The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 10, 2003 - 3B
BULLDOGS
Continued from Page 1B
moved the puck from behind the Bull-
dogs' net to the left faceoff circle and
then out to Eric Werner at the point.
The defenseman fired the puck to the
top right corner past goaltender Mike
Brown with 56 seconds left, tying the
score at five.
The Wolverines had all the momen-
tum entering overtime, but a rare over-
time penalty quickly shifted it Ferris
State's way. Jason Dest's cross-checking
call gave the Bulldogs the man advan-
tage, and Brett Smith scored the win-
ning goal from the right point at 2:52.
Back at home Saturday, No. 4
Michigan (4-2 CCHA, 8-2 overall)
never trailed and Montoya bounced
back to stop 21-of-23 shots. In the
first and second periods, Milan Gajic
and Brandon Rogers scored power-
play goals early in each respective
period, only to see Ferris State
bounce back later in the period with
goals of its own.
Ferris State's Carter Thomson com-
mitted a penalty at 19:57 of the second
period, and Michigan spent the inter-
mission getting ready for its opportu-
nity. When the Wolverines got back on
ice, they moved the puck around to
Jeff Tambellini at the right faceoff cir-
cle. The sophomore forward fired a
wrister into traffic, and it hit off
Brown's leg pad through the five-hole
into the net.
All three of Michigan's goals Satur-
day and six of eight for the weekend
came off the powerplay. Michigan's
powerplay success has been key to the
team's success so far in the season.
"Luckily, it's been clicking," Tam-
bellini said. "We've got a lot of guys
battling in front of that net. If the goalie
can't see it, a lot of those pucks are
going to go in."
Michigan's defense was much
Pankratz's
'master plan
pays offforfield hockey
JASON COOPER/Daily
Michigan forward Milan Gajic slips down to the ice during Saturday night's 3-2 win over Ferris State. Gajic scored his second
goal of the season in the first period.
improved Saturday. Ferris State was left
with far fewer chances and didn't have
the same clear looks at the net they had
Friday.
"Our defensemen were more aware,
and our weakside forwards were com-
ing back and supporting them, where
(Friday night) they were left alone,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
Ferris State (2-6, 3-7), last year's
CCHA regular season champ, is slowly
returning to form after its 8-0 loss at
Michigan State on Halloween. The
Bulldogs have lost two of three since
then, but have shown Ferris State coach
Bob Daniels they have a lot of bite left.
"It didn't really matter who we
were playing, we just needel to
improve," Daniels said. "Our play
was sub-par, and we had lost a lot of
confidence. We always play pretty
well against Michigan, but the reality
is we need to do a little bit of soul-
searching and find out if we're going
to be a pretty good team or if we're
just going to roll over."
Michigan has the week to try and
figure out what is plaguing the team on
the road. The Wolverines hope that
their search is fruitful, as they travel to
face the CCHA's first-place team, No.
14 Ohio State (6-2, 7-4), this weekend.
"We're not playing the kind of hock-
ey we might have thought we were
playing a week or two ago. We felt for-
tunate to win this game," Berenson
said. "I think there's a lot of soul-
searching in this lockerroom. Guys
know they really have to pick it up."
Powerplay keeps M' alive with Burnes out
J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH
The SportsMonday Column
t was the end of last week's "Terri-
ble Tuesday" practice at Ocker
Field, and the No. 5 Michigan field
hockey team was exhausted.
Coach Marcia Pankratz could hear
her players collectively gasping for air,
but she wasn't finished with them yet
- there was a Big Ten Tournament
championship and a national title on
the line.
Pankratz gathered the team around
its penalty strokers, who have a job
similar to penalty shooters in soccer.
"If she misses, everybody runs
except the shooter!" Pankratz yelled.
Senior April Fronzoni missed.
Everybody ran, and Fronzoni tried to
follow her teammates out of the gate.
"I was ready to go, but (Pankratz)
was like, 'No, no,' " Fronzoni said.
