* The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
November 26, 2007 - 3B
BENJI DELL/Daily
Sophomore Ekpe Udoh blocked 11 shots in Michigan's 1-2 showing at the Great
Alaska Shootout this weekend.
Increased time
for Udoh brings
'-M'block party
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
Senior Kevin Porter leads the country in scoring with 16 goals in 14 games. His six-point weekend helped Michigan win its first College Hockey Showcase title since 2002.
Man-down goals propel'M'
By ANDY REID giving himself a wide-open look at
Daily Sports Writer an empty netter.
"Frazee misplayed the puck a
Some teams just want to kill little bit, and I just happened to
penalties. be there and throw it on net," Por-
The Michigan ter said. "So it was kind of a lucky
hockeyteamcame NOTEBOOK goal, but I'm glad to have it."
out last weekend NOT-SO-STRONG FINISH:
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Writer
With Michigan holding a
56-53 lead with 38 seconds left
Friday against
Eastern Wash- NOTEBOOK
ington, Eagle
guard Adris DeLeon tried to cut
into Michigan's slim lead.
But his jump shot ran into a
familiar barrier - sophomore
forward Ekpe Udoh.
Freshman Manny Harris
picked up the loose ball, was
fouled and hit two free throws,
allowing Michigan to seal the
win.
It was Udoh's fifth block of the
game. He swatted 11 shots on the
weekend.
After injuring his knee before
the season, Udoh has started to
look more comfortable on the
court.
When starting center Zack
Gibson found himself in early
foul trouble against Butler, Udoh
came off the bench and played 32
minutes, matching a career-high
mark set last season. He followed
that performance by playing 27
minutes against Eastern Wash-
ington.
Udoh averaged more than six
points and four rebounds per.
game this weekend.
Just six games into his sopho-
more season, Udoh is six blocks
from joiningthe program's top 10
career leaders in that category.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE: The
MORE ONLINE
at michigandaily.com
Do you like our
basketball, hockey
and football cover-
age? It extends far
beyond the pages of
the paper. Check out
michigandaily.com for
more stories as well as
Web-exclusive
content.
outcome of Michigan's first four
games this season had been
decided before the final few min-
utes.
The young team hadn't
yet faced game-deciding free
throws.
In Friday's game against East-
ern Washington, the outcome
was still up in the air in the final
minutes.
Upperclassmen Jerret Smith
and Ron Coleman showed lead-
ership by hitting a combined five
free throws in the final minutes.
Ahead by two with less than
two minutes remaining, Coleman
knocked down two free throws
to extend the Michigan lead.
After Eastern Washington hit
a 3-pointer to cut the Wolverines'
lead to just one, Smith stepped up
to the line and hit both his free
throws to put the Wolverines up
three.
Freshman Manny Harris hit
four free throws in the final min-
ute to ice the game and finish
with a game-high 19.
RON RACKS UP POINTS: Five
points.
That's Coleman's total in the
Wolverines' first three games.
He scored eight in the first half
against Butler Wednesday night
and kept up that production all
weekend.
Coleman reached double fig-
ures in each game, averaging
12 points and six rebounds per
game, including 3-for-4 3-point
shooting in the loss to Butler.
looking to do more than that.
The Wolverines posted two
game-changing shorthanded
goals - one against Minnesota
and the other against Wisconsin
- that helped them post two qual-
ity wins over ranked opponents.
In the first period of Friday
night's contest, senior Chad
Kolarik created a fast-break
opportunity when he deflected
and errant Wisconsin pass near
the Badger blue line. Already
behind the defense, Kolarik faked
Badger goaltender Shane Connelly
and snuck a top-shelf glove-sider
behind him for the score.
The shorthanded tally put
Michigan up 1-0 and gave the
Wolverines enough momentum
to power through Wisconsin for
three straight goals.
By the time the Badgers picked
up some momentum late in the
game, there wasn't enough time to
stage a comeback.
"I think (Kolarik's goal) was
just hard work," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "If you watch
the tape on Kolarik's goal, he
backchecked hard and he created
the turnover, and then he took off
and got the loose puck. Remem-
ber, the other team on the power
play, they're not thinking defense.
They're thinking offense. And
they get a little cute. So, we want
to be opportunistic, and that's
another arena that we can do it in,
the (penalty kill)."
Saturday night was senior cap-
tain Kevin Porter's turn to knock
one in with aman disadvantage.
The Wolverines kicked the
puck out of their zone, and net-
minder Jeff Frazee tried to gath-
er it behind the net. He whiffed
on his pass attempt, and Porter
swooped around to steal the puck,
Michigan held a comfortable
three-goal lead against Wisconsin
going into the final minutes Fri-
day night.
That all changed in 18 seconds.
The Badgers squeaked a power-
play goal in on junior goalie Billy
Sauer with just more than two x
minutes to play.
"That penalty kill goal - that
shot can't get through," Kolarik
said. "That's my fault. I'm a senior,'
and (Berenson) puts me out there
to do a job the last two minutes of
the game, and that's my fault, and
I take full responsibility for that."
Eighteen seconds later, Michi-
gan's lead was cut to one. Wiscon-
sin won the faceoff and stormed
into the Wolverine zone. Junior
Ben Street found the puck near the
crease and punched it in to make
things interesting.
But Michigan drained the final
two minutes of the game to hold
on for the victory.
"You saw what happens when
we take those lapses we've been
taking all year to a better team,"
Portersaid "Theyscoredtwo goals
on us."
YOST SANS STUDENTS: While
the "C-Ya!" chant may have been
less colorful than in games that ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
aren't during a student break, the Junior BillySauer tallied 50 saves and surrendered just three goals this weekend
fans who filled Yost Ice Arena this against topts teams Wisconsin and Minnesota.
weekend still created a fairly hos-
tile environment.
But nothing will top Yost with a Attention Freshmen!
full student section.
"There's no chant when they're Check your umich inbox for your
going to the box," Kolarik said. invitation to participate!
"That's always pretty exciting, but
you can definitely feel the atmo-
sphere when they're here. And it's
a shame these games have to be
over Thanksgiving break... where
we can get them here and really
give them the feel of Yost." I CH IGA PREVENTION AN1D
ALCOHOL $AF1Y FOR STUDENTS
Studv No: HUM(XXX)887
I
Crohn's Disease o Ulcerative Colitis?
President's Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights
'Anti-Sweatshop Efforts in a Global Supply Chain:
Adidas' Labor Standards Compliance Program"
If s, We Need Y''our Help at the Next
IBD ~ ~~ .:de rup Met.. .
Many students on and off campus manage a
full time student life and their Crohn's /
Colitis. We need STUDENTS to share their
experiences and ideas, as well as to engage
even more STUDENTS. Be a part of
someone's life or make a difference in your
own on Thursday, November 29th at the
next group meeting!
Date: Thursday,
November 29th,
2007
Time: 7-9 P.M.
Location:
MASON HALL
RM 3356
Let us know you are coming
(I any questions):
Email Alex:
Hussey Room - Michigan League
Tuesday, November 27
7:30 - 9:00 PM
p
Director of the University of
Michigan's 080 Program
fill
Asl
Ii '1
11 ,- w 0ai9 lw-0 44wwXi - iff