NOTHIN' BUT NET
The women's tennis team notches an
upset of Notre Dame, while the men
do the same gainst Wake Forest.
PAGE 6B
MICHIGAN MAN
Athletic Director Bill Martin has done a lot in his three and a half years,
and he's got big plans for the future.
PAGE 8B
THE SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH:
Thanks, Tom, for helping
Bradys all over America.
PAGE 3B
sPC
~TS O
February 2,2004
SECTION B
1! i;:: :!!w: 1
Lake
Infen'or
Michigan's lines
are starting to gel
A s I strolled down the hallway toward my seat in media
box E for Friday night's hockey game against Lake
Superior State, I struggled to keep my overflowing cof-
fee cup steady. Suddenly, my awk-
ward, keeled-over, don't-spill strut
came to a screeching halt due to a pro-
gram gracing the silver screen in
media box C - "Seinfeld." After a
quick evaluation, I determined it was
the "Soup Nazi" episode. Seinfeld in
Yost Ice Arena 32 minutes before the
puck dropped? Random? Not really. GENNARO
The pregame presentation of this FILICE
comic masterpiece supported a notion
that I'd had since last Monday when I Nuthn But a G
looked over Lake Superior State's sea- Thng
son numbers: This weekend's series is gonna be a laugher.
And it sure was.
Michigan, which has run off seven straight wins, trounced the
CCHA bottom-dweller by a combined score of 9-1. The Wolver-
ines handled business by dominating the Lakers in every facet
of the game. While the Michigan blue-liners and Al Montoya
looked brilliant all weekend - allowing a grand total of 31
shots on goal and just one score - the offense truly ran circles
around the slower Lakers. Michigan slapped 78 shots on goal
and made the Lake Superior State defense look completely help-
less in doing so.
Basically, the Wolverines' offense picked up where it left off
the weekend before ... and the weekend before that ... and the
weekend before that ... and - well you see where this is going.
During Michigan's current seven-game win streak, the
Wolverines have averaged over 4.5 goals per game, outscoring
opponents by a total of 32-10. And they haven't been taking on
the Lake Superior States of the hockey world every weekend,
either. During this streak, Michigan has enjoyed series sweeps
over then-No. 10 Ohio State and Western Michigan - a team
Michigan had trailed in the CCHA standings before demolish-
ing it by a combined weekend score of 11-1.
The biggest reason for this offensive outburst is that all
12 forwards in Michigan's nightly lineup feel comfortable
with their line - something that hasn't always been the
case this season.
In the first few months of the year, Michigan coach Red
Berenson cooked up so many original lineups, Iron Chef Ital-
ian almost called for advice. Left wing Eric Nystrom has defi-
nitely been a part of this process. The alternate captain's line
- which usually starts the game - has tried out more looks
than Mr. Potato Head. Nystrom began with Dwight Helminen
and Michael Woodford at his side. Then, Berenson stripped
Helminen and Woodford from the line, opting for center T.J.
Hensick and right wing Jeff Tambellini. A few weeks later,
Nystrom and Helminen reunited, and right wing Mike Brown
replaced Tambellini - who traveled to Finland for the World
Junior Championships. But Tambellini took back his spot on
the No. 1 line when he returned to the States. Confusing?
Affirmative. All those changes give my head that Sunday
morning, pre-aspirin feeling, too.
See FILICE, page 4B
First place in sight after Icers sweep Lakers
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
The defending Stanley Cup champions
made an appearance at Yost Ice Arena this
weekend - sort of - in the form of Lake
Superior State University.
"I compare them to the New Jersey
Devils," Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "They're a tough team to play
against, and not just for us, but for every-
one. They play a good system, they're
well-coached, they're disciplined, they're
looking for turnovers and they don't give
you much."
The Lakers' trapping style of defense
made quality scoring chances hard to
come by early Friday night - the
Wolverines registered just eight shots in
the first period. But it didn't take long to
figure out how to break out of the trap.
Michigan managed to fire 78 shots on the
Lakers' goaltenders during the weekend
and tallied seven goals as the Wolverines
swept its third consecutive CCHA oppo-
nent and moved its winning streak to
seven games. The Wolverines (13-4-1
CCHA, 18-7-1 overall) are still just one
point behind league-leading Miami with
two games in hand.
Forward Brandon Kaleniecki kept his
goal-scoring streak going, as well. The
sophomore has lit the lamp seven times in
his last five games. Since his move onto a
line with freshman T.J. Hensick and junior
Milan Gajic - two of Michigan's best
puck handlers - Kaleniecki's offense has
exploded.
Midway through the second period on
Saturday night, Lake Superior State for-
ward Steve McJannet roughed up goal-
tender Al Montoya and handed Michigan
its second powerplay of the game. Hen-
sick collected the puck in the Lakers'
zone, and took his time to set up the play.