Fronzoni was forced to watch the
others run because she didn't execute
in a pressure-packed situation.
"It's a team game," Pankratz
explained. "If somebody misses class,
the whole team goes to study hall. You
keep each other accountable. In a
match and in your program, you're
accountable to something bigger than
yourself.
"I think that, especially for women,
making everyone else run except you
(because of your mistake) puts more
pressure on you."~
Throughout every "Terrible Tues-
day," the 39-year-old Pankratz drills
these ideals into the girls' heads.
"It's overtime! Everybody's tired!
Execute when you're tired! Learn how
to finish under pressure!" she yells
incessantly.
Watching a practice at Ocker Field
- "terrible" or not - told me all I
needed to know about why Pankratz's
program is the only one in my four
years at Michigan to win a team
national championship.
Pankratz, who took over the pro-
gram in August of 1996, is a master
motivator. By creating a close-knit
family atmosphere, she develops a
trusting relationship with the girls. She
has admittedly high expectations for
her players, and, in turn, the players
expect the same from her.
Pankratz relates her coaching philos-
ophy to one of her favorite anecdotes:
"There's a guy playing the piano,
and a little boy looks at him and says,
'I'd give my life to play the piano like
that.' And the guy is like, I did.' He
gave his life to get there. These girls
aren't champions and great students by
snapping their fingers."
Pankratz's teams at Michigan have
been champions often. The Wolverines
won the national title in 2001, the first
women's team national title in Univer-
sity history. They've won the Big Ten
regular season title four times and the
tournament title twice. Michigan had
never even made the NCAA Tourna-
ment before 1999. Since then,
Pankratz has guided the Wolverines to
four straight tournament bids (by all
appearances, it will be five after
tomorrow's NCAA Tournament selec-
tion is completed).
Pankratz was a star player at Iowa in
the mid-'80s and a crucial member of
the U.S. field hockey team from 1985-
to-96. She knew her arrival in Ann
Arbor would bring success to Michi-
gan, which she previously considered a
"diamond in the rough" in the sport.
Without hesitation, Pankratz will tell
you it was her "master plan" to turn
Michigan into a national powerhouse
in a few short years - even though
recruiting was at a "complete stand-
still" after the departure of coach Patti
Smith after the 1995 season.
Then living in Atlanta as a member
of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, the
blonde-haired, blue-eyed Pankratz
vividly remembers finding out the
Michigan job was available.
"When the job opened, I was in Aus-
tralia, and (North Carolina coach)
Karen (Shelton) called me and said,
'Your job opened,' " Pankratz recalled.
"I knew it. I was going to get it, and
we were going to be great."
As much as the players deserve
credit for how "great" they've become,
even they see how Pankratz's personal-
ity infuses itself into the way they per-
form.
"The name Marcia Pankratz goes
along with Michigan and the mentality
of the practices and games that we
play," freshman Jill Civic said. "She
feeds the energy into this team, and it's
seen in our practices on a 'Terrible
Tuesday.'
The Wolverines' travel schedule for
this past weekend's Big Ten Tourna-
ment was posted on Pankratz's door
Wednesday. One of yesterday's sched-
uled events caught my eye.
Sunday, 1p.m. - Win the Big Ten
Tournament.
It's that "get out of our way" mental-
ity that has propelled Pankratz's pro-
gram to the top of the Big Ten year in
and year out. It's because of that men-
tality that I was shocked to hear about
the team's 1-0 overtime loss to No. 7
Penn State Friday in the Big Ten Tour-
nament semifinal.
Just three minutes into overtime,
Penn State's Timarie Legel beat fresh-
man goalie Beth Riley. Legel took
advantage of a red card issued to
Michigan defender Stephanie Johnson,
which forced the top-seeded Wolver-
ines to play one woman down for the
final 24 minutes of the game.
