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