4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 29, 2004
Saturday's Game
NEw HAMPSHIRE WILDCAB
MICHGAN WOLVERINES
1
4
Sunday's game
BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES
MICHGAN WOLVERINES
3
2
2003-2004 Results
Opponent Result
Mercyhurst
Miami (Ohio)
Miami (Ohio)
Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac
North. Mich.
W, 5-3
L, 3-8
W, 2-1
W, 5-4
W, 3-2
W, 2-0
North. Mich. W, 5-2
Niagara
Ferris State
Ferris State
Ohio State
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Mich. State
MSU
W, 6-2
L, 5-6 (ot)
W, 3-2
W, 4-0
L, 2-5
L, 1-3
L, 2-4
W, 2-0
L, 0-2
Neb. (Omaha) W, 2-1
Neb. (Omaha)T, 3-3 (ot)
Boston Coll. "L, 1-4
Mich. Tech W, 6-2
Ohio State W, 3-2
Ohio State W, 7-1
West. Mich. W, 4-1
West. Mich. W, 7-0
Lake Sup. W, 5-1
Lake Sup. W, 4-0
Alaska (Fair.) W, 4-1
Alaska (Fair.) L, 3-5
Record
1-0-0
1-1-0
2-1-0
3-1-0
4-1-0
5-1-0
6-1-0
7-1-0
7-2-0
8-2-0
9-2-0
9-3-0
9-4-0
9-5-0
10-5-0
10-6-0
11-6-0
11-6-1
11-7-1
12-7-1
13-7-1
14-7-1
15-7-1
16-7-1
17-7-1
18-7-1
19-7-1
19-8-1
20-8-1
21-8-1
22-8-1
23-8-1
23-9-1
23-10-1
23-10-2
23-11-2
FILICE
Continued from Page 1B
everyone talked about when conversation of the Michigan
Icers arose. But over his four years at Michigan, the Battle
Creek native was consistently excellent in Michigan's zone. As
one of my friends describes him, "He's five-foot-nothing, 100-
and-nothing pounds and he's not too fast. But damn, he's effec-
tive on the defensive end."
Burnes is the team's lone senior, and he's served as team
dad all season long. And last night, he was thrust into the
spotlight in what seemed to have the makings of a fairy-tale
ending. Twelve minutes into the game, Burnes found Mike
Brown on a breakaway, and Brown found the back of the
net, giving the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. The assist was
Burnes's third point of the season. Then, with three minutes
left in the second period, Burnes received the puck atop
Boston College's left faceoff circle and took advantage of
out-of-position Eagles' goalie Matti Kaltiaimen, ripping a
slapshot into the back of the net. Netting his first goal since
Jan. 31, 2003, Burnes had given Michigan an improbable 2-
1 lead. Instantly, the minority Michigan crowd had a new
way to express the word, 'what:' Burnes?!?
Burnes the Hero? It was a title he'd never received at Michi-
gan, but one that he'd earned through four years of role playing.
But sports are strange and unpredictable. And in a regional
title that's decided in overtime, only one team gets to enjoy the
happy, Disney ending.
At the end of the night, Burnes's heroics were erased, his
career was over and the seemingly neverending hockey season
- college sports' version of "The Lord of the Rings trilogy:
director's cut" - was finished in Ann Arbor.
"Just to have your career end like that, in such abrupt fash-
ion is ... you know, that's the way it goes. It's sports," Burnes
said with puffy eyes. "Taking off my jersey for the last time
was tough.
"You're sitting there in the lockerroom, shedding tears, and
the guys come up to you and give you a hug and tell you they
love you and that it has been fun, and that's when it hits you
(that your career is over). You've shared so many things
throughout the year with that group of guys - the ups and the
downs, and things away from the rink. We're a family; we
experience everything together. When somebody's hurting on
the team, it affects all of us. Just to not be a part of that on a
daily basis, like it has been the past four years - it's going to
take some time to adjust to."
But Burnes also acknowledges that, until Boston College's
third tally, the game was memorable, especially the high-stress
overtime period that should have come with a warning label
TONY DING/Daily
Senior Andy Burnes, right, watches Boston College celebrate
after his last collegiate game.
for those susceptible to heart trouble.
"That's what it's all about," Burnes said of the extra period.
"There's so much emotion out there. It's fun.
"That's why you love sports - that's why you love hockey.
I'll look back at (yesterday) with fond memories, as unfortu-
nate as the outcome is."
And that's exactly how Burnes and the rest of the Wolver-
ines should feel. They fought hard and almost stole a ticket to
the Frozen Four that they had no business having.
Call me soft for not tearing apart a team that fired 28 less
shots than its opponent. Call me a sellout for writing positive
words about a season-ending loss. Call me cliche for romanti-
cizing a senior captain's last hurrah. But don't call me a cynic,
because last night Michigan put out an effort that gave me no
reason to be one.
Desperate attitude
can't do job for Icers
By Michael Nisson
Daily Sports Writer
MANCHESTER, N.H. - By losing
to Boston College in the final round of
the Northeast Regional of the NCAA
Tournament, the
Michigan hockey team
continued a trend that
-has been present all p
year long-- inconsis-
tent play on the road.
