4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 24, 2003
Chatting into the boards
"I could have gone up to him and talked
as much as fie did ... I felt I was the
bigger man.
- Michigan freshman Al Montoya on Ferris
State senior Chris Kunitz, in response to
Kunitz calling him out on Feb. 1.
FRIDAY'S GAME
$X Ohio State 0
Michigan 3
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 5
U Ferris State 3
Key play
5:27 of the third period
- Michigan's Michael Woodford scored
for the first time in 14 games, giving Michi-
gan a 4-2 lead. Woodford's goal was the
eventual game-winner.
"
FRIDAY'S GAME
Michigan 3, Ohio State 0
Ohio State
Michigan
0 0
0 2
0
1
- 0
- 3
First period - Penalties - John Shouneyia, MICH
(high sticking) 0:47; Paul Caponigri, OSU (hooking)
1:17; Nate Guenin, OSU (interference) 3:19; Andy
Burnes, MICH (tripping) 7:11; Scott Titus, OSU (hold-
ing) 12:16; Ryan Kesler, OSU (roughing) 16:56; Mike
Roemensky, MICH (roughing) 16:56; Nate Guenin,
OSU (goaltender interference) 18:38; Danny Rich-
mond, MICH (roughing) 18:38. Second period -1,
MICH, Dwight Helminen 14 (Eric Nystrom 10,
Danny Richmond 19) 8:06; 2, MICH, Dwight Helmi-
nen 15 (J.J. Swistak 3) 10:43. Penalties - Nick
Martens, MICH (interference) 13:06; Michael
Woodford, MICH (high-sticking) 15:55; Dave Steck-
el, OSU (high-sticking) 15:55; J.J. Swistak, MICH
(high sticking) 15:55; Scott Titus, OSU (interfer-
ence) 18:24. Third period -3, MICH, Dwight Helmi-
nen 16 (Nick Martens 9) 9:37 (sh). Penalties-
Dave Steckel, OSU (roughing) 2:44; Michael Wood-
ford, MICH (roughing) 2:44; Luke Pavlas, OSU
(slashing) 5:29; Andy Burnes, MICH (hooking) 7:56;
Chris Olsgard, OSU (goaltender interference) 10:20;
Scott May, OSU (roughing) 12:46; Jason Ryznar,
MICH (roughing) 12:46; Ryan Kesler, OSU (high-
sticking) 16:14; T.J. Latorre, OSU (roughing) 19:45;
Andrew Ebbett, MICH (roughing) 19:45; Eric Skaug,
OSU (10-minute misconduct) 20:00; Al Montoya,
MICH (roughing) 20:00. Shots on Goal: OSU 7-10-14
31; MICH 7-7-10 24. Power plays: OSU 0 of 5; MICH 0 of
7. Penalties: OSU 14 (36 m); MICH 12(24 min).
Saves - OSU, Mike Betz (20-9-5-21; MICH, Al
Montoya (27-9-3)-31. Referee: Steve Piotrowski.
At: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit. Attendance: 12,967.
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 5, Ferris State 3
Montoya n
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Writer
DETROIT - The buzzer had sound-
ed. The game was over. But Michigan
goalie Al Montoya was still wrapped up
in the emotions of the playoffs.
On Friday night, the 18-year-old fresh-
man burst out of the
crease toward the
Ohio State player who
fired a wrist shot at
him after the third-
period clock had run
out. Following a short
scuffle, the Wolverines gathered Mon-
toya, and the freshman skated away -
content with a shutout win and a trip to
the CCHA Championship Game.
Montoya is young, but he has never
been afraid to stand up for himself. On
the ice this weekend, he played like he
was oblivious to the gravity of the situa-
tion. And he led his team to a CCHA
Tournament title.
"Obviously, he has a lot of pressure on
him," associate captain Andy Burnes
said. "Everybody says how goaltending
will win you (playoff games), and goal-
tending's the most important part of play-
offs. I think for a freshman goaltender,
who's the youngest player in college
hockey, Al's handled that pressure great.
He's playing great hockey, and he's giving
us a chance every night."
Montoya made 31 saves Friday night,
takes a big
one with his back on the goalline. Wi
five minutes to go in the second perio
the freshman had just denied anothe
Buckeyes powerplay. Ohio State still co
trolled the puck in the Wolverines zon
and fired a slapshot at the net.
"I didn't really see the puck from th
point, and I knew I had to stay tight,
Montoya said. "The puck hit my stici
(and the) rebound went right in front."
With sticks flying, Montoya was force
to fall backward, and he, along with team
mate Michael Woodford, swatted it out c
trouble.
Saturday, he shutdown the CCHA's to
offensive team about as well as anyon
probably could, making 17 saves en rout
to a 5-3 win.
