4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 24, 2005
LINE OF THE WEEK
Jason Ryznar
Forward
Saturday vs. Ohio State
I Goal, 2 Assists, +2
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
"(The win) doesn't feel as good as it
should feel because of the way we fin-
ished the game in the third period."
- Michigan coach Red Berenson
on giving up three late goals Saturday.
Rod Pelley
(Ohio State)
Pelley tallied three goals on the
weekend. He had one goal in
Friday's win and two in Ohio State's
third period comeback on Saturday.
Eric Nystrom
(Michigan)
Nystrom responded to his team's poor
performance on Friday with one of the
best games of his career. He tied a career
high for assists on Saturday with three.
0
FRIDAY'S GAME
Michigan Wolverines
Gajic
1
Icers finally defeat top-ranked opponent
i
.
Ohio State Buckeyes 4
Knapp, Beaudoin, Pelley, Hood
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan Wolverines
Kolarik (2), Tambellini,
Ryznar, Werner, Hensick
Ohio State Buckeyes
Pelley (2), Beaudoin
6
3
COLUMBUS - Entering the
weekend, Michigan had compiled a
18-5-1 record, defeating many medi-
ocre teams along the way. But over
the course of the season, when the
Wolverines had faced the top teams
in the country, they had struggled.
Michigan 6, Ohio State 3
Michigan 0 5 1 -
Ohio State 0 0 3 -
6
3
First period - No scoring. Penalties - Jason
DeSantis, OSU (tripping) 1:40; Tyson Strachan,
OSU (cross checking) 4:26; Tim Cook, MICH
(interference) 14:30; Kenny Bernard, OSU (trip-
ping) 17:10.
Second period - 1. MICH, Chad Kolarik 9 (Eric
Nystrom, Jeff Tambellini) 4:59; 2. MICH, Tambel-
lii 13 (Kevin Porter, Andrew Ebbett) 5:15; 3.
MICH, Jason Ryznar 5 (Ebbett, Milan Gajic) 9:52;
4. MICH, Kolarik 10 (T.J. Hensick, Ryznar) 12:12;
5. MICH, Eric Werner 6 (Ryznar, Nystrom) 17:00.
Penalties - Nate Guenin, OSU (holding) 3:29;
Kolarik, MICH (checking from behind) 10:05;
Cook, MICH (hooking) 13:45; Rod Pelley, OSU
(roughing) 16:24; Nick Martens, MICH (rough-
ing) 16:24; Brandon Rogers, MICH (hooking)
17:33; Kolarik, MICH (grabbing the facemask)
20:00; Johann Kroll, OSU (grabbing the face-
mask) 20:00; Kolarik, MICH (game misconduct)
20:00; Kroll, OSU (game misconduct) 20:00;
Gajic, MICH (roughing) 20:00; Spector Lee, OSU
(roughing) 20:00.
Third period - 6. OSU, Matt Beaudoin (Bryce
Anderson, Kyle Hood) 4:44; 7. OSaU, Peey 15
(Tyson Strachan, J.B. Bittner) 7:32; 8. OSU,
Petey 16 (Bittner) 12:37; 9. MICH, Hensick 16
(Nystrom). Penalties- Werner, MICH (charg-
ing) 3:40; Dan Knapp, OSU (interference) 4:53;
Andrew Schembri, OSU (boarding) 10:46; Matt
Hunwick, MICH (slashing) 10:46; Beaudoin, OSU
(slashing) 10:46; Hensick, MICH (cross-check-
ing) 12:34.
Shots on goal: MICH 7-16-12-35; OSU 5-9-15-29. Power
plays: MICH 1 of 6; OSU 1 of 6. Saves - MICH Al
Montoya (5-9-12) - 26; OSU, Dave Caruso (7-
11-0), Ian Keserich (0-0-11) - 29.
Note: Ian Keserich replaced Dave Caruso at
17:00 of second period.
Referee: Brian Aaron
At: Value City Arena Attendance: 12,391.
