Seniors get close to
record in final home
meet. 4
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS 5B
Bosch: No ball
for Cinderella in
NCAA Tourney
SM COLUMN 2B
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Monday, March 26, 2007
hree
players
Off
team
By JACK HERMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Three Michigan football players faced
with recent legal troubles will not return
next season, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
announced in a meeting with reporters
before practice Saturday.
Tight end Carson Butler and defensive
back Christian Richards, who both pleaded
not guilty to an aggravated assault charge
Wednesday, and defensive end Eugene
Germany, who paid a $50 fine Feb. 20 after
being charged with possession of marijua-
na, will no longer be part of the team.
0 Butler and Richards will appear in court
for a pre-trial hearing Tuesday after alleg-
edly attacking an LSA sophomore in a West
Quadrangle Residence Hall room on St.
Patrick's Day. Iffound guilty,the duo would
face up to a one-year prison sentence for
aggravated assault and an additional 93-
day sentence for assault and battery.
The dismissal of the three players was
not entirely unexpected.
Carr told the media March 14 - three
days before the alleged attack - that But-
ler and Germany, along with wide receiver
Adrian Arrington, would miss the 15-day
spring-practice sessionfornon-injuryrelat-
ed reasons. Without elaborating further,
Carr said it was "possible, but maybe not
probable" the three would return.
Richards was charged with illegally
entering a University building last year.
Although Carr didn't provide an update
0 on Arrington, the wide receiver attended
Saturday's practice - albeit dressed in a
black jumpsuit - a good sign for the Wol-
verines, who hope he's available to follow
up on his 40-catch, 544-yard, eight-touch-
down season.
The loss of Butler, however, could impact
the receiving game. The skilled, but some-
times inconsistent tight end saw playing
time midway through last season because
of injuries, catching 19 passes, fourth best
on the team. With Tyler Ecker graduating
and junior Mike Massey hurt, Butler was
one of just two healthy tight ends entering
spring practice (Chris McLaurin).
Saturday, Carr spoke of fullback Andre
Criswell's who move to tight end and sug-
gested incoming freshman tight ends Mar-
tell Webb and Steve Watson could add
depth, too.
"We got a couple freshman coming in
See VARSITY, Page 3B
michigandaily.com
BEN SIMON/Daily
TOP: Senior T.J. Hensick talks to reporters following the Wolverines' second-straight season-ending loss to North Dakota. BELOW: Junior Kevin Porter
had a goal and an assist, but it wasn't enough to overcome the eight goals scored by the Fighting Sioux.
Once again, leers unFrozen
Icers
fall to
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Writer
DENVER - It had the look
of a pick-up street-hockey game
played without goalies.
By the end of the first period,
one of every three shots had
resulted in a goal. By the end
of the game, that number had
fallen to a still astronomical one
goal in just less than every five
shots.
But somehow, Michigan, the
nation's highest-scoring team,
lost the type of game that usu-
ally suits it so well, falling to
North Dakota in the NCAAWest
Regional semifinals, 8-5.
"This time of year you're not
going to win games giving up
five and six goals," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said.
Unless you're North Dakota,
apparently.
It was the second consecu-
tive year the Wolverines' season
has concluded with a tourna-
ment loss to the Fighting Sioux.
The eight goals were the most
Michigan had allowed in an
NCAA Tournament game since
an 8-1 loss at Boston University
in 1991.
Michigan's penalty kill, which
excelled at the CCHA Champi-
onships, proved to be its down-
fall. North Dakota scored on five
of its eight power-play chances
and made it look easy along the
way.
The Fighting Sioux's five
extra-man tallies came in less
than two minutes combined.
It was the most power-play
goals Michigan (18-9-1 CCHA,
26-13-1 overall) has allowed
See SIOUX, Page 6B
DENVER -
uring Michigan's 8-5
loss to North Dakota
Saturday
night, the
third period
couldn't
go by fast
enough..
I just '
wanted it to AMBER
be over. COLVIN
It was
clear the
Fighting A Touch of
Sioux were Dutch
going to walk
away as victors for the second
straightyear. After the offen-
sive mayhem of the first two
periods, North Dakota had a
two-goal lead, and all it had to
do to win was buckle down and
play defense.
But as much as those 20 min-
utes of neutral-zone trapping
dragged on, it was even worse
to think about how quickly the
past four years have gone by
- and how myself and the rest
of the class of 2007 will gradu-
ate without a trip to the Frozen
Four.
It's hard to believe this
talented crop of seniors never
made it to that pinnacle of col-
lege hockey.
T.J. Hensick never made it
to the Frozen Four. Matt Hun-
wick never made it to the Fro-
zen Four. David Rohlfs never
made it to the Frozen Four.
The way things had been
recently at Michigan, you were
almost guaranteed a trip to the
Frozen Four. The Wolverines
had made it there seven times
in the past 16 years.
These seniors will be the
first group since the class of
1991 to graduate without going
that far.
"It's a sad statement that this
team wasn't better, or didn't
prove they were better," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said.
Berenson really hit the nail
on the head with that last state-
ment. All four years, this team
had most, if not all, of the tools
for postseason success. It was
really just about using them
correctly.
They came the closest two
years ago, when Hunwick and
his classmates were sopho-
mores. If only they hadn't let
a 3-0 lead over Colorado Col-
lege slip away in the second
period of the NCAA Midwest
Regional.
