Friday November 19, 2004 sports. michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com PORTSe f i ga n B a 9 . . . . .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .... . . . . .... ......................... . . . . .............. . .. At last!Icers' seniors win at Munn By Gabe Edelson Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - Four years and 10 months. That's how long it had been since the Michigan hockey team went on the road and defeated Michi- gan State at Munn Ice Arena. Until last night, that is. Junior goalie Al Montoya McHGN TTE2 made 29 saves, including 16 in a hectic first period, to lead the No. 2 Wolverines to a 4-2 victory over the Spartans. Last night's out- come marked the first time the Wolverines' senior class tasted success in the Spartans' building. "The seniors wanted to end their careers with at least one win in this barn, which we finally got for them," sophomore forward T.J. Hensick said. "They carried us. (Jason Ryznar and captain Eric Nystrom) were killing some penalties. (Brandon) Rogers led the way on defense. It's a big win for those guys to finally get a win in this arena, in this environment." Senior Eric Werner notched the game-winning goal 1:21 into the third period. With Michigan skat- ing shorthanded, senior David Moss fired a shot that was stopped by Michigan State goalie Domi- nic Vicari. But the rebound came out to the high slot, where Werner was waiting. The defenseman's shot remained on the ice all the way to Vicari, who allowed the puck to slip between his legs. "We got a goal from a defenseman," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "It was a broken play and (we were) short-handed. How often do you see that? But, more often than not, those are the kind of goals that make the difference between these two teams because they're so evenly matched." T.J. Hensick ended more than 13 minutes of scoreless, back-and-forth play with a wrist shot that beat Vicari over the glove at 13:08 of the first period. But at 4:04 into the second frame, with the Spartans on the power play, Michigan State senior captain Jim Slater knotted the game at one when he fired the puck past Montoya, who was screened by a tangle of players in front of the net and a Michigan State player who fell on top of him just before the score. Michigan sophomore David Rohlfs took advan- tage of a Michigan State turnover to score on a breakaway at 12:59 of the second period. Rohlfs deked Vicari to the right, then beat him stick side to make the score 2-1. Werner then proceeded to tally Michigan's third goal. Just three-and-a-half minutes later, sophomore Mike Brown gave the Wolverines a commanding 4-1 lead on an unassist- ed wraparound shot. Spartan forward Bryan Lerg capped the scoring with a goal late in the third. The star of the night was Montoya. The junior kept Michigan (6-1-0 CCHA, 8-2-1 overall) in the game early on, despite heavy pressure from Michi- gan State (3-4-0, 5-5-1), and helped his teammates shake off the rust after a bye weekend. "Montoya was the difference in the first period, and then we got the bounces after that," Berenson said. "Al knew he had to come in here and give us a chance. He had to be focused. Our team has got something to prove in here. I thought he was solid. "He gave the whole team confidence. I don't know how many great saves he had to make, but he was really quick around the net on the loose pucks. When a goalie makes it look easy, you know he's playing well." Montoya knew what he had to do for the win. "(Facing) 10 shots or 30 shots, my job is to keep the puck out of the net," Montoya said. "There's no excuses." Michigan returns to Yost Ice Arena to play the Spartans tomorrow night at 7:35 p.m. JEFF LEHNERT/Daily Junior defenseman Eric Werner, right, scored yesterday's game-winning goal. Buckeyes look to ruin Blue's season By Chris Burke Daily Sports Editor Honestly, what would a Michigan- Ohio State game be without the Big Ten title on the line? That drama is what has made this rivalry great, and this season's matchup will be no different. No.7 Michigan (7-0 Big Ten, 9-1 over- all) has already clinched a share of the Big Ten championship, but a win over the Buckeyes on Saturday would wrap up the outright title and send the Wolverines on their way to Pasadena for a second straight year. For Ohio State (3-4, 6-4), upsetting its biggest rival tomorrow would make up for the Buckeyes' mediocre conference season. One thing's for sure: The Horseshoe will be rocking as Ohio State tries to pull off the victory. MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. OHIO STATE PASSING DEFENSE: Earlier in the week, this category looked like it would easily go to Michigan. Ohio State's pass- ing