The Wolverines
dropped games at
then-No. 3 Minne-
sota and then-No.
2 Wisconsin over
Thanksgiving Break.
They were outscored
in those two games
/
8
by a combined score of 8-2.
In October, the Wolverines hosted
then-No. 7 New Hampshire at Yost
Ice Arena, and again they faltered.
The Wolverines tied the Wildcats 4-
4. That tie is the only blemish on the
Wolverines' 10-0-1 record at Yost so
far this season.
After Friday's 4-1 loss at No. 10
Ohio State, Michigan coach Red
Berenson was concerned about his
club's play against the elite teams in
the nation.
"We haven't played well," Beren-
son said. "We haven't lived up to our
record or our expectations. No ques-
tion, we did not have a good game
tonight. I can't tell you the games
are similar against top opponents
because that was a couple months
ago. (But) I can't tell you that that
was a good game by the Michigan
team."
On Saturday, Michigan finally
stood up to a team that had a number
in front of its name. With a five-goal
second period, the Wolverines final-
ly took a significant lead against a
worthy opponent.
Even after a disappointing third
period in which Ohio State clawed
back to 5-3, Michigan escaped
Columbus with a quality win.
"We gave up three goals in the
third period, so it's not like a total
victory," Berenson said. "(But)
we played well enough to win that
game."
GRABBING CHAD: On Saturday, fresh-
man Chad Kolarik scored his second
goal of the game with eight minutes
remaining in the second period, and
his first career Michigan hat trick
was in sight. But Kolarik did not
get as much time to score that third
goal as he probably thought he would
have. At the end of the second peri-
od, Kolarik was whistled for a game
misconduct penalty for grabbing the
facemask of Ohio State freshman
Johann Kroll. Kolarik, by rule, sat
out the entire third period and will
be forced to sit out this Friday's game
against Northern Michigan.
"He's not out there looking to
start a fight or get thrown out of a
game," Berenson said. "He was hav-
ing a great game. You hate to see a
kid like that get thrown out."
After a scoreless first period,
Kolarik started the scoring in the
second when he blasted a cross-
ing pass from senior Eric Nystrom
into the Ohio State net. Later in
the second period, Kolarik exited
the penalty box and skated across
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan sophomore TJ. Hensick celebrates a Michigan goal in the Wolverines' 6-3 win over Ohio State on Saturday at Value City
Arena in Columbus. The victory was Michigan's first this season against a ranked opponent.
the ice toward the Michigan bench.
When he was about halfway to his
teammates, sophomore T.J. Hensick
brought the puck out of the Michi-
gan zone and led Kolarik with a pass
Player
Hensick
Tambellini
Gajic
Moss
Kolarik
Ryznar
Ebbett
Hunwick
Nystrom
Rogers
Kaleniecki
Porter
Werner
Rohlfs
Martens
Brown
Dest
Henderson
Woodford
Olson
Cook
Montoya
Ruden
Player
Montoya
Ruden
'M'
GP
23
26
26
26
26
26
24
24
22
26
26
24
23
23
24
23,
26
4
11
6
26
24
5
GP
24
5
STATS
G A Pts +/- PIM Sht
16 19 35 +11 16 77
13 19 32 +22 18 127
12 15 27 +4 34 76
7 17 24 +10 20 52
10 11 21 +9 37 66
5 14 19 +3 42 39
2 16 18 +8 16 55
5 12 17 +15 42 30
5 12 17 +13 25 29
2 14 16 +20 58 53
10 5 15 +7 30 88
7 8 15 +5 26 31
6 9 15 +13 32 30
5 3 8 +8 8 31
1 6 7 +7 26 20
3 3 6 +9 62 46
1 2 3 +14 34 30
1 1 2 +1 4 4
1 1 2 +2 8 14
0 1 1 +3 6 2
0 0 0 +6 38 8
0 0 0 -- 20 0
0 0 0 -- 0 0
that left him unimpeded to the net. Saturday and assists in both games
Kolarik stretched Michigan's lead to over the weekend, Hensick has now
4-0 when he beat Ohio State goalie scored in 10 straight games. His
Dave Caruso. two points on Saturday gave him 12
NOTES: With an empty-net goal on multi-point games this season.
