4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 14, 2005 LINE OF THE WEEK Milan Gajic Forward Friday vs. Notre Dame 2 Goals, 2 Assists, +3 NOTABLE QUOTABLE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK "It's entertaining for the fans, and it's hard on an old coach." - Michigan coach Red Berenson on playing a scoreless game in overtime. Morgan Cey (Notre Dame) After getting lit up in game one, Cey bounced back with the best performance of the weekend. He made 43 saves Saturday. Eric Werner (Michigan) Werner scored the series-clinching goal and led the Wolverines in plus- minus on the weekend with plus-five. He made key plays at both ends. 0 FRIDAY'S GAME :NotreDame Irish SRankin 1 Irish goalie shines in swan song Michigan Wolverines 10 Gajic (2), Rogers (2), Kolarik (2), Nystrom, Woodford, Porter, Tambellini SATURDAY'S GAME Notre Dame Irish None 0 1 Michigan Wolverines Werner Michigan 1, Notre Dame 0 (OT) Notre Dame 0 0 0 0- 0 Michigan 0001 - 1 First period - None. Penalties - Brandon Kaleniecki, MICH (holding) 13:15; T.J. Jindra. ND (interference) 13:15. Second period - None. Penalties - Andrew Ebbett, UM (holding the stick) 0:10; Ebbett, UM (cross-checking) 0:10; Jason Paige, ND (holding the stick) 0:10; Kaleniecki, MICH (interference) 5:11; Mark Van Guilder, ND (holding) 8:55; Brock Sheahan, ND (holding) 1:50. Third period - None. 9. BGSU, Bryan Dobek 3 (unassisted) 12:03. Penalties - Dan VeNard, ND (interference) 4:39; Matt Hunwick, MICH (cross- checking) 12:45. Overtime - 1. MICH, Eric Werner 8 (David Moss, Nick Martens) 2:05. Penalties-Eric Nystrom, MICH (roughing) 0:19; Sheahan, ND (roughing) 0:19. Shots on goal: MICH 8-5-6-0-19; ND 14-13-11-6-44. Power plays: MICH 0 of 3; ND 0 of 3. Saves MICH, Al Montoya (8-5-6-0) - 19; ND, Morgan Cey (14-13-11-5) - 43. Referee: Mark Wilkins At: Yost Ice Arena Attendance: 6,721. 'M' STATS By Ryan Sosin Daily Sports Writer When the first game of the series between Notre Dame and Michigan was all said and done, the Irish goaltenders had a combined 9.80 goals- against average versus the Wolverines. With a number like that hanging over him, Notre Dame senior goalie Morgan Cey knew it would take the performance of his career in game two to challenge the Wolverines. The previous night, after being pulled midway through the second period, Cey was visibly frustrated at being yanked for the third time this season in games against Michigan as he sat on the south end of the Notre Dame bench. "Obviously, I didn't want to have my college career end the way it did (Friday) night," Cey said. "I spent the day really thinking about what I had to do tonight to give us a chance (to win)." Cey is no stranger to big games, having helped Notre Dame overcome a 1-0 deficit to twice advance to the CCHA Super 6. As a sophomore, Cey blanked Miami-Ohio twice in deciding games to send the Irish into the tournament. But Cey missed much of the 2004 playoff run with an injury that limited him to just 14 games on the season. "He's won every time (in the CCHA playoffs) and taken them to Joe Louis (Arena)," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They didn't have a good year, but Morgan Cey did. He gave them a chance. And he gave them a chance in his final game." From the time the puck dropped Saturday until just before Michigan senior Eric Werner deposited a loose puck into the net, it looked as if Cey was going to, once again, lead Notre Dame to a decisive third game. "I'm happy with the way I came out and happy with the way the team came out," Cey said. "I'm happy about everything except the one goal that I let in." Throughout the first 62 minutes of the contest, Cey stymied every chance the Wolverines could muster. In the second period, Michigan sophomore T.J. Hensick had a golden opportunity from the left circle that a sprawling Cey kicked up into the air. As the puck came down and bounced into his crease, the Irish netminder blindly searched for the puck until the whistle blew because the net behind him went off its pegs. "Morgan made the big save when we needed it," Notre Dame coach Dave Poulin said. "He was great, but tonight kind of sums up his career. He had a magnificent career, and he's taken our goaltending expectations to a new level as a program." As the game moved on, Cey's unrelenting play began to wear on the Michigan players, stopping everything that came his way - shots through traffic, wrap-arounds and one-timers. Poulin emphasized the need to keep Michigan's momentum at bay, and, as Wolverine freshman Chad Kolarik slammed his stick onto the ice following another big save indicated the Irish were successful. "He stood on his head tonight," Michigan senior Milan Gajic said. "We knew he was going to come out hard, and he came out hard. He gave his team a chance to win, and