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,