OFFTIEIRAW
J L
Koe
00
S "
U. } e d s
/Kol rik
Skating w/ puck Skating w/o puck " - * Pass - - Shot
How it happened: With six seconds left in Chad Kolarik's
checking-from-behind penalty, and the team setting up for a
faceoff in its own zone, Michigan defender Jason Dest came
by the penalty box to tell Kolarik what to do when the penalty
ended. Whatever Dest told him, no one on the Michigan bench
could have envisioned a goal just ten seconds later. The faceoff
was controlled by Michigan, and, when Kolarik was let out, he
skated across ice toward the Michigan bench. At the same time,
sophomore T.J. Hensick was heading up ice and spotted Kolarik
behind the defense. Hensick hit Kolarik with a pass and Kolarik
did the rest.
Analysis: Kolarik's second goal on Saturday pushed Michi-
gan's lead to 4-0. The goal turned out to be the game-winner
when Ohio State scored three in the third period.
w
18
1
L
6
1
T
1
0
GAA PCT
2.75 .895
1.54 .949
CCHA STANDINGS
Team
Michigan
Ohio State
Northern Mich.
Nebraska-Omaha
Michigan State
Bowling Green
Alaska-Fairbanks
Lake Superior
Miami (OH)
Ferris State
Western Mich.
Notre Dame
CCHA Overall
16-2-0
13-4-1;
10-5-3
10-8-2
8-9-1
7-7-2
7-10-1
6-7-3
5-10-3
4-11-3
5-10-1
3-11-4
19-6-1
16-7-3
12-7-5
12-10-2
13-11-2
10-9-3
8-11-1
7-13-4
9-13-4
9-13-3
10-11-1
5-16-5
FRIDAY'S RESULTS:
OHIO STATE 4, Michigan 1
ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 3, Ferris State 2
Nebraska-Omaha 5, MIAMI (OH) 2
MICHIGAN STATE 8, Lake Superior 0
NORTHERN MICH. 3, Bowling Green 1
SATURDAY'S RESULTS:
Michigan 6, OHIo STATE 3
ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 4, Ferris State 3
MIAMI (OH) 4, Nebraska-Omaha 2
MICHIGAN STATE 2, Lake Superior 2 (OT)
NORTHERN MICH. 4, Bowling Green 2
HERBERT
Continued from page 1B
practiced all week on blocking shots, being
more aggressive on the power play and
killing penalties.
"The special teams is really the one
area that really jumps out at you," Beren-
son said about Ohio State after a practice
last week. "That's going to be important
to both teams. They're very solid in both
areas of special teams."
So it's not like Michigan was caught
off guard on Friday night when Ohio State
came out quick on the power play. The
Wolverines knew about it in advance, but
they just weren't ready for the speed that
the Buckeyes brought to the ice. Ohio State
looked faster than Michigan all night on
Friday but the Buckeyes dominated on the
power play in particular.
"Obviously, they're playing with a lot of
confidence," Berenson said after Friday's
game. "To score on the first power play,
that sets a trend. It gets them excited. It was
a combination of things on our part - not
getting the puck out, taking maybe bad,
unnecessary penalties."
Ten minutes into the third period, Ohio
State's Kyle Hood was skating at the point
with the puck. He fired a slapshot and
Michigan defenseman Jason Dest went
down on one knee to block the shot. It
slipped passed Dest and into the goal to
push the score to 4-1 and, essentially, seal
the game for the Buckeyes. Dest - who
was on the ice for two other Ohio State
power play goals on Friday - slammed
his stick on the ice in disgust. Frustration
had set in. When the Wolverines needed
to be strongest - against the second-best
team in the CCHA - the special teams
failed them. After the game, Nystrom
talked about how frustrating it was.