"I (told) him this week, 'You know th
real playoffs start this week,"' coach Re
Berenson said. "And he had the righ
response. He said, 'I can't wait.' And h
was dead on."
Montoya's wins this weekend als
came against the two top goalies in th
CCHA in terms of goals-against averag
- Mike Betz of Ohio State and Mik
Brown of Ferris State.
"After the awards banquet (on Wednes
day), you know, I saw the highligh
videos, I saw the awards handed out, an
I was like 'I want to go out there an
prove something,"' Montoya said
"'These guys obviously don't think I'r
one of the top (goalies) in the league.' S
I went out there, and I feel like I (made)
statement'
th statement."
d, BREAKING OUT: Sophomore forward
er Dwight Helminen had his coach nervous.
n- "When I looked at our stat (sheet) that 'J
ie said that he had not scored a goal at Joe
Louis in the past, I think he played six
ie games here, I was a little worried about
,"him before the game," Berenson said with
k a smile after Friday's game. T.
Michigan's coach had just watched
d Helminen score all three of the Wolver-
a- ines' goals against Ohio State, including a
of perfectly placed wristshot into the top
right-hand corner of the Buckeyes' net
p for his fourth shorthanded tally of the sea-
e son.
eo "It's a great feeling," Helminen said
after that game. "You don't really expect
e that going into a game. For it to go your
d way like that, it's a great feeling."
ht His eventual game-winning goal was
e a backhand shot through the legs of
Ohio State goalie Mike Betz. He added
o his second score of the game two min-
e utes later on a carom off of the boards
e behind the net.
e On Saturday, the sophomore added
the empty-net goal with five seconds
s- left in the game that clinched the
it Wolverines' title.
d "In the past, I've had chances and
d things haven't been going in," said
1. Helminen, who has now scored six goals
m in his last four games. "I've gotten a few TONY DING/Daily
o bounces here and there, and the flood- This weekend Michigan freshman goalie Al Montoya beat the conference's top
a gates have opened." two goalies In Northern Michigan's Craig Kowalski and Ferris State's Mike Brown.
'D' shuts down offensive machine
Michigan
Ferris State
1
1
2
0
2
2
- 5
- 3
0
First period -1, MICH, Jeff Tambellini 26 (Brandon
Rogers 19, John Shouneyia 27) 4:25; 2, FSU, Chris
Kunitz 33 (Jeff Legue 30, Simon Mangos 11) 10:47
(pp). Penalties - Nick Martens, MICH (obstruction-
holding) 10:26; Matt York, FSU (interference) 12:30;
John Shouneyia, MICH (obstruction-tripping) 17:16.
Second period - 3, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer 15 (John
Shouneyia 28, Brandon Rogers 20) 4:45; 4, MICH,
Jed Ortmeyer 16 (Jeff Tambellini 17, Brandon
Rogers 21) 18:41 (pp). Penalties- Mark Mink,
MICH (high-sticking) 9:21; Phil Meyer, FSU (cross-
checking) 13:03; TEAM, MICH (too many on ice)
16:18; Phil Lewandowski, FSU (roughing) 18:27;
Carter Thomson, FSU (high-sticking) 19:28; Jeff
Tambellini, MICH (hit after whistle) 19:28; Troy
Milam, FSU (hit after whistle) 19:28. Third period
-5, FSU, Simon Mangos 10 (Jeff Legue 31) 3:34
(pp); 6, MICH, Michael Woodford 5 (Andrew Ebbett
17) 5:27; 7, FSU, Matt York 6 (Greg Rallo 14, Mike
Kinnie 14)17:00; 8, MICH, Dwight Helminen 17,
19:55 (empty net). Penalties-Andy Burnes, MICH
(interference) 3:02; Michael Woodford, MICH
(cross-checking) 14:59; Jed Ortmeyer, MICH (rough-
ing) 19:55; Chris Kunitz, FSU (roughing) 19:55.
Shots on Goal: MICH 13-7-10 30; FSU 6-5-9 20.Power
plays: MICH 1 of 4; FSU 2 of 6. Saves - MICH, Al Mon-
toya (28-9-3) -17; FSU, Mike Brown (29-9-1) - 25.
Referee: Steve Piotrowski. At: Joe Louis Arena,
Detroit, Attendance: 19,097.
HOW THEY FARED
No. 1 Colorado College (29-6-5) def.
No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth 4-3, lost to
No. 6 Minnesota 4-2.
No. 2 Cornell (2841) def. Brown 2-0,
def. No. 12 Harvard 3-2.
No. 3 New Hampshire (25-7-6) did not
play.
