Blue outshines
Wildcats in third
conference win
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 3B
Herman:
You can bet your
bottom dollar
SM COLUMN 2B
S
0
Monday, February 5,2007
AL
T HE MICHIGAN DAILY
michigandaily.com 6
MICHIGAN 3, WESTERN MICHIGAN 1
Seniors
avoid past
missteps
veryone attached to the Michigan hockey
program has been trying
to convince us all season:
This is a different team than last
year's.
But when the Wolverines
immediately fell into the same
traps from the disappointing
2005-2006 season - weekend
splits, underachieving, a falter-
ing power play and countless AMBER
defensive lapses - it was hard to COLV1N
believe them.
The second half of the season
has been different. Michigan is A Touch of
8-1, moving away from those bad Dutch
habits and toward the success
that's been expected all along.
Saturday night, as the seniors gathered in a circle
to kiss the block 'M' at center ice, the Wolverines
added an emphatic line to their argument with one
last regular-season win at Yost Ice Arena.
Senior Night was tarnished in 2006 when Michi-
gan let a 3-0 lead over lowly Ferris State slip away in
the final period.
Bitter memories of that heartbreaking overtime
loss were imprinted on every Wolverine mind Sat-
urday night.
Not again. This isn't last year.
Though Western Michigan did its best to play
spoiler, Michigan muscled its way to a close win on
Senior Night - thanks to the outstanding play of
goaltender Billy Sauer and, of course, the seniors.
Following the emotional victory, Michigan coach
Red Berenson strolled into the postgame press con-
ference, sat down and began speaking, unprompted.
"What a difference a year makes," Berenson said.
"Senior Night a year ago was a long night for our
seniors. But tonight will be more enjoyable for all
these guys."
Player after player spoke of the need to erase last
year's final flop and get that last home victory, for
the seniors and for the team.
They did that. And in the process, they separated
themselves further from one of the worst seasons in
Michigan hockey in more than a decade.
After starting 2007 sixth in the CCHA and mov-
ing into second place by the first weekend of Feb-
ruary, Michigan has demonstrated it is capable of
positive change.
The Wolverines seem to be improving every
weekend. Confidence is blooming. A steady defense
is buckling down. They're on their way - some-
thing that could never really be said about last
season's hot-and-cold (but mostly cold) team. That
squad was lucky to finish third in the CCHA.
"We're coming together," Berenson said. "The
chemistry, and the mindset - it's like a family. You
just get closer and closer as things get more impor-
See SENIORS, Page 3B
Michigan senior forward David Rohlfs is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the eventual game-winning goal in Saturday night's 3-1 victory over Western Michigan.
Rohlfs ,and co. leave Yost on top
By IAN ROBINSON"
Daily Sports Writer
On Senior Night last year, Michigan gave up a
three-goal third-period lead and lost to Ferris State.
For his senior night this year on Saturday, senior
David Rohlfs made sure that disappointment wasn't
repeated.
Playing short-handed just more than five minutes
into the third period, Rohlfs snapped a backhand
shot from between the rings past Western Michigan
goalie Riley Gill's glove. That goal broke a 1-1 tie and
put Michigan ahead for good in its 3-1 win at Yost
Ice Arena.
The victory was the Wolverines' sixth straight,
and their eighth in the past nine games.
"It was definitely on a lot of people's minds how
we felt last year," senior captain Matt Hunwick said.
"We didn't want to go out that way."
Hunwick tried to inspire a whatever-it-takes men-
tality throughout the game.
Rohlfs got the message on his third-period goal.
Rohlfs battled a Bronco defender for the puck near
the right boards and tipped it free to the middle of
the ice, where he fired the shot on net for his 15th
gdal of the year.
But it wasn't just on the offensive end where
Rohlfs showed his desperation.
On a Bronco power play later in the third period,
Michigan goalie Billy Sauer was caught out of posi-
tion and without a stick, leaving Hunwick as the
lone Wolverine protecting the other side of the net.
The puck bounced out to the point where Western
Michigan (9-12-1 CCHA, 12-15-1 overall) unleashed
a shot toward the net. Rohlfs got down on the ice and
blocked the puck before it reached the net, keeping
his team up, 2-1.
Sauer might have been caught out of position on
that particular play, but he turned in what alter-
nate captain T.J. Hensick called his best game of the
season - quite a compliment considering Sauer's 8-
1-0 record and 2.11 goals against average since the
beginning of the year.
In one sequence in the second period, Western
Michigan entered the Michigan zone on a 3-on-1
rush with the game knotted at one. Sauer lunged to
his right to make a huge pad save on the right post.
Then, he launched his body toward the left post
to make a dramatic glove save on a wrap-around
attempt.
The Walworth, N.Y., native stopped 19 of the 20
shots he faced.
"He battled; he made a difference in the game,"
Berenson said. "To win this game, somebody had to
make a big save, and he did."
The solid goalkeeping at both ends of the ice kept
the score low, but tough team defense also played a
role. Both games this weekend featured big hits and
physical play that kept the.Yost crowd entertained
Saturday, despite the low goal count. The crowd was
particularly entertained when freshman Antho-
ny Ciraulo upended a Bronco defender along the
boards.
As the season heads toward the playoffs, Michi-
gan (16-6-0,21-9-0) realizes the importance of being
able to play in hard-fought, low-scoring affairs like
Saturday.
In the second half of the season, Berenson has
harped on the importance of keeping goals against
down.
"It was good experience game for us because as
See BRONCOS, Page 3B
Blue
drops
No. 2
on road
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - Forget
Oklahoma.
One week after defeating the
two-time
national , MICHIGAN 216.75
champi- PENN STATE 215.8
on Soon-
ers, the top-ranked Wolverines
took on No. 2 Penn State.
In its biggest triumph of the
season, the Michigan men's gym-
Michigan senior Andrew Elkind finished first on the parallel bars to help Michigan
capture its second-straight win over a top-three opponent.
nastics team pulled off a last-min- lege since 2001.
ute win, 216.75-215.8. The victory Michiganmayhavebeenranked
was the squad's first in State Col- See NITTANY LIONS, Page 3B
-Manning super in win
MIAMI (AP) - A wet and wild Super Bowl, the That's what it was for Tony Dungy, too. He became
winning conditions forPeyton Manning and the Indi- the first black coach to win the championship, beating
anapolis Colts. good friend and protege Lovie Smith in a game that
A team built for indoors found its footing on a rain- featured two black coaches for the first time in Super
soaked track and outplayed the Chicago Bears to win Bowl history.
the NFL title 29-17 Sunday night. The Colts were far It was a game of firsts: the first rainy Super Bowl
less sloppy, particularly their star quarterback, who and the first time an opening kickoff was run back for
proved he can indeed win the big game - the biggest a touchdown when sensational Bears rookie Devin
game. See SUPER BOWL, Page 3B
A
i