4 4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 26, 2004 Friday's game NhcMGAN WOLVERINES 4 1 Saturday's game WESTRN MICHIGAN BRONCOS MIcHIGAN WOLVERINES 0 7 WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS 4 SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 7, Western Michigan 0 Westem Michigan 3 3 1 - 7 Michigan 0 0 0 - 0 First period -1. MICH, Brandon Kaleniecki 9 (TJ. Hensick, Milan Gajic) 09:31; 2. MICH, Mke Brown 5 (unassisted) 13:49; 3. MICH, Hensick 8 (Andy Burnes, Gajic) 15:57; Penalties - Kyle Bushee, WMU (hook- ing) 3:58; Mike Jarmuth, WMU (roughing) 5:39; Kale- niecki, MICH (roughing) 5:39; Kevin Labatte, WMU (high sticking) 17:28; Second period - 4. MICH, Kaleniecki 10 (Hensick, Gajic) 2:17; 5. MICH, Brown 6 (Andrew Ebbet) 17:01; 6. MICH, Ebbet 5 (David Moss, Jason Ryznar) 17:01 . Penalties - Brown, MICH (checking from behind) 2:51; Vince Bellissimo, WMU (hooking) 4:08; Michael Woodford, Jr., MICH (slashing) 11:00; Dana Lattery, WMU (unsportsmanlike conduct) 12:08; Al Montoya, MICH (unsportsmanlike conduct) 12:08; Montoya, MICH (interference) 13:22; Jeremy Cheyne, WMU (elbowing) 13:58. Third period - 7. MICH, Hensick 9 (Gajic, Kaleniecki) 18:09. Penalties - Cheyne, WMU (roughing) 5:30.; Eric Werner, MICH (roughing) 5:30; Tim Cook, MICH (checking from behind) 8:00; Cheyne, WMU (rough- ing) 11:40; Brandon Rogers, MICH (roughing) 11:40; Burnes, MICH (holding) 12:49; Paul Szczechura, WMU (tripping) 17:28; David Rohlfs, MICH (roughing) 18:55; Bellissimo, WMU (roughing) 18:55; Rohlfs, MICH (10-minute misconduct) 18:55; Bellissimo, WMU (10-minute misconduct) 18:55; Matt Hunwick, MICH (roughing) 18:55; Trevor Cook, WMU (roughing) 18:55; Hunwick, MICH (10-minute misconduct) 18:55; Cook, WMU (10-minute misconduct) 18:55; Woodford, MICH (fighting) 18:55; Mat Ponto, WMU (fighting) 18:55; Brown, MICH (fighting) 18:55; Kyle Bushee, WMU (fighting) 18:55; Woodford, MICH (dis- qualification) 18:55; Ponto, WMU (disqualification) 18:55; Brown, MICH (disqualification) 18:55; Kyle Bushee, WMU (disqualification) 18:55. Shots on goal: MICH 13-11-11 35; WMU 2-7-21 30. Power plays: MICH 1 of 5; WMU 0 of 5. Saves - MICH, Al Montoya (15-6-1) -30; WMU, Scott Fos- ter (10-8-3) - 18; Eric Marvin (no decision) - 10. Referee: Kevin Hall. At: Yost Ice Arena Attendance: 6,812 FRIDAY'S GAME MichIgan 4, Western Michigan 1 Michigan 0 1 3 - 4 Westem Michigan 0 0 1 - 1 First period - No scoring. Penalties - Paul Szczechu- ra, WMU (roughing) 1:56; Andy Burnes, MICH (rough. ing) 1:56; Brandon Kaleniecki, MICH (roughing) 4:49; Ryan Mahrle, WMU (holding) 9:48; Dana Lattery, WMU (tripping). Second period - 1. MICH, Milan Gajic 7 (Brandon Kaleniecki) 17:39. Penalties - Lattery, WMU (checking from behind) 2:59; Jason Ryznar, MICH (roughing, cross-checking) 13:34; Paul Davies, WMU (roughing) 13:34. Third period -2. WMU, Brent Walton 10 (Vince Bel- lissimo, Mat Ponto) 4:05; 3. MICH, Jason Dest 1 (Dwight Helminen, Jeff Tambellini) 5:59; 4. MICH, David Moss 3 (Helminen, Eric Werner) 12:43 (pp); 5. MICH, Kaleniecki 8 (Werner) 17:05. Penalties - Lat- tery, WMU (charging major) 8:30; Moss, MICH (boarding) 9:09; Kyle Bushee, WMU (roughing) 10:30; Matt Hunwick, MICH (roughing) 10:30; Gajic, MICH (delay of game) 12:14; Lucas Drake, WMU (delay of game) 12:14. Shots on goal: MICH 18-7-10 35; WMU 10-8-4 22. Power plays: MICH 1-5; WMU 0-2. Saves - MICH, Al Mon- toya (14-6-1) - 21; WMU, Scott Foster (10-7-3) - 31. Referee: Matt Shegos. At: Lawson Arena Attendance: 4,575 Photos by DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Right: Freshman Mike Brown lands a punch on Western Michigan's Kyle Bushee in