Friday
October 22, 2004
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PORTS
4
8
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Stumbling out of the gate
A
Icers win opener
despite poor start
Penalties disrupt
flow of offenses
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE - With a
minute and a half left in the third
period and Michigan clinging to a 4-
3 lead, Lake Superior State forward
Nathan Ward took
a loose puck and -I
skated towards
Michigan goalie
Al Montoya with an open path to
the net. He juked left and shot for a
chance to send the game into over-
time. But Montoya kept the play in
front of him and stoned the point-
blank blast to preserve the win for
the No. 4 Wolverines (1-0-0 CCHA,
3-1-1 overall).
Just 15 minutes before, Michi-
gan forward Milan Gajic scored the
game winner to complete a come-
from-behind victory in which the
Wolverines had trailed 3-1 late in
the second period.
"You knew Lake Superior State
would come out strong, but you
hoped they wouldn't score," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said. "But
they did score two (in the first
period), and everything was going
in their direction. And I thought it
was a great statement for our team
to come back. In the end, we made
our chance count, and that was the
difference."
Gajic's goal was a treat to watch.
Senior Eric Nystrom tipped the puck
away from a Lakers defenseman at
the blue line, keeping the power
play attack alive. Sophomore T.J.
Hensick gathered the loose puck
and fed Gajic, skating towards the
net. With one swing, Gajic zipped
the puck into the lower left corner
of the goal.
"I just saw T.J. with it, and I was
cocked, ready to fire," Gajic said. "I
was yelling, and he finally saw me.
I shot it and kept my head down.
When I brought my head up, it was
already coming back out (of the net).
I don't even know where it went."
Lake Superior State's penalty kill
'had been busy all night, and finally
made a lethal error in the final period.
"They buried the last goal when
one of our upperclass defensemen
made a huge mistake," Lake Superi-
or State coach Frank Anzalone said.
"I don't know where he was going,
but the puck was gone and all I heard
was, 'poof.' (Gajic) didn't have to do
anything - he just shot."
Early on, it looked like the Lak-
ers (0-1-0, 0-3-0) might upset the
Wolverines. The Lakers - the more
physical team - jumped out to an
early lead on the power play when
Derek Smith gathered the puck on
the boards and spotted teammate
Steve McJannet with some space
between the circles. McJannet one-
timed a shot between the legs of
Montoya for the opening score of
the game - just seven minutes after
play began.
The Lake Superior State struck
again 35 seconds later. Senior cap-
tain Bo Cheesman skated down the
right side with defenseman Jason
Dest battling him for the puck.
Cheesman skated towards the near
post of the Michigan goal, and sent
the puck out in front of Montoya.
After a scramble, junior Jon Booras
gathered the puck and beat Montoya
high glove side.
At the end of the first period,
Michigan - playing with a man
advantage - almost cut into the
Lakers' lead. Sophomore Matt Hun-
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE - Sixty min-
utes of hockey with 51 minutes worth of
penalties.
It may have been the CCHA enforcing
the rules the way the league preached it
would this season, or it may have just
been two teams that came to play an
extremely physical style of hockey. But
one thing is certain - Michigan and
Lake Superior State spent a lot of their
time in the penalty box.
"That wasn't hockey," said Lake
Superior State coach Frank Anza-
lone about the game's officiating.
"I don't know what that was, but it
wasn't hockey."
Michigan expected to play physi-
cal hockey when it made the trip to
the Upper Peninsula. The Lakers are a
very big team - with 12 players listed
at more than 190 pounds. Anzalone,
who led the Lakers to four NCAA
Tournament appearances in the 1980s,
is known for his "blue collar," physi-
cal teams.
"These guys are always physical,"
senior captain Eric Nystrom said. "They
pretty much brought the physical pres-
ence to us, and we had to respond."
Anzalone had a different view of how
the game was played.