Only Pankratz knows what tomor-
row's "Terrible Tuesday" will hold for
the Wolverines, but if I had to bet, the
Wolverines will hear something like
this:
"It's overtime! You're undermanned!
Everybody's tired! Execute when
you're tired! Learn how to finish under
pressure!"
J. Brady McCollough can be reached at
bmdymcc@umich.edu.
By Michael Nisson
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan powerplay was called in for
major duty this weekend in the Wolverines series
against Ferris State, and it was up to the chal-
lenge. Of the eight goals the Wolverines scored
in the two games this weekend,
five of them came when the
team had a man advantage. ,-
"The powerplay has been our O
salvation, really," Michigan V0
coach Red Berenson said. "The"
best part of our offense, maybe
the only part of our offense, has been our power-
play."
The statistics back Berenson up. The Wolver-
ines have scored 39 goals so far this season, with
19 of them coming on the powerplay. Overall the
Wolverines are 16-for-67 when playing a man up.
In addition, Michigan has netted at least one pow-
erplay goal in every game this season, and Satur-
day's three-powerplay-goal performance marks
the third time that has happened this season.
Michigan's ace powerplay line, which is made
up of alternate captains Eric Nystrom and Bran-
don Rogers, junior forward David Moss, sopho-
more forward Jeff Tambellini, and freshman
center T.J. Hensick, has also been a force. These
players have accounted for 12 of the 19 power-
play goals so far.
BURNES GOES DOWN TO INJURY: Michigan will
be missing one of its leaders next weekend when
it faces Ohio State. Senior defender Andy Burnes
separated his collarbone from his sternum during
the last shift of Friday's 6-5 overtime loss against
Ferris State. The ailment is somewhat rare, and it
caused Berenson to say he's "never heard of that
injury."
Burnes, a Battle Creek native, has been a con-
sistent starter throughout the season and will be
missed. He has been one of Michigan's most
solid defenders, both when the Wolverines are at
even strength and when they are short-handed. In
addition to his solid play, he has also been the
leader of this year's team.
"Obviously that's a big loss, losing a top
defenseman and captain and leader on the team,"
Rogers said.
The loss will probably mean more playing time
for younger players. Michigan has three freshmen
defenders this season in Matt Hunwick, Tim
Cook and Jason Dest. Junior Nick Martens, who
has played sporadically so far, should see extend-
ed playing time.
DOING OVERTIME: Michigan's overtime loss on
Friday was its first extra-session game of the sea-
son. Last year, the Wolverines competed in six
overtime contests, going 1-2-3.
Michigan's two losses last season came against
national powers - North Dakota (in the College
Hockey Showcase) and Minnesota. The Min-
nesota game came in the Frozen Four semifinal
3-2 loss and marked the second time in a row
that the Gophers ousted the Wolverines from the
Frozen Four.
Stickers bounced from BTT by Penn State
By Waldemar Centeno
Daily Sports Writer
After sitting out five minutes of the
game due to a yellow card, senior tri-
captain Stephanie Johnson ran on to the
field with fire in r1
her eyes. But her M____GAN ___
intensity got the
best of her on Saturday as the fifth-
ranked Wolverines were knocked out of
the Big Ten Tournament 1-0 in overtime
by No. 4-seed Penn State.
"Without question it is a disappoint-
ing loss" coach Marcia Pankratz said.
"We did have our opportunities to
score, but we had to handle a lot of
adversity. I am just so proud of how our
players handled that adversity. We
played with confidence and a lot of
poise, and we outplayed Penn State. But
we have to be able to finish. It was just
one of those games that it just didn't go
our way."
Top-seed Michigan was down a play-
er for the final 24:19 of the game, as
Johnson was given a red card for an
aggressive tackle late in the second half.
"The umpire called her for a hard
tackle," Pankratz said. "He ejected her
from the game for that hard tackle. The
people that were watching the game
can consider it a hard tackle or not. I
think it was very unfortunate, and we
just had to accept the umpire call and
move on. We tried to do the best we can
and those kind of things are just out of
our control."
