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michigandaily.com
Monday, December 11,2006
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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NOTRE DAME 4, MICHIGAN 3
SWEPT O'WAY
Turnbull
excels on
new line
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - Before yesterday's game,
forwards T.J. Hensick and Kevin Porter com-
bined for 63 points on the season.
Sophomore forward Travis Turnbull
accounted for just three.
So when the Chesterfield, Mo., native got a
chance to play on the top line with Porter and
Hensick last night, he took advantage of the
opportunity.
And quickly, too.
Forty-two seconds into the game, to be
exact.
On the first shift of the game, the sopho-
more collected a cross-crease pass from
junior Chad Kolarik - Porter and Hensick
had already left the ice on a line change - and
deposited the puck behind Notre Dame goalie
David Brown to give Michigan the early lead
in yesterday's loss.
By the end of the game, Turnbull picked up
two assists, doubling his point total for the
season and turning in his first multi-point
performance of the year.
Turnbull has spent the first half of the sea-
son on the third and fourth lines, playing the
role of an enforcing physical presence.
But with sophomore forward Andrew
Cogliano unable to play - he was practicing
with the Canadian national team in prepara-
tion for the IIHF World Junior Hockey Cham-
pionships - Michigan coach Red Berenson
was forced to switch his lines. Turnbull
moved up to the top line alongside Hensick
and Porter, and senior forward David Rohlfs
filled Cogliano's spot on the second line.
" "Like Rohlfs, (Turnbull is) a big, strong
guy, so it wasn't much of a change," Porter
said. "It was tough having Rohlfs leave our
line but with Turnbull, it's pretty much the
same."
Not only did Turnbull have a chance to
play with some of the most potent offensive
players in the country, but he also reunited
with some former linemates. The sophomore
played on the same line as Hensick and Porter
for eight games last season.
He displayed some of that chemistry from
last year midway through the second period
yesterday.
On Michigan's second goal, Turnbull set
Porter up with a pass from his own blue line
that caught the junior forward in stride. Por-
ter beat the Notre Dame defender for posi-
tion and converted the breakaway chance to
extend his point streak to 15 games, one shy
of Andy Hilbert's 16-gamer during the 2001-
02 season.
"It's definitely a big lift to play with guys
like that because you know you are going to
get your chances," Turnbull said.
In the final minute of the second period,
Turnbull sent a pass along the boards to
sophomore defensemen Mark Mitera at the
blue line next to the Michigan bench. Mitera
See TURNBULL, Page 4B
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Michigan blew a third-period lead on Sunday and was swept in its weekend series with Notre Dame. On Friday, the Wolverines were pummeled by the Fighting Irish at Yost Ice Arena, 7-3. Notre Dame now
has sole possession of second place in the CCHA.
Icers run over in third period
By JAMES V. DOWD
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - The Maize and Blue laughed longest.
But just like it has so many times at Notre Dame Stadium
next door, the magic of the Irish laughed last at the Joyce
Center on Sunday.
After failing to gain a lead for the first 47 minutes of
the game, No. 4 Notre Dame (14-3-1, 9-2-1 CCHA) found
the back of No. 7 Michigan's (12-7-0, 8-5-0 CCHA) net
two times in a matter of 30 seconds, giving the Fighting
Irish a 4-3 victory and helping them maintain the second
place standing they earned with Friday night's 7-3 victory
at Yost Ice Arena.
With the Irish on the power play and the crowd more
reminiscent of a library than a hockey game, Notre Dame
set up a methodical power play, working the puck around
Michigan's zone. Fighting Irish forward Erik Condra
slipped the puck deep into Michigan's zone, where fresh-
man Kevin Deeth passed the puck across Sauer's goal
crease. Waiting on the other side of the net was freshman
Ryan Thang, who brought the crowd to life when he redi-
rected it into the net and tied the game at 3.
The crowd was finally brought back to life. Notre
Dame raced down the ice once more, as a flustered Michi-
gan defense faltered once more. After mistakes by Wol-
verines' defensemen Chris Summers and Mark Mitera,
goalie Billy Sauer found himself with nothing to do but
attempt to pokecheck oncoming Notre Dame wing Gar-
rett Regan. With Sauer in a vulnerable position, Regan
found the back of the net easily for the game-winning
goal.
The goal gave the Fighting Irish a sweep of Michigan
for the first time in three years - a sign of Notre Dame's
emergence as a national power. Berenson was impressed
with the Irish play, and believes they deserve the respect
they have been getting.
"The Irish are a better team now," Berenson said.