With the loss, the team
dropped a game on a road trip for the
eighth time this season.
But what makes this series different
from those that came before it is the
fact that Michigan stayed close to its
opponents - or ahead of them if you
consider the Wolverines' lopsided 4-1
victory over New Hampshire Saturday
- for nearly all of the 120 minutes
that they were on the ice.
Associate coach Mel Pearson attrib-
uted this ability to stay close in an
important game to two factors - expe-
rience and desperation.
"I think that it's the right time of year,
and I think we've had a lot of kids in this
setting before - on the road at this time
of year," Pearson said. "Once you get to
this stage of the game, when it's one
(loss) and you're (done), I think it does
put your back to the wall a bit and I think
you do play a little harder and do some
of those things you need to do on the
road to win. (The team) did that."
The team's desperate attitude this
weekend seemed different than its atti-
tude in the last few weeks of play.
A month ago, the Wolverines headed
down to South Bend to take on the
Fighting Irish. They needed one win to
clinch the CCHA regular season cham-
pionship. Instead, they dropped both
games and left Michigan fans scratch-
ing their heads.
Last weekend, the Wolverines
waltzed into the final of the CCHA
Tournament by beating Northern
Michigan 5-1, but, by their own
admission, did not come mentally
prepared for Saturday's final against
Ohio State. After playing two woeful
periods of hockey, they made a last-
ditch effort to get back in the game,
but came up short. The 4-2 loss
shipped them off to New Hampshire
for the NCAA Tournament.
"I think any time you suffer a loss like
we did to Ohio State, you're hoping your
team bounces back from a loss like that,"
said Pearson following the team's win
over New Hampshire. "I think our kids
showed a lot of character and resiliency
and did bounce back from that."
HONORABLE RETURN: Despite the loss,
Michigan will still bring a few awards
back to Ann Arbor. Three Wolverines
- defenseman Andy Burnes, forward
Brandon Kaleniecki and goaltender Al
Montoya - were named to the North-
east Region All-Tournament Team.
Kaleniecki led the team with a pair
of goals on Saturday, while Montoya
played solid in both outings, giving up
just four total goals.
Pearson said that was a testament
to the solid depth the team has had
all sea son.
"We do have depth at all posi-
tions and I think it shows that we do
have elite players at Michigan,"
Pearson said.
0
a
0
Miami (Ohio)'
Miami (Ohio)'
Bowl. Green
Bowl. Green'
Notre DameI
Notre DameI
Mich. State
Mich. StateI
W, 4-1
W, 8-5
W, 7-3
W, 5-2
L, 1-4
L, 2-5
T, 4-4 (ot)
L, 0-1
Gennaro Filice can be reached at gfilice@umich.edu.
CCHA Tournament
Neb. (Omaha) W, 2-0
Neb. (Omaha) L, 1-3
Neb. (Omaha) W, 5-2
North. Mich. W, 5-1
2004 NCAA Ice Hockey
Ohio State
L, 2-4
24-11-2
24-12-2
25-12-2
26-12-2
26-13-2
27-13-2
27-14-2
No. 1 North Dakota
Tournament
No. I Maine
A
North Dakota, 3-0
Maine, 5-4
NCAA Northeast Regional
New Hamp. W, 4-1
Boston Coll. L, 2-3 (ot)
No. 4 Holy Cross
No. 4 Harvard
YESTERDAY'S GAME
Boston College 3, Michigan 2(OT)
Michigan 1 1 0 0-2
Boston College 0 1 1 1-3
First period - 1. MICH, Brown 8 (Burnes)
12:09. Penalties - No penalties.
Second period - 2. BC, Voce 29 (Eaves,
Eaves) 9:02; 3. MICH, Burnes 117:01.
Penalties - Hunwick, MICH (holding)
0:35; Eaves, BC (cross-checking) 1:43;
Rohlfs, MICH (hooking) 7:07; Collins, BC
(hooking) 17:24.
Third period - 4. Eaves 18 (Harrold,
Voce) 15:16. Penalties - Alberts, BC
(unsportsmanlike conduct) 1:29; Rogers,
MICH (obstruction-holding) 1:29; Mike
Brown, UMICH (holding) 2:14.
Overtime - 5. Ben Eaves 9 (Eaves, Har-
rold) 10:08. Penalties - No penalties.
Shots on goal: MICH 4-3-5-5 17; BC 9-15-13-
8 45. Power plays: MICH 0-2; BC 1-3.
Saves: MICH, Montoya (9-14-12-7) - 42;
BC, Kaltianen (3-2-5-5) -15
Referee: Derek Shepherd
At: Verizon Wireless Arena
Attendance: 8,439
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4, New Hampshire1
Michigan 1 2 1 - 4
New Hampshire 0 0 1 - 1
First period -1, MICH, Kaleniecki 1:05.
Penalties -Horst, NH (clipping) 3:36;
Hensick, MICH (unsportsmanlike conduct)
7:33; Mounsey, NH (unsportsmanlike con-
duct) 7:33; Callander, NH (tripping)
11:30; Tambellini, MICH (roughing) 20:00;
Mounsey, NH (cross-checking) 20:00.