"Everything was a penalty," Anza-
lone said. "What was physical (about
our play)? Because Michigan gets mad
at us for going near their goalie? We
weren't physical with Michigan."
Michigan junior Brandon Kaleniecki
definitely thought that the flow of the
game was disrupted because neither
team could play very long at full strength
before getting called for a penalty.
"Especially now, with the way that the
refs are calling the game, we can't afford
to do that," Berenson said. "There's so
much special teams today. You couldn't
even get a five-on-five shift going for
more than three lines before you got
another penalty and another one."
At 14:06 in the second period, with
the Lakers leading 3-1, Lake Superior
State's Mike Adamek and Kaleniecki
got into a scuffle in front of the Lakers'
net. Adamek grabbed onto Kalenieki's
face mask and used it to throw Kalen-
iecki to the ice. The two started fight-
ing, and both were given penalties. But
Adamek's penalty was a five-minute
major, and Michigan took advantage by
scoring two goals - including one by
Kaleniecki. That tied the game back up
while Adamek was in the box.
That scuffle was actually the second
of two fights in yesterday's game. Seven
of the night's 24 penalties came at one
time. Just four minutes into the second
period, Eric Werner and the Lakers'
Alex Dunn stood in front of the Michi-
gan net while Dunn tried to shove the
puck past goalie Al Montoya. The two
stayed physical, pushing and shoving,
well after the whistle blew. When Dunn
fell over - and knocked Montoya down
in the process - everyone on the ice got
involved. The referees did their best to
break it up, giving roughing penalties to
Michigan's Andrew Ebbett, Milan Gajic
and Kevin Porter, and Lake Superior
State's Jeffrey Rainville, Derek Smith
and Dunn. Porter also got a second
roughing penalty for the fight that was
served by Chad Kolarik.
"I don't want us to get involved after
the whistle," Berenson said. "Once the
whistle goes, it doesn't do us any good
to get that extra push in.
"I want our team to play with disci-
pline and walk away from that stuff, but
when the play is on, you have to play
tough and physical."
ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ/Daily
Senior Milan Gajic scored the game-winning goal last night to secure the comeback
win for Michigan.
wick sent two bullets in from the
point. The first slammed off the
crossbar, and the second was turned
away by Lakers goalie Jeff Jakaitis.
"I thought our team played better
after the 10-minute mark of the first
period," Berenson said. "It didn't
show up on the scoreboard until
later in the game."
The two teams traded goals in
the second period, and the Wolver-
ines found themselves in a 3-1 hole
with five minutes remaining in the
period.
Then, freshman Kevin Porter cut
the lead to one when his lightning-
quick wrist shot from the top of the
right circle froze Jakaitis.
Just minutes later, Michigan got
the equalizer from a familiar source
during a five-minute major power
play. Winger Brandon Kaleniecki,
who led the Wolverines in goals last
year but had been held scoreless so
far this season, watched as center
Andrew Ebbett skated around the
Lakers' zone.
Ebbett fed the puck into the mouth
of the goal, and Kaleniecki hacked it
into the net for his first goal of the
season.
"Kaleniecki is one of our hardest
working players, night after night,"
Berenson said. "He hadn't scored
yet, and he'd been fighting it, but he
got a big goal tonight."
Ground game key for victory
By Gennaro Filice
Daily Sports Editor
Ranked No. 10 at the time, Purdue
entered the Big House last year with
hopes of its first win over then-No.
13 Michigan since a 32-31 victory in
2000. But the Wolverines came out
and played their most complete game
of the year. Not only did Michigan
light up the scoreboard with 31 points,
but it also held Purdue's vaunted spread
offense to just three points. The Wol-
verine 'D' terrorized Kyle Orton, who
threw two interceptions and was sacked
seven times.
Once again, the No. 12 Boilermak-
ers (2-1 Big Ten, 5-1 overall) come into
tomorrow's game in West Lafayette
as the higher-ranked team (Michigan
is No. 13), but they're coming off of a
heart-breaking, fourth-quarter loss to
Wisconsin.
MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. PURDUE
PASSING DEFENSE: Last week, Michigan
quarterback Chad Henne showed that
he is still a true freshman. Henne strug-
gled with heavy winds and a mediocre-
at-best Illinois defense, throwing two
interceptions and gaining just 114 yards
through the air. It will be interesting to
see how the young'un bounces back at
a tough away venue. But, after Michi-
gan's stellar showing on the ground last
week, the Boilermakers won't have the
luxury of employing extra defensive
backs. So Braylon Edwards and Jason
Avant - who's finally getting some
balls thrown his way - will have their
way with a Purdue secondary that's
giving up a gargantuan 244 passing
yards a game.
Edge: Michigan
Anthony Spencer serve as the corner-
stones of Purdue's vaunted front seven.
The duo has combined for 39 tackles,
nine sacks and three forced fumbles.
Edge: Push
PURDUE PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHI-
GAN PASSING DEFENSE: Orton lost major
ground in the Heisman race with his
fourth-quarter fumble against Wis-
consin, but his numbers are still mind-
boggling. The senior has completed
144 of 217 passes for 1,887 yards and
19 touchdowns, against just three inter-
ceptions. Orton's main target is senior
Taylor Stubblefield, who has 38 grabs
for 608 yards and an astounding 11
touchdowns. Conventional thinking
would be that Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr would stick senior cornerback
Marlin Jackson on Stubblefield for the
entire game, but Carr hasn't singled out
top receivers in the past. Orton's next
favorite target is sophomore Kyle Ingra-
ham - a 6-foot-9 wide receiver. This
matchup will come down to how well
Michigan's nickle and dime corners
- Markus Curry, Darnell Hood and
Grant Mason - can handle Purdue's
quick-hitting spread offense.
Edge: Purdue
PURDUE RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHI-
GAN RUSHING DEFENSE: The Wolverines'
boast the No. 4 rushing defense in the
country, and Purdue coach Joe Tiller's
Boilermakers have never really fright-
ened anyone with their running attack.
Purdue's main ball carrier is junior
Jerod Void (82 rushes for 396 yards
and two touchdowns), but junior Bran-
don Jones will also get some carries.
Michigan's hefty line - spearheaded
by nose tackle Gabe Watson - and
speedy linebacking corps should com-
pletely neutralize the Boilermaker
duo.
Edge: Michigan
MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. PUR-
DUE RUSHING DEFENSE: While the Wol-
verines racked up 294 yards on the
ground (including 234 from true fresh-
man Mike Hart) against Illinois, it was
still just Illinois - a team currently
ranked No. 101 in rushing defense. The
Boilermakers rank No. 7 in rushing
defense and held Wisconsin's superstar
running back Anthony Davis to just 66
yards on the ground last week. Sopho-
more defensive ends Ray Edwards and
Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton goes down in last year's rout.
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SPECIAL TEAMS: Purdue kick returner
Jerome Brooks is averaging just under
30 yards a pop and, earlier in the year,
he burned Notre Dame with a 100-yard
touchdown return. Kicker Ben Jones
has a solid leg and has hit eight of 11
field goals. Michigan kicker Garrett
Rivas continues to struggle with extra
points, but punter Adam Finley has a
42.5-yard average this season. Punt
returner Steve Breaston is long over-
due.
Edge: Push
INTANGIBLES: At Ross-Ade Stadium,
the Boilermakers have won two of
their last three games against Michi-
gan. There will be a lot of pressure on
Henne, who dropped his only tough
road game thus far at Notre Dame.
Edge: Purdue
4
PREDICTION: The Wolverines need to
convincingly win the time of posses-
sion battle to win this game because
Purdue's offense is a ticking time bomb
every time it's on the field. Look for the
Wolverines to heavily ride Mike Hart
- another 40 carries is a definite pos-
sibility - to victory.
Michigan 31, Purdue 24
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