"It's amazing how when the penalty
kill is good, it's rock solid," Nystrom said.
"Then there are some times where the pen-
alty kill goes through these streaks where
it feels like you have holes in you, and you
can't get in front of a shot, you can't block
shots and it's finding its way to the net.
Right now we're on a downward string."
Berenson also mentioned after Friday's
game that the focus Saturday had to be on
penalty killing if Michigan wanted to try
to split the series. But since that's what he'd
been saying all week, it was hard to believe
that it was going to make a difference.
But it did. Michigan came out on Sat-
urday skating harder and blocking more
shots. Minutes into the game, senior
defenseman Brandon Rogers salvaged an
Andrew Ebbett turnover deep in the
Michigan zone by blocking a shot. Rogers
also blocked a centering pass that could
have changed the momentum of the game
at a point when Michigan needed all the
momentum it could get. Neither of these
plays were on a Michigan penalty kill, but
it was indicative of the new attitude Michi-
gan brought to the game on Saturday night.
After letting Ohio State work its way
back from 5-0 to 5-3, Michigan got itself
into trouble. Sophomore T.J. Hensick was
in the box with eight minutes left, and
Michigan was hanging on to a precarious
two-goal lead. The Wolverines could have
folded, but, instead, they kept Ohio State at
bay. That penalty kill was one of the most
important two minutes of the game, and
the Michigan special teams came through
when it needed to.
The Michigan penalty kill wasn't
spectacular on Saturday, but it was good
when it needed to be. It's difficult to put
a finger on what happened in between
Friday's travesty and Saturday's per-
formance. One possibility is that senior
Mike Woodford was able to bring his
work ethic, his strong skating and some
life to the penalty killing unit. After not
dressing on Friday, Woodford dressed on
Saturday in place of sophomore David
Rohlfs, probably because of his stellar
play on the penalty killing unit this sea-
son. Another option is that Friday night's
play was actually enough to motivate the
Wolverines. Or maybe it's like Nystrom
said: some days it's on and some days
it's off. Maybe in Michigan's case, some
months it's on and some months it's off.
The Wolverines are the ones that need
to figure that out. They can't afford to
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan senior Jason Ryznar (22) in action against Ohio State over the weekend.
Ryznar scored a goal and notched two assists in Saturday's win.
HOW THE USCHO TOP-15 FARED
USCHO Poll for the week of Jan. 17
Games updated through yesterday
BUCKEYES
Continued from page 11B
entered the third period on Saturday
with a 5-0 lead, Michigan's showing
on the ice wasn't perfect in the split-
salvaging win. Ohio State scored
three goals in under eight minutes
to pull within two before sophomore
T.J. Hensick carried a long shot by
Nystrom into an empty Buckeyes net
with 12 seconds left on the clock.
Nystrom ended the night with three
assists.
"It doesn't feel as good as it
should feel because of the way we
commanding 4-0 lead that would hold
up. After Eric Werner's subsequent
goal with three minutes left in the sec-
ond, Ohio State coach John Markell
pulled Caruso and inserted freshman
Ian Keserich. Though Keserich didn't
allow a goal during his 20:30 of play-
ing time, the damage had already been
done, and the Wolverines emerged with
the road win.
"We had a good team effort
going," Berenson said. "I thought
we played a much better game (than
on Friday). Our team put everything
into this game, and we got back to
where we were (in the CCHA stand-
.,.-,-\l Tn na h a1-ra adcrivno nn twor
RYAN WEINER/Daily
Northern Michigan comes to Yost for the
upcoming weekend series.
UP NEXT:
NORTHERN MICH.
Team:
1. Colorado College
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
Last week:
tied Minn.-Duluth 3-3, lost 4-3
beat Northeastern 4-2
lost to OSU 4-1, beat OSU 6-3
Up Next:
Michigan Tech
New Hampshire
Northern Michigan
I