their fight at the end of Saturday night's game. Left: Bushee ducks for cover as Brown continues to land crushing blows. Weekend of hostility culminates in all-out brawl By Brian Schick Daily Sports Writer Toward the end of the third period Saturday night, frustration was clearly on the minds of the Western Michigan players on the ice. Michigan scored 11 goals in the series to secure a sweep of the Broncos, who had been the hottest team in the CCHA entering the weekend. Western Michigan had thrown anything and everything at goaltender Al Montoya in the third period, but the sophomore turned all 21 shots aside. With 1:05 left in the game, the frustration reached a boiling point. Freshman Mike Brown skated into a corner of the Michigan zone, and he was tied up by Western Michigan defender Kyle Bushee. Both players were battling for possession, with Brown trying to move the puck out of the zone. Michigan junior Michael Woodford came into the corner to help and was met by Western Michigan's other defenseman, Mat Ponto. As all four players tried to move the puck, the physical play in the corner exploded into a scuffle between the two Wolverines and two Broncos. Michigan coach Red Berenson felt that the fight could have been prevented had the referees stepped in earlier. "I'm a big believer that anytime the puck is frozen on the boards, blow the whistle," Berenson said. "Blow the whistle because something is going to happen. Players keep pushing and shoving and pretty soon, something starts. And that's what happened." By the time Bushee and Ponto began to take out their rage on Brown and Woodford, respectively, eight of the ten skaters on the ice were involved in various levels of fisticuffs. "You gotta do what you gotta do," Brown said. "They were getting a little out of control and they were talking last night too. (It was) getting out of hand. So I'm just taking care of business." Brown held nothing back as he fought with Bushee, landing sev- eral hard blows. At one point, Bushee stopped throwing punches and covered his head as Brown continued to land haymakers. As the fight between Brown and Bushee was being broken up by the referees, Woodford and Ponto's bout picked up in intensity. Skat- ing toward center ice, both players fell to the ice surface and wrestled with each other. "It's pretty intense," Woodford said. "Thirty seconds of just throwing all out. You just try to hold on to (the other guy's) dominant hand, which is usually his right, and just keeping throwing the other right and just keep throwing." Both Brown and Woodford will be suspended for at least one Player Hensick Ebbett Kaleniecki Gajic Tambellini Helminen Werner Nystrom Moss Rogers Brown Hunwick Ryznar Rohlfs Henderson Martens Dest Woodford Kautz Cook Burnes Ruden Wyzgowski Montoya TOTALS Player Montoya Ruden Mayhew TOTALS 'M' STATS GP G A Pts +/-1 24 9 18 27 6 24 5 13 18 5 24 10 7 17 9 21 7 9 16 3 20 9 6 15 -2 22 7 8 15 E 23 6 8 14 -1 24 7 6 13 -3 19 3 8 11 -5" 24 3 8 11 3- 24 6 3 9 4 22 0 9 9 6 17 2 6 8 5 24 4 1 5 3 11 2 2 4 2 17 1 3 4 E 23 1 3 4 6 22 0 4 4 -5 5 1 2 3 3 19 0 1 1 7 20 0 1 1 6 5 0 1 1 - 3 0 0. 