defense has been somewhat average at times this year, and the secondary had been decimated by injuries recently. But, according to the Toledo Blade, starting cornerback Dustin Fox will return and it's likely the Buckeyes will welcome back safeties Nate Salley and Donte Whit- ner as well. That means a much tougher task for Michigan freshman quarterback Chad Henne - whose job will be diffi- cult enough dealing with the rabid fans in Ohio Stadium. Last week against North- western, Henne spread the ball around as well as he has all year. Michigan's wide receiving corps remains one of the nation's best, so the Wolverines could have success in this area. EDGE: EVEN MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. OHIO STATE RUSHING DEFENSE: With the Buck- eyes no doubt gunning to put the pressure on Henne, Michigan freshman running back Mike Hart will need to pile up some yards to open up the Wolverines' offense downfield. Problem is, the Buckeyes' linebackers - led by spectacular junior A.J. Hawk - might be the best in the Big Ten. But few teams have stopped Hart this season, as he has rushed for 975 yards in the last five games. Michigan will do its best to establish the run game early, and fullback Kevin Dudley will be respon- sible for occupying Hawk up the middle. Lucky for Michigan, Dudley's one of the best blocking backs in the country, and Hart should find some room. EDGE: MICHIGAN 98th in the nation in passing offense, and have not eclipsed 200 yards through the air since an overtime loss at Northwestern on Oct. 2. Junior Troy Smith is expected to start after a 14-of-29 passing perfor- mance for 192 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in a loss to Purdue last week. Michigan's goal will be not allow- ing Holmes or (especially) Ginn to hit a home run and give the Buckeyes and their crowd reason to get excited. EDGE: MICHIGAN SPECIAL TEAMS: If there is one area that could absolutely turn the game for the Buckeyes, this is it. Yes, Michigan kicker Garrett Rivas has been solid and clutch all year and Steve Breaston final- ly broke out last week returning kicks. But Ohio State kicker Mike Nugent is 17-for-20 on field-goal attempts this year and the two-man return team of Holmes and Ginn has returned four kicks for touchdowns. A close game favors Ohio State because of special teams. OHIO STATE RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHI- GAN RUSHING DEFENSE: Smith is probably Ohio State's most dangerous threat run- ning the ball, especially in light of the fact that Michigan struggled immensely with Michigan State's scrambling quar- terback Drew Stanton. Other than Smith, the Buckeyes will turn to the trio of Mau- rice Hall, Antonio Pittman and Lydell Ross to move the chains. Pittman might be the biggest concern, as the freshman has blazing speed. And Michigan's rush- ing defense has been picked apart by Michigan State and Northwestern, mean- ing'that Ohio State has reason to be con- fident. Still, Ohio State is averaging just 132 yards a game on the ground - 80th- best in the nation. EDGE: OHIO STATE INTANGIBLES: Michigan has every- thing to play for in this game - an outright Big Ten title, a Rose Bowl berth an outside chance at a national title game appearance. But the fact that Ohio State has nothing but pride to play for might be the most dangerous aspect of this game for the Wolverines. OHIO STATE PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHI- GAN PASSING DEFENSE: Despite the fact that the Buckeyes have two game-breaking wide receivers in sophomore Santonio Holmes and faster-than-lightning fresh- man Ted Ginn, they have been unable to really do much in this area. Ohio State is EDGE: OHIO STATE PREDICTION: The Game has a habit of going down to the wire. And playing in front of home fans will have Ohio State raring to go. The Wolverines' offense is talented enough to put points up, and the Buckeyes will definitely struggle to score. MICHIGAN 24, OHIo STATE 13 EDGE: MICHIGAN RYAN WEINER/Daily Freshman quarterback Chad Henne has thrown 19 touchdowns this season. 