No. 4 Ferris State (30-9-1) def. North-
ern Michigan 4-2, lost to No. 8 Michi-
gan 5-3.
No. 5 Minnesota (24-8-9) def. No. 9
Minnesota State-Mankato 3-2, def. No.
1 Colorado College 4-2.
No. 6 Boston College (23-10.4) did not
play.
No. 7 Boston University (24-13-3) did
not play.
No. 8 Michigan (28-9-3) def. Ohio State
3-0, def. No. 4 Ferris State 5-3.
No. 9 Minnesota State-Mankato (20-10-
10) lost to No. 5 Minnesota 3-2, lost to
No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth 6-4.
No. 10 Maine (24-9-5) did not play.
No. 11 North Dakota (26-11-5) lost to
No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth 2-1.
No. 12 Harvard (22-9-2) def. Dartmouth
5-3, lost to No. 2 Cornell 3-2.
No. 13 Ohio State (25-11-5) def. Notre
Dame 3-2, lost to No. 8 Michigan 5-3.
No. 14 Michigan State (23-14-2) lost to
Northern Michigan 7-5.
No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth (20-14-5) def.
No. 11 North Dakota 2-1, def. No. 9
Minnesota State-Mankato 6-4.
CCHA ROUNDUP
Thursday's games:
Ohio State 3, Notre Dame 2
Northern Michigan 7, Michigan State 5
Friday's games:
Ferris State 4, Northern Michigan 2
Michigan 3, Ohio State 0
Saturday's games:
Northern Michigan 4, Ohio State 1
Michigan 5, Ferris State 3
CCHA LEADERS
By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Writer
TONY DING/Daily
Michigan forward Dwight Helminen and Ferris State captain Troy Milam tangle for a
loose puck on Saturday night.
BULLDOGS
Continued from Page 1B
amazing, everyone on the bench feeds
off it."
For the 19 seconds after Burnes'
play, Michigan dictated control of the
game, as sophomore Dwight Helminen
added an empty-netter to send the Joe
Louis Arena crowd into a frenzy.
After that, all Michigan could do was
celebrate its second-straight - sixth
overall - CCHA Tournament Champi-
onship.
"It was just a season ... I was letting
it all out;' said a near speechless Mon-
toya, when trying to describe his emo-
tion after Helminen's goal. "It was just
unbelievable. I can't describe the feel-
ing. I was just letting it all out. Every-
thing up to now didn't mean anything.
We came out, and we were the better
team tonight."
For Montoya, tonight's game - and
the weekend as a whole - was a state-
ment that the freshman has been wait-
ing to make. On Friday he earned a
shutout against a good Ohio State team,
and Saturday he shut down the league's
top scorer in Chris Kunitz, holding him
to just one powerplay goal. Stopping
Kunitz was something on Montoya's
mind since their last meeting over a
month ago when Kunitz scored four
goals in two games. Kunitz also com-
mented after Ferris State's win over
Michigan on Feb. 1 that Montoya had
"let his team down," and that he let up
soft goals.
Montoya said after Saturday's game
that for as much talking as Kunitz had
done after the February game, all he
could say during the post-game hand-
shakes was "good job."
This was a game where Michigan's
defense shined, holding the Bulldogs'
top line of Kunitz, Nesbitt and Jeff
Legue to only one goal on just seven
shots. In the previous two meetings
between Michigan and Ferris State, that
trio produced five goals on 20 shots.
The only time they put the puck in
the net has at the 10:47 mark of the
first period, when Legue passed from
the left corner to Kunitz, who was
waiting at the point, for a top-shelf
powerplay goal.
"Our powerplay throughout the year
has been adequate and not great - the
strength of our team is five-on-five,"
Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said. He
also noted that Michigan's quickness
was a factor in scoring just one even-
strength goal -though it came just one
second after a powerplay expired. He
also said how moving Kunitz to the
point caught many teams by surprise, as
it did Michigan when the Wolverines
left him alone for his tally.
Kunitz's goal tied the game at one.
Michigan freshman Jeff Tambellini had
scored an even-strength goal six min-
utes earlier.
The Wolverines came out on fire in
the second period, and led by captain
Jed Ortmeyer, built up a lead they
would not relinquish. Ortmeyer scored
his first goal of the night just over a
minute into the period when senior
John Shouneyia passed to him as he
was streaking down the left side of the
ice. The captain one-timed it past Ferris
State goaltender Mike Brown to give
Michigan a 2-1 lead.
"Ort was flying up the wing ... he
got three strides ahead of me, and the
defender kind of keyed towards me so I
gave it up to (Ortmeyer) for a one-
timer," Shouneyia said.