0 -2 22 0 0 0 - PIM 12 28 28 20 10 0 20 36 8 30 35 40 12 20 8 24 17 24 4 22 18 0 4 16 Sht 79 59 81 56 96 62 36 47 38 46 61 26 23 34 17 18 11 31 8 12 12 0 2 0 BRONCOS Continued from Page 1B Foster with a high slapper from the top faceoff circle. Halfway through the per converted another breakaway chance, be stick-side with a post-deke backhand. Andrew Ebbett finished the period with sive individual effort as he skated acros and chipped a backhand into the left side In the third period, Hensick added a goal, but the story of the period was ae tussle. With just over a minute left in the gan end of emotions flared and a brawl of W tions ensued. Referees handed out 16 p ejected four players, including Michael and Brown from Michigan. On Friday, Michigan traveled to Kal defeated the Broncos 4-1. Down 1-0e third period, Western Michigan (9-8- scored its only goal of the weekend. Vinc shot a heavy wrister that Michigan goa toya redirected with his right leg. Thin possession of the puck, Montoya sat out and left the net wide open for a Brent W from the left faceoff circle. The fluke goa toya's lone blemish on the weekend, as he of Western Michigan's 52 shots over both "Originally it got deflected," said Mon lissimo's shot. "It hit my knee, so I game of next weekend's series against Lake Superior for fighting. Teammate Brandon Kaleniecki felt that fighting is a way of portray- ing team unity in tough situations. "When something like that happens, it's good to see that (Brown is) willing to stand up for his teammates," Kaleniecki said. "I think everybody on our team would be willing to do it. But it's good to see - it's kind of a team-building thing - when you see things are getting rough out there and he goes out there and takes care of business." Woodford added: "We don't go looking for fights. The guys on my team respect what Brown and I did tonight, and hopefully we'll build off that, and hopefully the guys will build off that for next weekend." Some of the frustration was left over from the previous night's game in Kalamazoo. Montoya and Western Michigan captain Dana Lattery had exchanged words all night, and Lattery crashed into Montoya as he tried to play the puck behind the net. From that point on there was a lot of heavy hitting on both sides. "There was a lot of chirping last night (during) the game," Wood- ford said. "When Lattery ran at Montoya last night, you kind of take exceptions to that. "They got what they deserved." thought it was underneath me." Michigan retook the lead with a controversial goal less than two minutes later. With a defender draped p of the left all over him, Eric Nystrom crashed to the net, and riod, Brown ran into Foster. Freshman Jason Dest quickly recog- ating Foster nized the open net and fired a shot inside the left Sophomore post just before the goal was dismounted from its an impres- pegs. The home crowd wanted an interference call s the crease on Nystrom. of the net. "I like to drive the net," Nystrom said. "I was tak- apowerplay ing my 'D'-man with me and I kind of got twisted eight player around and, incidentally, I made contact with the goalie. I just kind of tangled into him." me, a week- Seven minutes later, Bronco forward Dana Lattery WE propor- earned a five-minute major penalty for checking enalties and Montoya behind the net, and Michigan junior David Woodford 4 Moss lit the lamp on the subsequent powerplay. With Western Michigan in the middle of a line change in amazoo and the 18th minute of the third, Kaleniecki snuck behind entering the everyone and scored an easy breakaway goal, putting 2, 13-10-3) the finishing touch on the Wolverines' 4-1 victory. e Bellissimo The weekend sweep puts the Wolverines in second lie Al Mon- place, one point behind CCHA-leader Miami - king he had which has played two more conference games than I of position the Wolverines. Currently riding a five-game win alton slapper streak - not including a 5-3 exhibition victory over al was Mon- the U.S. National Team Development Program e stopped 51 Under-18 team - Michigan's confidence is soaring. games. "I think it's more of a statement like nobody (in ttoya of Bel- the CCHA) is going to beat us, and we're going to felt it, so I keep going," Brown said. GP 22 5 1 24 83 127 210 50 443 855 GA Avg Svs Pct Mins 48 2.23 512 .900 1292:32 7 3.09 57 .891136:08 1 3.54 12 .923 16:56 56 2.42 581 .912 1447:48 DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Freshman T.J. Hensick "posterizes" Western Michigan's top defender Mike Jarmuth with an outstanding move, en route to his first of two goals. 