that's what all great goalies do. It's just too bad it couldn't have turned out better for him." After Werner's goal, Cey sat in the locker room with his goalie pads still on, trying to come to the grips with the end of his career. His thoughts were with his teammates - most of which were in suits by then - who will go into the offseason with a 19-game winless streak hanging over them. The senior wants those returning players to carry Saturday's game with them as they attempt to recover from a 5-27-6 campaign. "I'm feeling really happy that we gave them everything they could handle tonight," Cey said. "But it's quite a feeling to know that you'll never play another college game. It's taking me a long time to take off (my pads). I hope the guys are headed in the right direction for next year. I hope we can take this game and know that we can play with the best next year." Despite the loss that ended his career and the Notre Dame season, Cey can take some solace in what his performance did for the ailing program. Poulin sees many similarities between this year's series and the first-round series in 1998 between the same two teams. Notre Dame split the first two games with the eventual national champions and had a 2-0 lead in the second period of the third game before Michigan 6 TOMMASO GOMEZ/Daily Notre Dame senior goalie Morgan Cey goes down to stop a Michigan shot. cey denied 43 shots in Saturday's impressive performance. stormed back on the shoulders of Bill Muckalt's two assists. Michigan took the game and the series with just six minutes left, but the Notre Dame players knew they could play with the best teams in the country - something Poulin said was the foundation for the next six years of success. "We knew what it took to play at that level," Poulin said. "We learned a lot from that series. That's what I told (the players) after the game, this has to be the same sort of lesson of what it takes to be successful at this level." OFF THE DRAW Player Hensick Tambellini Gajic Ebbett Kolarik Nystrom Moss Werner Porter Hunwick Rogers Ryznar Kaleniecki Martens Rohlfs Brown Dest Woodford Henderson Montoya Olson Cook Ruden GP G 35 22 38 19 38 18 36 6 38 17 34 12 36 10 35 8 35 11 36 6 38 4 32 5 38 11 35 1 30 5 31 3 38 1 22 3 10 2 36 0 13 0 34 0 7 0 A Pts +/- PIM Sht 29 51 +15 24 120 30 49 +26 24 182 19 37 +7 40 109 28 34 +13 28 86 16 33 +8 49 105 18 30 +18 31 56 19 29 +10 26 75 21 29 +23 42 45 13 24 +11 45 57 17 23 +12 54 51 19 23 +19 66 81 17 22 +6 46 44 6 17 +7 46 117 10 11 +8 32 28 5 10 +8 14 40 5 8 +12 95 53 6 7 +24 52 36 3 6 +3 26 30 1 3 0 4 10 3 3 -- 22 0 1 1 +4 6 5 0 0 +7 50 14 0 0 -- 0 0 MICHIGANiPLAYERS 3 - Eric Werner 18 - David Moss NOTRE DAME PLAYERS 19 - Wes O'Neill 29 - Morgan Cey q }. 2#K { ::, < z z :, h t :: S V .5 -'C- ;: a a 6 I I - Skating w/ puck Skating w/o puck . . - Pass - - Shot Player Montoya Ruden Mayhew GP 36 7 1 w 27 1 0 L 6 1 0 T 3 0 0 GAA 2.58 1.34 0.00 PCT .894 .953 1.000 CCHA STANDINGS Team Michigan Ohio State Northern Mich. Nebraska-Omaha Bowling Green Michigan State Miami (OH) Alaska-Fairbanks Lake Superior Western Michigan Ferris State Notre Dame CCHA Overall How it happened: Michigan went on the attack in overtime, holding the puck in the Notre Dame zone and creating quality scoring chances by taking advantage of the open ice during four-on-four play. Two minutes into the extra frame, senior David Moss skated down the left side of the slot and fired a shot that was stopped by Irish goalie Morgan Cey, who failed to clear the rebound. Notre Dame defense- man Wes O'Neill also misplayed the puck, which popped out to Mich- igan senior defenseman Eric Werner in the low right circle. Werner flipped the puck into the net over Cey's outstretched glove to win the game and the series. Analysis: Werner's goal was Michigan's first overtime score in over two years. The significance of the marker was immediately appar- ent, as Notre Dame's season came to a close while the Wolverines advanced to the Super 6 for a shot at the CCHA's postseason crown. 23-3-2 21-5-2 17-7-4 13-11-4 13-12-3 12-13-3 11-13-4 11-14-3 8-14-6 8-18-2 7-17-4 3-20-5 26-7-3 24-8-4 20-9-7 17-15-4 16-14-4 17-15-4 15-16-5 13-15-4 9-20-7 13-19-2 12-20-4 5-25-6 Seniors bid farewell to Yost FRIDAY'S RESULTS: MICHIGAN 10, Notre Dame 1 Alaska-Fairbanks 6, BOWLING GREEN 3 OHIO STATE 4, Ferris State 2 NEBRASKA-OMAHA 4, Lake Superior 3 MICHIGAN STATE 2, Miami (Ohio) 1 Western Michigan 2, NORTHERN-MICHIGAN 1 SATURDAY'S RESULTS: MICHIGAN 1, Notre Dame 0 (OT) NEBRASKA-OMAHA 4, Lake Superior 3 (OT) Alaska-Fairbanks 6, BOWLING GREEN 3 Ferris State 1, OHIo STATE O (OT) MICHIGAN STATE 5, Miami (Ohio) 4 (OT) NORTHERN MICHIGAN 4, Western Michigan 2 YESTERDAY'S RESULTS: OHIO STATE 5, Ferris State 4 (OT) NORTHERN MICHIGAN 4, Western Michigan 1 By Jake