiree stars oft/ie weekendf
03d Milan Gajic:
*1
Jeff Tambellini
I)
Jed Ortmeyer
fr ' --M - -----7
4