"They're earning respect and they're showing why. I
think they have surprised everyone."
Michigan seized the lead early on Sunday with help
from an unlikely candidate.
Junior Chad Kolarik possessed the puck behind the
Irish net, and passed it toward sophomore Travis Turn-
bull in front of the net. Turnbull, better known for his
physicality than his shootingtouch, took in the puck and
slapped it past Fighting Irish goaltender David Brown
just 42 seconds into the game.
But despite the early strike, the Fighting Irish seized
the game's momentum with a physical presence to which
the Wolverines weren't accustomed. After Michigan
freshman Steve Kampfer was whistled for tripping with
8:18 remaining in the opening frame, Notre Dame tied
the game with a power play rocket off the stick of Kyle
Lawson less than a minute later. The goal was the first of
three with a man advantage from Notre Dame, a key stat
as the game went on.
"We wanted to get off to a good start and we did,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "We did a lot of good
things, but then it came down to that our power play
couldn't score and our penalty kill couldn't defend."
With the score knotted up at 1-1, the Fighting Irish
maintained their tough forechecking, keeping Michigan
from setting up any sustained possession in its offen-
sive zone. As the Wolverines struggled to work the puck
See IRISH, Page 4B
'M' triples its
pleasure in rout
Carr speaks on
BCS controversy,
possible playoff
By DANIEL BROMWICH
Daily Sports Writer
Apparently, good things do
come in threes.
Senior Dion Harris knocked
down
three DELAWARE ST. 43
3-point- MICHIGAN 70
ers from
three different spots on the
floor in the first six minutes of
Saturday's game against Dela-
ware State. His third triple of the
sequence put Michigan ahead by
three, and gave it a lead it never
relinquished.
Three seniors finished in dou-
ble figures for the Wolverines,
and three starters hit 3-pointers
within the first five minutes of the
contest.
And senior Brent Petway defied
the law of gravity three separate
times on the way to his third dou-
ble-double of the season and a 70-
43 rout of the Hornets at Crisler
Arena, the team's third straight
win.
Even the most impressive sta-
tistic of the game was dominated
by the number mathematicians
refer to as the first "lucky prime": a
33.3-percent shooting percentage
thattheHornetssufferedthrough.
"I thought our defense in the
second half was outstanding,"
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker
said. "We needed that. They're a
... ball-control team, and they use
a lot of the shotclock, and that can
frustrate you if you aren't patient
and disciplined on both ends of
the floor."
In what has become something
of a post-game ritual for Amaker
and his players, the defense was
emphasized as the key to the vic-
tory. After a first half in which the
Hornets shot 45 percent from the
field, Michigan buckled down and
forced its opponents into 6-of-26
shooting in the second half and
just 17 points.
"He told us we had to hold
them to 55 points (total)," Pet-
way said. "He's done that a couple
times this year where he's given
us a point (total) that we've got
to hold a team to coming into
the second half. So that keeps us
See HORNETS, Page SB
By MATT SINGER
Daily Sports Editor
In most ways, he was the same
old Lloyd Carr - sharp, witty and
just a bit long-winded.
But at a press conference on
Friday, Michigan's football coach
couldn't completely hide his lin-
gering bitterness and frustration
five days after Floridaleapfrogged
Michigan for a spot in Jan. 8's
Bowl Championship Series
National Championship game.
"Certainly from a strictly foot-
ball standpoint, that was certainly
one of the two most disappointing
days I've had," Carr said. "Cer-
tainly for this team - which is
more important- itwas atremen-
dous disappointment. Sometimes,
in athletics, in a game, you get a
bad bounce and things don't go
your way. One of the great values
of sports at anylevel is you have to
learn to accept things when they
don't go your way. And you need
to be able to handle the things
that do go your way in a way that
honors the game."
Like most Michigan fans, Carr
was glued to the television while
watching what he termed an
"excruciating" UCLA-Southern
Cal matchup with recruits last
Saturday night.
But the excitement of the Bru-
ins' victory quickly wore off,
when Carr found out at 2:45 p.m.
last Sunday that the Wolverines
weren't going to the title game.
"To watch that (UCLA-South-
ern Cal) game, and watch it wind
down ... certainly (there was) the
euphoria of feeling like we were
going to get a chance to play in
that (National Championship)
game," Carr said. "Then, less than
24 hours later, finding out ... it was
an interesting 24 hours, I'll say
that."
Carr reiterated his opposition
to the BCS and expressed sup-
See CARR, Page 3B
Senior Brent Petway had 12 points and 10 rebounds in thi
State. It was his third double-double of the season.
A