Johnson was crowned the Big Ten
Defensive Player of the Year this sea-
son, so Michigan had a lot to overcome.
"Stephanie played a great game,"
Pankratz said. "She had wonderful
clean tackles all game, and she's an all-
American defender. So for her to be
taken off the field really hurts our team.
That was just some adversity that our
team had to overcome, and I think we
did that."
Despite convincingly beating the sev-
enth-ranked Nittany Lions (3-3 Big Ten,
18-5 overall) a week ago to close out
the regular season, the Wolverines' (5-1,
15-6) offense couldn't find a way to
penetrate Penn State's defense.
In this overtime matchup, Michigan
outshot Penn State 18-7, including 9-2
in the second half alone. Michigan also
outcornered the Nittany Lions, 10-5,
with seven of those corners coming in
the second half.
Penn State's Timarie Legel beat
Michigan freshman goaltender Beth
Riley just a little more than three min-
utes into overtime for the game-win-
ning goal.
"To go into overtime and play down a
player is really difficult," Pankratz said.
"Cause the way things went, I am just
so impressed of how our players
responded. They played hard and really
dominated the overtime, and it was just
one of those things that a ball just
bounced a couple wrong ways for us. I
thought we played really well."
Penn State goaltender Annie
Kinkavich, who surrendered five goals
in the last matchup between the two
clubs, had seven saves in the win.
Kinkavich fought off efforts from
senior tri-captain April Fronzoni and
sophomore Lori Hillman. Fronzoni led
the Wolverines with four shots on goal.
Hillman tallied two shots. Michigan
HUSKIES
Continued from Page 1B
Michigan's turnaround came
thanks, in no small part, to the play
of freshman Dion Harris. In the start-
ing lineup because of the injury to
Robinson, Harris responded by dis-
playing a potent mix of offensive and
defensive abilities, posting 17 points
and forcing numerous turnovers,
leading the team with three steals.
"He was the player of the game,"
Amaker said. "I thought his poise
and his defense were really the dif-
ference in how he helped our team.
He showed the signs that he could be
a great player in the Big Ten."
Michigan Tech coach Kevin Luke
was also impressed with what Harris
brings to the table.
"He came out and banged a couple
shots, got a little confidence going,
was shutout for the first time since the
first game of the season against North
Carolina.
With no one scoring in the matchup
until the overtime, defense was the key
to the game.
"I think Kristi Gannon played a
great defensive game as always,"
Pankratz said. "She just played really
well. She took a lot of beatings and got
up. She had a strong game and every-
body did. We did everything we could
to win it, and it just didn't turn out that
way for reasons that are out of our
control"
Michigan will now await the NCAA's
selections for the 2003 NCAA Tourna-
ment. The tournament will consist of
the top 16 teams in the nation. The
selection will be announced tomorrow
at 8 p.m.
Despite the loss, Michigan will most
likely be a part of the national tourna-
ment and has a message to send to their
opponents.
"Just wait," Pankratz said. "We are
going to blow through NCAA. These
are great kids and just look out."
on-one with any of our kids, if we
didn't have proper help, he'd shoot
right over top, and he made a lot of
baskets."
While Harris and Horton carried
the scoring load for the Wolverines,
the injuries to Brown, Robinson and
Petway allowed Amaker to explore
some other options on his bench.
Freshman Courtney Sims pitched
in 10 points and seven rebounds,
while Sherrod Harrell and Dani Wohl
each saw time spelling Horton at
point guard.
But Amaker was most impressed
by redshirt freshman Amadou Ba,
who made his first appearance in a
Michigan uniform, finishing with
three rebounds in 13 minutes of
action.
"I want to give credit to Amadou
Ba," Amaker said. "He was a spark
for our team. I think Amadou is
FILE PHOTO
Michigan field hockey coach Marcia Pankratz has established a new level of
toughness with the Wolverines since her arrival in 1996.
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