Ortmeyer scored again 14 minutes
later when, on the powerplay, he saw a
shot from Tambellini going just wide
left of Brown. Ortmeyer positioned
himself perfectly to receive the rebound
off the back boards and put it between
Brown's right leg and the post.
In the opening minutes of the third
period, Ferris State answered back
when junior defenseman Simon
Mangos scored a powerplay goal
with Michigan defender Nick
Martens in his face.
Michigan responded 5:27 into the
period when freshman Andrew Ebbett
won a faceoff in Ferris State territory.
The faceoff win went directly to
sophomore Michael Woodford, who
shot it through traffic to beat Brown
glove-side. Before Helminen's empty
netter, Ferris State's Matt York scored
when Montoya couldn't control a
rebound off him.
DETROIT - For Ferris State
forwards Chris Kunitz and Jeff
Legue this season, the CCHA has
been theirs. Going into Saturday
night's game against Michigan the
two had combined for 55 goals and
70 assists, flying by defenders and
creating odd-man rushes at the
greatest of ease.
But that all stopped with the
Mason Cup at stake, as the duo was
silent in five-on-five situations.
The Michigan coaching staff
devised a plan after Friday night's
semifinal to keep the two snipers at
bay, putting tabs on the Bulldogs'
top line every time they stepped on
the ice.
"We were aware when Kunitz
was out there," Michigan defense-
man Andy Burnes said. "We had a
stick on them, we were in their
face. We get in their kitchen, and
they get off their game."
Kunitz, one of 10 Hobey Baker
Award finalists, had just one shot
on net the entire game when the
Bulldogs were not on the power-
play. Legue had just three. This
was because Michigan was able to
keep up with them, leaving them
unable to create the odd-man
rushes they have wreaked havoc
on all season. The two had aver-
aged eight shots per game going
into the Super Six.
"Both ourselves and (Michigan)
are two of the quicker teams (in the
league)," Daniels said. "I think (in
a lot of other games) we were able
to generate offense because of our,
quickness. So the things that would
develop into an odd-man rush
weren't developing."
Michigan associate head coach
Mel Pearson gave credit to head
coach Red Berenson and assistant
Billy Powers for preparing the for-
wards and defensemen, respective-
ly. Stopping the Bulldogs' top line
effectively shut down their offense,
considering 70 of Ferris State's 172
goals this season (40.7-percent)
had come from Kunitz, Legue or
linemate Derek Nesbitt. And 112
of the Bulldogs' goals (65.1-per-
cent) came from one of their top
two lines.
"If we shutdown that No. 1 line,
they don't have anything," goalie
Al Montoya said. "Our defense, we
haven't played this well in I don't
know how long."
The only time the vaunted line
caused Michigan trouble was on
the powerplay, which was a sur-
prise considering the Ferris State
powerplay came into the game
ranked fifth in the league. The
Bulldogs first two goals came
with an extra man, as Kunitz
blasted a shot over Montoya's
glove from the blueline in the first
period, and defenseman Simon
Mangos scored on a pass from
Legue while on a break.
Kunitz's goal came from a
change in the Bulldog powerplay
that moved the league's top scorer
to the point from behind the net,
his role until the Bulldogs' playoff
series against Lake Superior State
last week. Instead, Legue took the
puck behind the net - and fired it
to an open Kunitz.
"There is a reason he's scored 33
goals and is a Hobey Baker candi-
date," Pearson said. "He's going to
get his chances in a game and some
of them are going to go in."
But that shot was the only other
one Kunitz had on net, as the Bull-
dogs had just 11 shots on net in the
first two periods.
Add to that a solid performance
in net from Montoya, and the
Wolverines were playing solid
playoff hockey.
"Our whole mindset going into
this weekend was to play good,
strong defensive hockey," Burnes
said. "Because we knew defense
was going to win the tournament
for us. In playoff hockey, that's
what it comes down to is good
defense and good goaltending."
But the team's good defense is
going to have to continue at next
week's NCAA Midwest regional if
the Wolverines are going to reach
their ultimate destination, the
Frozen Four.
"Our eyes are set on next (Satur-
day)," Burnes said. "We know
we're going to have to continue
(playing) good defense and good
goaltending."
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Through Mar. 24-- All games
Player G
1. Chris Kunitz, FSU 33
2. Jeff Legue, FSU 23
3. R.J. Umberger, OSU 26
4. John-Michael Ules, MSU 16
5. Derek Nesbitt,FSU 18
6. Mike Kompon, Miami 17
A
41
35
27
34
31
31
P
74
58
53
50
49
48
Jed Ortmeyer
Senior/forward
Xhbe Afirhigwx BadI
iTree stars of the weekend
Dwight Helminen
Sophomore/forward
1
3
Al Montoya
Freshman/goaltender
i