GENNARO FILICE BasketBrawl and bomb threats? Only in Detroit. PAGE 3B The SportsMonday Column No. 1 ROLLS ON The Michigan softball team extended its winning streak to 31 games, cruising to a 4-0 record in the Louisville Classic. PAGE 5B UP AND DOWN Justin Laury won the all-around at the Big Ten Championships and led Michigan to a third-place finish. PAGE 6B SPORTSDAY March 28, 2005 1B 'i: I R --- - ------- i9be i chigtttt Made ------------------ I 111111 1 JASON COOPER/Daily Michigan forward Andrew Ebbett (19) skates away from goalie Al Montoya after a Colorado College goal In the second period on Saturday. The Wolverines let a 3-0 lead slip away en route to the devastating loss. 'M' blows 3-0 lead, bows out of posts By Gabe Edelsonl Daily Sports Writer] GRAND RAPIDS - The players on the Michi- gan hockey team didn't travel to the NCAA Midwest Regionals for this.; They didn't take the ice at Van Andel Arena to1 see their three-goal lead evaporate into the tension- filled air, their national title hopes obliterated by four unanswered goals from the Tigers of Colorado Col- lege. They didn't pour out blood, sweat and tears all+ season long only to be denied a trip to the Frozen+ Four for the second straight season. And they cer- tainly didn't plan on Saturday's game being the swan song for Michigan's 10 seniors. But that's exactly what happened in the Wolverines' heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Colorado College on Sat- urday night, just a day after ousting Wisconsin in an impressive 4-1 win. The defeat knocked Michigan out of the NCAA Tournament and ended its season earlier than senior captain Eric Nystrom would have liked. "It's ridiculous," Nystrom said. "I'm so upset. I'm so pissed that we lost this game tonight that I can't even talk about it without wanting to throw this microphone across the room." Despite first-period power play goals by juniors Jeff. Tambellini and Brandon Kaleniecki and Nystrom's own score 1:32 into the second frame, the Wolverines seemed to become somewhat complacent midway through the game. Rather than attacking the net and holding the puck in the Tigers' zone, much of the last 30 minutes of play saw Michigan reacting to, rather than assertively countering, Colorado College's per- sistent and methodical comeback. "We couldn't put that team away," Michigan coach eason play Red Berenson said. "I thought their goalie really played well in the last half of the game. And their team came back and got the goals they needed. Sometimes the ugly goals are the goals that kill you." Until Saturday, Michigan hadn't blown a three- goal lead since 1987. So when the Wolverines led the Tigers 3-0 with 18:28 left in the second period, many Michigan fans had already begun celebrating. But the players knew the game wasn't over, and Colorado College remained focused. The Tigers' comeback began with Marty Sertich's goal 6:13 into the second. With Colorado College on a two- man advantage, Sertich, the nation's leading scor- er,.beat Michigan goalie Al Montoya glove side on a rebound from Lee Sweatt's right-slot blast. Sertich was waiting in the low right circle, and when the puck bounced off Montoya's left pad, the high-scoring forward capitalized to put the Tigers on the board. But it may have been the Tigers' second goal of the night that broke the Wolverines' spirits. With Sweatt in the penalty box and Michigan on the power play, Colorado College was able to mount a shorthanded rush into the offensive zone. After Montoya saved defenseman Mark Stuart's shot, for- ward Trevor Frischmon scooped up the rebound and put the puck past Montoya low to the glove side with 4:33 left in the second period. As the Tigers climbed back into the game, the strongly pro-Michigan crowd became a non-fac- tor and the arena fell ominously silent as the final chapter in the Wolverines' season unfolded in tragic fashion. See TIGERS, page 4B RYAN WEINER/Daily Michigan senior captain Eric Nystrom leaves the ice after the Wolverines' 4-3 loss to Colorado College in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. FROZEN PARADISE LOST Here's a look at how this year's graduating seniors fared during their Michigan careers. 2001-02 28-11-5 overall record CCHA regular-season champions CCHA Super 6 champions Lost to Minnesota in Frozen Four semifinals, 3-2 2002-03 30-10-3 overall record CCHA regular-season runner-up CCHA Super 6 champions Lost to Boston College in NCAA regional finals, 3-2 (OT) 2003-04 27-14-2 overall record CCHA regular-season champions CCHA Super 6 runner-up Lost to Minnesota in Frozen Four semifinals, 3-2 (OT) 2004-05 31-8-3 overall record CCHA regular-season champions CCHA Super 6 champions Lost to Colorado College in NCAA regional finals, 4-3 =:_ ." ' " ', : ., , u;.,- . ;: : .m 'M' opens The Fish in style with a sweep By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer They knew Michigan was heading into the weekend with an 11-3 record. They heard the hostile opening-weekend crowd taunting them with adapted hockey and basketball cheers. They saw on the stat sheets that they would be facing starters with a combined record of 9-1. But when game time rolled around for this weekend's four- game set at The Fish, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (1-13 overall) refused to roll over. Still, the Wolverines kept the resilient Grizzlies at hand, consistently coming back when falling behind and regularly snuffing out Oakland rallies on their way to a four-game sweep. "It's certainly nice to find a way to win," Michigan coach Rich Maloney said. "Any time you beat any team four games is an accomplishment in any sport. We battled and found a way to get it done, and we might have lost one of those games, or two. But we found a way, despite not playing our best baseball, and still won." Michigan completed the sweep yesterday afternoon when a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth gave the Wolverines an insurmountable four-run lead. Junior Jeff Niemiec closed out the victory in the top of the ninth to secure a 7-4 win. In the top of the ninth, Oakland managed to pull within TONY DING/Daily *Junior Davis Tarwater won the NCAA Championship in the 200-yard butterfly on Saturday in Minneapolis. Tarwater fi~Ifills By Anne Ulble Daily Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS - Junior Davis Tarwater dreamt of earning an NCAA title since he was seven years old and watched Tennessee swimmer Melvin Stewart claim the event title and record in the 200-yard butterfly. "Whe nvwac 10 onre nis he was history right beside Stev In the preliminaries noon, Tarwater set a pe the event at 1:43.30. H pool record, which he h Ten Championships fou he was not going to hav the finals later in the Kentucky's Daniel Cr chamnion in the event- lfelong dream wart's. As the official hit the buzzer to start Saturday after- the race, Tarwater got off to a slow start ersonal record in and was the seventh swimmer to make e broke his own the first turn. At the 100-yard mark Tar- iad set at the Big water moved himself up to fourth place ir weeks ago. But and tried to track down Stanford's Jamie e an easy race for Cramer, who maintained a lead of an evening because arm's length over the rest of the field. In uz - the SEC the third 50-meter stretch, Tarwater made - also recorded a nivotal move to take the lead position TONY DING/Daily Junior Jeff Niemiec closed out Michigan's 7-4 victory over Oakland yesterday, striking out the side in the ninth inning. Niemiec was the last of five pitchers that Maloney used