Rosenwasser Daily Sports Writer After senior Eric Werner's overtime game-winning goal in Saturday's 1-0 win over Notre Dame and the subsequent pile-on celebration, the seniors - instead of heading straight to the locker room - took one last victory lap around Yost Ice Arena. The group circled n o ., p0 the ice and thanked the pep band, the season ticket holders and final- ly the raucous student section. Then, senior captain Eric Nys- trom skated to one side of the exit, and senior Milan Gajic settled on the opposite side. One-by-one, the seniors filed out, never to play again in front of the packed arena. Nystrom and Gajic congratu- lated their classmates and even waited for the equipment manag- ers to leave the ice before they took one final wave. Finally, the pair stepped off the ice, hugged and headed to the locker room. "I tried to block it out as much as I could during the game," Gajic said. "But, once Werner scored that goal, it pretty much hit me right career .From HERBERT )nfident Continued from page 163 away. Skating around with the stu- dent section going, 'Thank you, seniors' and with the band going nuts - it was special. There will never be a place like this again in my life." Last weekend, the seniors were honored on senior night in their regular-season finale against Bowling Green, but Saturday was really the final game at Yost. And it was no surprise which players soaked it in the longest. "We're always the last two off the ice," Nystrom said. "But it was a little different tonight because it was the last time we'd ever play a game here and it's sad. We didn't want to ever step off the ice. It's been a hell of a run, but it's not over yet, and that's what it was like. We may not play at Yost again, but we still got Joe Louis Arena, which is a home away from home for us." Nystrom understands how lucky he's been to have had four years playing in what is widely consid- ered as the best arena for college hockey in the nation. "There will never be another place to play like Yost Ice Arena," Nystrom said. "Whether it's in the NHL or not, it's just such a unique place, and I'm so fortunate and humbled to be able to play at a place like this." HAT-TRICK?: On Friday in the third period, Gajic gave the crowd another reason to cheer. He slipped behind the defense and skated in on Irish goalie Rory Walsh. Gajic put the puck past Walsh and scored what the crowd thought was his third goal of the game. The Yost faithful celebrated and chucked their headwear onto the ice. But Gajic's goal was actually his second of the game because a goal that he was rewarded with in the second period was later rewarded to Michael Woodford. "The guys were joking (about the hats)," Gajic said. "Ever since we've been here, it was the most hats that have ever come on a hat trick, and I didn't even get one. Me and Woody both whacked at it, and it went (in). That's all that matters." NOTES: Michigan is currently on a season-best eight-game winning streak. It is Michigan's longest winning streak since last season's eight-game streak from Dec. 28, 2003 to Feb. 6, 2004 ... Eric Wer- ner extended his career-best point streak to eight games with his game-winning overtime goal. He has two goals and 11 assists in the span. TOMMASO GOMEZ/Daily Senior Milan Gajic scored two goals on Friday, but the Yost Ice Arena crowd thought that he registered a hat trick. On Saturday, Gajic played his last game at Yost. TOMMASO GOMEZ/Daily Senior captain Eric Werner will lead the Wolverines Into the Super 6 at Joe Louis. UP NEXT: SUPER 6 IRISH Continued from page 113 Nevertheless, Berenson decided to put his more offensive-minded players on the ice during overtime, even though he knew some of his scorers were "defensive risks." "We're nlavino to win " RBrenson nid. win, he did finish his collegiate with a spectacular performance the opening faceoff, Cey was co and stoic. He denied shot after sh the Wolverines, despite constant h from the crowd. "I went out there thinking I wa shut up 6,000 Ann Arbor fans," C "Needless to sav they're not very ot from eckling nted to ey said. nice to team with four game-winning goals, missed an open net, he slammed his stick against the ice in disgust. The pressure was mounting, and everyone was on the edge of their seats. It wasn't quite over- time, but, with the way the goalies were playing, it was transformed into a sudden death game. scores from around the CCHA. Michigan State was in overtime, tied at 4-4 with Miami (Ohio). Ohio State was in overtime, tied at 0-0 with Ferris State. Two underdogs taking good teams to overtime told me what I already knew: Playoff hockey was in full swing. And when the game I was watching made its way into overtime, I got giddy. As a writer and a fan of the game, this is what you live for. You live to I