4 CCHA Oerall ' M'trio makes constant Team Miami Michigan Michigan State Alaska Fairbanks Ohio State Northern Michigan Western Michigan Notre Dame Ferris State Bowling Green Lake Superior Nebraska-Omaha W L T 11 5 2 11 4 1 11 6 1 11 9 0 10 9 0 10 10 0 9 8 2 8 8 2 7 10 1 5 10 3 4 9 3 4 13 3 Pts 24 23 23 22 20 20 20 18 15 13 11 11 W L T 14 9 3 16 7 1 1512 1 1212 0 15 12 0 1211 1 1311 3 12 9 3 1211 3 7 13 6 6 11 5 6 16 4 T 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 3 3 6 5 4 line changes worthwhile Saturday's results: MICHIGAN 7, Western Michigan 0 Michigan State 3, OHIO STATE 0 NORTHERN MICHIGAN 1, Notre Dame 0 MIAMI 7, Nebraska-Omaha 1 ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 3, Bowling Green 2 FERRIS STATE 0, Findlay 0 Providence 3, LAKE SUPERIOR 1 Friday's results: Michigan 4, WESTERN MICHIGAN I1 Bowling Green 6, ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 2 Michigan State 4, OHIO STATE 2 MIAMI 2, Nebraska-Omaha 2 NORTHERN MICHIGAN 4, Notre Dame 3 FERRIS STATE 4, Findlay 2 By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Writer When Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson rents a movie, he must wish for a sneak peek of all the flicks he may consider renting in the future. That's what he is trying to do with his team's lines - see every possible combination on the ice O - before it's tournament-time. 0 1 Sometime it's to re-energize a player and other times there's an injury. Sometimes there's no rea- son aside from the fact that he felt it was time to try something new. But now closing time is rapidly approaching, and Berenson must soon make his final decisions. This weekend, the trio of Milan Gajic, Brandon Kaleniecki and T.J. Hensick made its case for why it should be a unit that sticks around. The three combined to score six of the Wolver- ines' 11 goals in the pair of games, and also had seven assists against the Broncos. Hensick and Gajic have a similar style of play, and they have found a way to play well together. Both are creative with the puck and share excellent goal Friday, makes the unit complete with physical and opportunistic play. While his linemates circle around the perimeter looking for lanes to fire the puck, Kaleniecki is the one throwing his body into the fray in front of the net. "They move the puck well," Berenson said. "That's the big thing. They're starting to find each other on the ice in the offensive zone and they're passing the puck well. "These are dangerous players. Hensick is, one- on-one, as good as anybody and (Kaleniecki) is a sniper. Gajic is a smart playmaker - he can score." MONTOYA'S WILD THIRD: The first two periods of Saturday's game were a cinch - Montoya turned away all nine shots he had faced. And the Broncos had given him no reason to believe the next period would be any tougher. Yet somehow they managed to turn things around. Suddenly they were able to rattle off shot after shot. All period long Montoya was scrambling from side to side and sprawling along the ice to pre- serve the shutout. He stopped all 21 shots in the period, conserving his fourth shutout of the season, and at times left goaltending coach Stan Matwijiw in awe. "He was unbelievable in the third period," Beren-