0 WRESTLING Roy a bright spot in season-opening loss to Lehigh By Mark Giannotto Daily Sports Writer The Michigan wrestling team came up short last night in its highly anticipated matchup against Lehigh, losing 22-15 to the home team. It was the season-opening dual meet for both the No. 6 Wolverines and No. 2 Moun- tain Hawks. S The meet was predicted to be a close one, and it did not disap- point. There were several matches that could have gone either way. In the 133-pound weight class, true freshman Craig Gillison came out strong in his debut for the Wolverines. "Craig was dominating the match in the beginning," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "I really liked how he came out aggres- sively, and tried to set the tone in the match." Midway through the first period, Michigan's fortunes literally took a turn for the worse. Gillison was suddenly turned to his back and pinned by Lehigh freshman Jeff Santo. "Craig got caught in a move, and (Santo) got both of his legs in," McFarland said. "He ended up pinning him. That was a nine-point swing for Lehigh." Co-captain Nick Churella also failed to win in his debut at the 165-pound weight class. He lost by major decision to Troy Letters of Lehigh, who is ranked No. 1 in the country and is the reigning NCAA champion in the 165-pound weight class. "We were hoping to win that match, but there's (going to) be an adjustment period for Ryan in his new weight class," McFarland said. "It's tough to have to face the No. 1-ranked wrestler in your first match of the season." There were some bright spots for the Wolverines in the loss. Redshirt senior and 2003 NCAA champion Ryan Bertin won his highly .anticipated matchup with Lehigh's Derek Zinck by a 7- 4 minor decision. Bertin and Zinck are ranked No. 3 and No. 7, respectively, in the 157-pound weight class. Redshirt sophomore Nick Roy was also particularly impressive. He defeated 2004 All-American Travis Frick of Lehigh by a 10-6 minor decision in the 174-pound weight class. "(Nick) started and finished the match strong," McFarland said. "He didn't sit back. He kept building on his lead." Because this was the first dual meet of the season, the Wolver- ines have plenty of time to rebound from this loss. "We have nothing to be ashamed of," said McFarland. "We are going to build off this and make some adjustments. Lehigh was just the better team tonight." Before New York, - a tuneup for cagers 0 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Michigan looks to turn the tide in Tuscaloosa By Matt Venegoni Daily Sports Writer By Josh Holman Daily Sports Writer With its 69-60 victory over Colorado on Wednesday, the Michigan men's bas- ketball team cleared the way for a trip to New York next week for an appearance in TO the semifinals of the Pre- Midh season NIT. So let the cel- Sacram ebration begin. Now quit celebrating. Co M a Before Michigan can _____ concentrate on Arizona, it has some business to attend to tonight at Crisler Arena. "Everyone now wants to talk about next week," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "We have a game Friday. It's impor- tnt thntt m r4PArnnMl nr farc in the right. I . en' only exhibition match of the year over Bethany College 72-45. Other than that, all their preseason practices have probably had the Wolverines in mind. In contrast, Michigan will get just one day to concentrate on the Hornets. IGHT "We knew we were going pan a to have three games (this ito &tate week) regardless of the out- 1.. come (on Wednesday)," Arena Amaker said. "We knew it was going to be a tough turn- around for us, but I think our players would rather play than practice." Tonight's game will be Michigan's third in five days. It defeated Binghamton 59-46 on Monday before Wednesday's victory over Colorado - both Preseason NIT matc-he. You play how you practice. If this old adage holds true, Michigan women's bas- ketball coach Cheryl Burnett believes that her team will be prepared for its first regular -season game of the season today. The Wolverines head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Crimson Tide. Last year, Michigan lost an overtime thriller at home to Alabama'76-74. Much has changed for Michigan since that game, including the addition of seven freshmen to the roster. Burnett is excited to see how their play in practice will carry over to the game. "I'm so impressed (with) what our play- ers are learning in practice; they are think- ing and doing (those things) on the court," Burnett said. But Burnett concedes that the team is veterans - Pool, McPhilamy and sopho- more Kelly Helvey - have had another important role for Michigan: Preparing the freshmen for their first road game. "We are just being more vocal and letting them know what's going on," Pool said. "It's kind of hard to hear the play with everyone screaming, so we just need to let everyone know what the play is." The Crimson Tide will be a formidable opponent for the Wolverines. Alabama returns four starters and three bench play- ers from last year's 12-16 squad. The Tide will rely on senior guard Monique Bivins, a second-team All-SEC selection last year. Although not as young as the Wolverines, Alabama is welcoming six newcomers this season, including four freshmen. Alabama holds a significant size advan- tage over the Wolverines. Three of its play- ers are 6-foot-3 or taller. To counteract this, _ .a... :: -se