8A - Thursday, March 8, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Icers'playoff hopes rest with goalie Sauer By JAMES V. DOWD On Ice Hockey When the puck hasn't bounced the way it should for the Michigan hockey team this year, fans looking for a scapegoat often fail to point to the defense, which has turned over the puck far too often, orto the for- wards that have struggled to work the puck through the neutral zone. Time and again, the blame seems to fall on sophomore goaltender Billy Sauer. Sometimes Sauer has rightfully earned this criticism, like when he allowed six goals to Ohio State in the season finale and eight to Minnesota in November's College Hockey Showcase. But it's time Michigan fans stop letting those outlying games jade their opinions of the fledgling goalkeeper, who has been one of the team's most consistent players throughout the season's second half. It was easy to criticize Sauer a year ago, when his litany of errors made then-senior Noah Ruden an obvious choice to startmany games later in the season. Sauer struggled with playing the correct angles on Olympic ice surfaces, which are 15-feet wider than the typical col- lege-hockey rink. The Walworth, N.Y., native also found it difficult to bounce back from poor perfor- mances. But this season has been a dif- ferent story. Since Jan. 1, Sauer has allowed just 2.53 goals per game, and more important, he's bounced back from bad games like a grizzled veteran. So what's the difference? Sauer is a year older, 19 this January, after entering Michigan when he was just 17. This year has brought increased maturity, which has allowed him to critique his own performances. When the Wolverines traveled to Fairbanks - which features the larger ice - in October 2005, Sauer allowed several bad goals en route to a 4-2 loss duringthe series open- er. But this time, Sauer spent extra time before the games working on his positioning, and it paid off with a sweep. Sauer has also worked closely with the Wolverines' new goalten- der coach Yona Fiorvanti, who was his personal coach in New York. Last year, Sauer struggled to learn from then-goalie coach Stan Mati- wijiw, whose impatience didn't always work well with Sauer. But Fiorvanti, who also appears demanding but is more patient than Matwijiw, has clearly aided Sauer's play, helping him eliminate many of the errors that plagued him last season. ANGELACESEs Sophomore Billy Sauer and his Wolverine teamrmates open postseason play against Northern Michigan tomorrow. With Sauer's improvements, Michigan should be fine head- ing into the CCHA playoffs - and possibly the NCAA Tournament - with Sauer in net. He'll continue to make mistakes. And he may not be able to steal a game for the Maize and Blue like Marty Turco, Steve Shields or even Al Montoya were sometimes able. But the Wolverines can count on him to keep them in the game almost every night. Michigan coach Red Berenson famously says he asks just one thing of his goaltender: that he gives the team a chance to win. During almost every postgame press conference this season, Berenson has said Sauer has given the Wolverines that chance. It might be nice to have an impenetrable wall like Turco in net, but Michigan doesn't have that this season. But what the Wolverines do have is a more mature goaltender than they did a year ago, which can only mean good things with the playoffs around the corner. Tankers eye big finish at NCAAs By DAVID RUSSELL Daily Sports Writer For seniors Kaitlyn Brady and Lindsey Smith, this weekend's NCAA Championships in Min- neapolis represents the last time they will swim for the 10th-ranked Wolverines. In their Michigan finale, both will compete for All-American honors in seven events as they anchor the team's championship efforts during the three-day com- petition. "It would be nice to end with career-bests," said Brady, who will be part of four relay teams, includ- ing two, the 200 and 400-yard free- style relays that won Big Ten titles. She will also participate in three individual swims (the SO- and 100- yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly). Younger team members also have shown promise for the Wolverines. NCAA Sopho- Championships more Emily When: Brunemann is Michigan's Today, March best chance for 8th, to Saturday, a national title March 10th. as her 16:70.10 Where: time is the sev- enth best in Minneapolis, the country Minn. this year. Brun- emann is Mich- igan's best long-distance swimmer this season and will also compete in the 400-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle. "That's a lot of time," Brun- emann said, referring to the 19 sec- onds she cut off her 1,650-meter freestyle time from last year. But times from the regular season don't determine National Championships. "Less than 50 percent (of swim- mers) go faster than they did to get to the meet," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said. He believes that if the Wol- verines swim for times at the championships, they will psych themselves out. On the positive side of the mind games, Richardson said it's an advantage the meet will be in the same pool as this season's Big Ten Championships. Psychological issues are also present with junior diver Elyse Lee and Michigan diving coach Chris Bergere. "I don't look at the scoreboard until the end," said Lee, who tries to stay in the dark about her scores during the meet. She also listens to her iPod dur- ing the 20 minutes between her dives. Asked how she avoids hear- ing the score of each of her dives announced, she said she stays "underwater a little bit longer." Lee and Bergere agreed a top-16 finish in the one-meter and three- meter competitions are Lee's goal for the meet as they will score points for the team and earn Lee All-American honors. Bergere believes the junior diver can do it. "She's peaking atthe right time," said Bergere, who was proud of Lee's efforts at this past weekend's Zone C Diving Championships, where she took third in the one- meter and fifth in the three-meter. I Get 300 free text messages a month for one year. Sign up for new service and show a valid college tD at the Sprint store. After 12 months, pay the regular monthly fee. . 0" LAMA RED MOTORAZRtM V3m Motorola and Sprint are collaborating with (PRODUCT)RED to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. JOINRED.COM This feature-packed phone is the only RED MOTORAZRtthat lets you download music wirelessly from the Sprint Music Store' $5999 $109.99 2-year price Plus $50 mail-in rebate With newline activation and 2-year agreement ( Sprint> A.+ 0), E MTOROLA SAPROPARO(PRODUCTr SPRINT IS A CONTRIBUTINGSPARTY TO (PRODUCT) You Ticket to CkivnA English Teaching Program in Shenzhen, China Spend a year in Shenzhen teaching English and learning Mandarin Chinese. 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