He circled around all four Lakers on the
ice before seeing Kaleniecki battling for
position in front of the net. By the time
the Lakers grew tired of watching Hen-
sick skate around, he had fired a laser
pass to a forgotten Kaleniecki, who
tapped it in for the goal.
"I'm very happy playing with those
two," Kaleniecki said. "They make some
great plays. Those two are great playmak-
ers, so it's fun playing with them."
On Friday, Kaleniecki opened the scor-
ing in the second period with a blistering
slap shot off of a faceoff win by Hensick.
Gajic did most of the work, as he screened
Lake Superior State goaltender Matt Vio-
lin. Gajic also helped on Kaleniecki's sec-
ond goal, digging the puck out of the
See LAKERS, page 4B
Ho hum: Cagers
drop another
one on the road
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Editor
CHAMPAIGN - Dion Harris' first shot sailed past the
basket without so much as grazing the rim. The chants of
"airball" rained down from the Illinois student section,
"The Orange Krush." And the freshman was rattled.
"From that point on, I don't really think that I ever got
into an offensive flow," said Harris,
who missed all five of his field goal
attempts Saturday afternoon. s,
None of the Wolverines ever seemed to get rolling in
their 67-52 loss to the Fighting Illini. The team shot just
35 percent (18-of-51) from the floor and a dismal 17
percent (3-of-18) from 3-point land. Michigan (3-4 Big
Ten, 12-6 overall) had as many turnovers as made field
goals (18).
"You can take that stat right there and probably equate
that to a loss," coach Tommy Amaker said.
Illinois (4-3, 13-5) was sparked by its lightning-quick
guards. Luther Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams
drained nine 3-pointers and scored a combined 46 points
to torch the Wolverines. When Michigan did come out to
play them beyond the arc, all three used their speed to
penetrate the defense and wreak havoc.
"They're tough to guard, especially with their quick-
ness," sophomore Daniel Horton said.
Patriots capture second Super Bowl
HOUSTON (AP) - Houston, we
have a champion. And once again, the
New England Patriots have Adam
Vinatieri's foot to thank for a Super
Bowl victory.
Vinatieri gave New England its sec-
ond NFL championship in three sea-
sons with a 41-yard field goal with
four seconds left for a thrilling 32-29
victory over the Carolina Panthers on
last night.
Vinatieri earlier missed a field goal
and had another one blocked. But as
he did in 2002 when he kicked the
winning field goal to beat St. Louis on
the final play of the Super Bowl, he
proved he is perhaps the NFL's best
clutch kicker.
For a contest that was scoreless for
a record 27 minutes, this game was
one of the all-time offensive shows
between two of the NFL's best
defenses.
There were 37 points scored in the
fourth quarter alone and Tom Brady,
who led New England on its winning
drive, was 32-of-48 for 354 yards and
three touchdowns.
Brady was voted the game's MVP
for the second time in three seasons,
although he did throw an interception
that prevented New England from win-
ning more easily.
"There have been some heart
attacks, but they've come out on top,"
said coach Bill Belichick, whose team
won its 15th straight game.
Carolina had tied the game at 29
with its third fourth-quarter TD on a
12-yard pass from Jake Delhomme to
Ricky Proehl with 1:08 left. Then John
Kasay kicked the ball out of bounds to
give New England field position at its
own 40.
Brady moved the Patriots 37 yards
in six plays, hitting Deion Branch to
set up Vinatieri's winning kick.
"I looked up and it was going right
down the middle," he said.
The kick prevented the Super Bowl
from going into overtime for the first
time ever.
The Patriots led 14-10 at the half,
and after a scoreless third quarter, they
made it 21-10 on the second play of
the fourth on a 2-yard run by Antowain
Smith. It capped an eight-play, 71-yard
drive featuring a 33-yard pass from
Brady to tight end Daniel Graham.
Carolina wasn't about to give up,
though, scoring on DeShaun Foster's
33-yard run on a six-play, 81-yard
drive. But the 2-point conversion
pass was behind Muhsin Muhammad
and it was 21-16. The decision to go
for 2 would come back to haunt
coach John Fox.
The Patriots seemed ready to put the
game away when they got the ball
back, but Brady made a rare mistake
- throwing an off-balance pass that
See PATRIOTS, page 6B
Blue doomed by second-half collapse
By Ellen McGarrity
Daily Sports Writer
For a while, the other members of Michigan's 'MV3' -
seniors Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Gandy - stepped up
against Illinois in Pool's absence. Gandy picked up the
slack with seven early points, and Smith added a go-ahead
three-point play to give Michigan a five-point lead going
CHAMPAIGN - After just one minute of play in the
Michigan women's basketball game against Illinois, junior