I'll stop there, because we
could spend a lot of time look-
ing back on the past four years
and saying "if only."
(How about if only they had
stopped takingstupid penalties
Saturday so that North Dakota
didn't score five power-play
goals? OK, I promise, I'm actu-
ally done now.)
It's a shame because these
guys are extremely good at
hockey - not perfect, but good.
When Hensick signed his
letter of intent at16 in Novem-
ber 2002, Berenson already
knew that.
"We've got a great young
prospect in T.J. Hensick, who's
one of those players who could
be special," Berenson said at
the time. "He's very skilled and
creative."
Four years of highlight-
reel moves, two Hobey Baker
Award candidacies and 222
points later, we see that the
See COLVIN, Page 6B
Blue
golden
versus
Grizz
By ANDY REID
Daily Sports Writer
No matter what the Michigan
baseball team tried yesterday, it
couldn't
make OAKLAND 0
things MICHIGAN 17
any easier
for Oakland, and the Wolverines
trounced the Golden Grizzlies 17-0.
With his team leading by 10 runs
in the bottom of the sixth inning,
Michigan coach Rich Maloney
began sending reserves, walk-ons
and freshmen into the game. But it
soon became clear the Wolverines'
offense wouldn't be slowed down.
Freshman Chris Berset was one
* of those newcomers, and he jacked
his first-career home run over the
leftfield wall. Junior Tim Kalzcyn-
ski stepped up to the plate in the
seventh and recorded his first hit of
the season, a double. The Wolverines
SOF TBALL
Hutch fumes
as M' splits
Sophomore Clint Tobias and the Michigan baseball team completed a four-game sweep of Oakland with a17-0 thumping on Sunday
afternoon. It was opening weekend at The Fish, which isnstill undergoing renovation.
seemingly scored at will and coasted
to a victory that completed a four-
game weekend sweep of Oakland in
Michigan's home opener.
"I got to everybody into the game
that I could, and that was really
nice," Maloney said. "It's nice to see
everybody get to play, and so many
guys made an impact on the game."
The starters, though, were the
ones that made all of that possible.
The Wolverines stormed into
the first inning, with sophomore
Mike Wilson striking out the first
three Oakland batters he faced. The
Grizzlies' batting woes continued
throughout the game. They record-
ed just one hit, which came in the
second inning. Wilson finished with
eight strikeouts.
Although Wilson scorched Oak-
land (6-13) from the mound, he
attributed much of his success to
Michigan's offense, especially in the
first inning. The Wolverines (9-6)
tallied five runs in the first, high-
lighted by Doug Pickens's bases-
loaded triple.
"It's pretty easy to go out there
and pitch when your offense puts
up 17 runs," Wilson said. "Anytime a
pitcher goes into the second inning
with a5-0 lead, it makes his job eas-
ier. You don't have to make perfect
pitches, just good ones."
Even though the final game of the
series was easy for the Wolverines,
the rest of the weekend was no walk
in the park.
In its second doubleheader of the
season on Saturday, Michigan strug-
gled mightily all day long. The first
game of the afternoon marked the
first time anyone in maize and blue
pitched a complete game this season.
Senior Andrew Hess held Oakland to
just one run, driven in by sophomore
Andrew Stafford in the third inning.
But while Hess held the Golden
Grizzlies in check, the Michigan
offense was stagnant throughout the
first five innings. Holding onto a slim
2-1 lead, the Wolverines slipped two
See GRIZZLIES, Page 3B
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On the
final day of Michigan's non-
confer-
ence MICHIGAN 2
season, LOUISVILLE 0
the
Michigan softball team was
looking to go into Big Ten play
on a high note.
But the Wolverines' perfor-
mance at the Women4Women
Softball Invitational this week-
end left nothing for Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins to sing
about.
"I thought we were unag-
gressive(and)timid,"Hutchins
said. "We've got nobody step-
ping up, and we got what we
deserved."
No. 9 Michigan (25-5) went
2-2 at the invitational, losing
to No. 7 Northwestern, 2-1, and
unranked Liberty, 2-0. It was
the Flames' third-best victory
(ranking wise) in the school's
athletic history. The Wolver-
ines' victories came against
No. 25 California, 11-8, and
host-school Louisville, 2-0.
Before the weekend-ending
matchup against the Cardi-
nals, Michigan had lost 4-of-5
games, with its lone victory
coming against an overrated
California team destined to
fall from the top 25.
But how did Michigan, a
team ranked sixth by some
polls and with a 23-3 record at
the start of the weekend, fur-
ther perpetuate its downward
spiral in its trip to Kentucky?
"I'm not pleased," Hutchins
said. "I'mnotpleasedwiththeir
attitude or their approach."
But as Hutchins went on,
she singled out four players
- Samantha Findlay, Angela
Findlay, ° Alessandra Giam-
paolo and Molly Bausher - as
the ones who were focused and
productive. These four hitters
combined for 15 of the 16 times
Michigan batters reached base
on Saturday (against North-
western and Liberty).
The rest of the team was left
to die on the Cardinals-themed
I-65 bridge in centerfield. If
Hutchins' words weren't the
equivalent of an 18-wheeler
hitting them head on, her tone
and visible frustration certain-
See SOFTBALL, Page 3B