Can Billy Sauer Her handle the wal pressure in net? cha THE BOSCH WATCH 4B Si man: Other ys to decide a mpion SM COLUMN 2B michigandaily.com Monday, December 11,2006 THE MICHIGAN DAILY u 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