Second period - 2, MICH Ebbett (Gajic)
9:45; 3, MICH Werner (Gajic, Hensick)
12:06. Penalties - Burnes, MICH (hold-
ing) 0:15; Winnik, NH (charging) 10:39.
Third period - 4, MICH, Kaleniecki
(Ebbett) 1:11; 5, NH, Martz (Collins,
Saviano) 13:46. Penalties - Woodford,
MICH (highsticking) 2:20; Kaleniecki,
MICH (holding) 7:25; Aikins, NH (slash-
ing) 16:13.
Shots on goal: MICH 14-14-10 38; NH 2-10-
16 28. Power plays: MICH 1-4; NH 0-3.
Saves: MICH, Al Montoya (2-10-15) -
27; NH, Ayers (13-12-9)d- 34
Referee: Derek Shepherds.
At: Verizon Wireless Arena
AfAndanew 0 .104~I l
No. 2 Denver
WEST
Colorado Springs,
Colorado
Denver, 3-2
Denver, 1.0
FROZEN FOUR
Boston, Massachusetts - Fleet Center
Maine,2-1 (Of)
EAST
Albany, N.Y.
Wisonsin, 1-0 (OT)
No. 2 Ohio State
No. 3 Miami (OH)
No. 3 Wisconsin
No. 1 Minnesoto
No.1 9 oston College
Minnesota, 5-2
Boston College, 5-2
No. 4 Notre Dame
Semifinals: April 8, 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Championship: April 10, 7 p.m.
No. 4 Niagara
No. 2 Minn. Duluth
MIDWEST
Grand Rapids
Minn. Duluth, 5-0
Minn. Duluth, 3-1
Boston College, 3-2 (OT)
NORTHEAST
Manchester, N.H. No. 2 MICHIGAN
0
MICHIGAN, 4-1
No. 3 New
Hampshire
No. 3 Michigan State
Blue can't convert on chances
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Look-
ing at the shot totals for Michigan
yesterday, it appeared that Boston
College was able to suppress any
chance of a serious scoring threat. In
three periods and 10 minutes of over-
time, the Wolverines never tallied
more than five shots on Boston Col-
lege netminder Matti Kaltiainen in
any period. But the more telling sta-
tistic from this game would be the
number of opportunities missed by
both teams. In the end, Boston Col-
lege and Michigan both had countless
near misses that kept everyone in
isolated chances (each period)."
The Wolverines nearly won the
game early in overtime on an odd-
man rush with two of Michigan's
most dangerous playmakers. Fresh-
man T.J. Hensick skated into the
Boston College zone on a two-on-one
with sophomore Jeff Tambellini. In
an uncharacteristic move, Hensick
opted to shoot on Kaltiainen, and the
puck dropped down right in the
crease where it sat untouched for sev-
eral seconds. Just as the Wolverines
on the ice realized where the puck
was, Boston College defenseman J.D.
Forrest swept it out of danger.
"The chances we were getting were
gorgeous," said junior Eric Nystrom,
and fired a pass towards Ryznar.
Kaltiainen realized what was hap-
pening at the last minute as Ryznar
teed up a one-timer, and came up
with a great save. As it turned out, it
was the first shot on net for Michi-
gan in the second period, and it
came 12 minutes in.
"We had to bury our chances,"
said sophomore Brandon Kaleniecki
- who scored two goals on Satur-
day. "We knew their goalie was
going to make some saves."
But for their part, Boston College
also saw some terrific chances bounce
the wrong way. Prior to the overtime
game-winner, Boston College
defenseman John Adams ripped a
EAGLES
Continued from Page 1A
But as the period was winding down,
Michigan retook the lead, and the goal
came from the last player the team looks to
for goals: its senior captain, Burnes, who
had just two assists and no goals all season,
until yesterday's game.
Kaltianinen left the net to get a loose
puck, and though he deflected it away, he
fell to the ice and failed to make it back.
Brown got the loose puck along the boards
and flung it towards the crease, where
Eagles defenseman J.D. Forrest stopped it
and attempted to clear it. The rebound
came to Burnes in front of the blueline, and
he slapped the puck back toward a virtually
unguarded net for his first and only goal of
the season.
Michigan's play improved as the game
wore on, and for nearly half the third peri-
right, but Patrick Eaves corralled the
rebound and backhanded the puck over
Montoya's right leg.
Both teams had chances in overtime.
Michigan had five shots in the period,
which equaled the most it had in any other
period. Just five minutes into overtime,
Michigan's line of T.J. Hensick, David
Rohlfs and Tambellini got shots on net with
Kaltiainen out of position. But he just got a
piece of a shot, and then J.D. Forrest
cleared a puck that was sitting right at the
goal line.
Just before Ben Eaves scored the game-
winner, Tambellini and Hensick had a 2-
on-1, but Hensick was unable to get a
one-timer on net.
Eaves scored the game-winner off of
another rebound. Patrick Eaves fired a shot
from the boards, and the rebound again
went to Montoya's right. Montoya saved the
first rebound shot, but Patrick's brother,