2B - March 17, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2B - March 17, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom I
Af itting goodbye to Yost.
Blue narrowly misses sweep
aturday was a sad, sad day.
Yes, you read that right:
The day when everyone
woke up at 6:00 a.m. and drank
like there was no tomorrow was
bittersweet, at best.
But all the puking, fighting and
general debauchery that may or
may not have
happened had
very little bear-
ing on the final
evaluation
of my last St.
Patty's Day on '
campus.
Instead, SCOTT
it was, and BELL
will always
be marked as
the day I said goodbye to a friend
- Yost Ice Arena.
Michigan's CCHA quarterfi-
nal series wrapped up Saturday
night, and with a win, Michigan
advanced to the semifinals, held at
Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Since
the Wolverines won by nine goals
the night before, it was pretty
much a formality that they'd head
to the Championship Weekend for
the 19th straight season. That also
meant this would be the last home
game of the season, and for me
and hundreds of other seniors in
attendance, the last home game of
our collegiate careers.
With the outcome all but
predetermined, fans like myself
could concentrate on what's really
important: being loud, belligerent
and obnoxious.
Considering the amount of
Jameson and green beer in my
system, I figured that wouldn't
be a problem for me or any other
student.
With that said, it was far from
a Hunter S. Thompson-esque
performance on my part. After
revisiting blurry memories of
junior-year games that began with
pre-game power hours, I conclud-
ed I probably wouldn't remember
too much from my Yost swan
song if I fully immersed myself in
Saturday's special Pope-ordered
green-beer day. Still, entering
the university's most intimidat-
ing venue stone-cold sober is like
heading into an exam without a
blue book - it's not a good idea.
Once I safely arrived with only
an occasional stumble, it didn't
take long for me to start reminisc-
ing on past Yost experiences.
Junior Brandon Naurato's early
breakaway tally reminded me of
the instant offense provided by
past Wolverines like T.J. Hensick,
Andrew Cogliano and Eric Nys-
trom provided.
The fans' attempts to get in
Mavericks forward Mick Lawer-
ence's head was both funny and
effective - and the first "Cya"
chant brought back fond memo-
ries of the first time I heard the
expletive-laced chorus four years
ago.
And once the first 'Ugly par-
ents' chant came after Nebraska-
Omaha scored its lone goal of the
night, it brought what I thought
was a tear to my eye. I later found
out it was just slobber coming
from the angry drunk fan behind
me, but still, it was emotional. I
guess you had to be there.
The real highlight of the night
came midway into the second
period. Freshman Aaron Palushaj
ignited the Yost crowd after run-
ning into Nebraska-Omaha's
netminder and set off a 10-player
brawl. The punches and shoves
from the players on the ice were
great, but come on, that's not a
Yost-specific phenomenon. I had
seen plenty of fights between the
Muskegon Fury and their rivals at
the L.C. Walker Arena when I was
introduced to the game as a snot-
nosed youngster.
I can safely say Saturday night's
events never happened in Muske-
gon, though.
While the post-fight discipline
was being sorted out, a Michigan
fan headed over to the Nebraska-
Omaha parent section. Less than a
minute after being labeled ugly by
the student section, one Maverick
parent decided to tell the Wolver-
ine fan to leave. Verbal sugges-
tions probably didn't work out too
well, because the parent began
using his hands to get the message
across, and I'm not talking about
sign language.
The student section busted out
a 'Cya' chant on cue to send the
soon-to-be-ejected Maverick fan
out in style, and the entire Yost
crowd went nuts. The momentum
Nebraska-Omaha had picked up
just a minute before by scoring
was completely gone once the
puck was dropped, and Michigan
cruised to victory.
And it's those moments that
I'll remember the most from
Yost. Sure, the wins on the ice
were great, but I'll remember Big
Jack's last dance before any Chad
Kolarik hat trick..I'll remember
the pre-game drinking games
and the post-game celebrations
more than the in-game X's and O's
(assuming I didn't pre-game too
hard, that is).
And I'll remember the most
unified and intimidating student
section on campus more than I'll
remember any CCHA title. The
wins are great, but it's the experi-
ence that made my trips to Yost
more enjoyable than those to any
other venue on campus - and yes,
I know there's a football stadium a
couple blocks down the street.
Football has the results. Bas-
ketball has the organization. But
hockey has both. Take advantage
of it while you can, because it will
be gone before you know it.
- Bell can be reached at
scotteb@umich.edu.
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
It looked like the Michigan
baseball team's pitching was final-
ly starting to come together.
But when given the chance to
sweep Coastal Carolina, the Wol-
verines couldn't come through.
Michigan won three of four
games this weekend at the Centrex
Homes Invite in Conway, S.C. The
Wolverines won their first three
games, beating Presbyterian, 5-2,
Ball State, 7-5, and won the first
game against host Coastal Caro-
lina, 4-1, before losing on Sunday
11-9.
Michigan needed a good week-
end after losing all but one contest
in its previous outing at the Keith
LeClair Classic. Although Michi-
gan coach Rich Maloney hoped for
a sweep, he will have to settle for
the three wins and an 8-6 record
heading into the home opener
Wednesday.
"We battled back from a defi-
cit against a very good team,"
Maloney said. "We had a chance
to sweep them, it was there to be
had."
Sunday's loss against the Chan-
ticleers was a back-and-forth
affair. Michigan fell behind 6-3
after three innings, but scored two
more in the fourth and allowed
another Coastal Carolina run
before making a move.
The Wolverines finally took the
lead with a four-run fifth inning.
MAVERICKS
From page 1B
Hagelin wasn't the only Michi-
gan player to show some scoring
touch in the series.
Naurato, who came into the
weekend with four goals, gave
Michigan (29-5-4 overall) the lead
over Nebraska-Omaha (17-19-4)
early inthe first period both nights.
"It's great for the fourth line to
chip in," Naurato said. "Our job is
to go out there and at least be even
on the game, but to get plus and to
help when Porter, Kolarik and that
first line can't get anything going,
it's good for us."
Balanced scoring across all four
Michigan third baseman Adam
Abraham started off the scoring
with a solo homerun. And after
left fielder Derek VanBuskirk and
first baseman Mike Dufek walked,
it set the stage for right fielder
Alan Oaks.
Oaks responded by nailing a
three-run homerun to give the
Wolverines a 9-8 lead.
The sophomore led the Michi-
gan offense in the game with three
hits, two home runs and five RBI.
He finished the weekend with five
hits.
The Wolverines held their lead
behind the pitching of Mike Wil-
son for two innings, but couldn't
add to it. Coastal Carolina scored
the final three runs of the game to
clinch the win.
"Today, we just didn't get it
done," Maloney said. "But we still
battled and had a chance to win it.
We had a few missed opportuni-
ties at the end that cost us."
The Wolverines shored up
their pitching through the first
three games of the series when
pitchers Zach Putnam and Travis
Smith picked up their first wins of
the season. Smith pitched seven
strong innings in the win over
Presbyterian in what was also his
first career win.
In the first game against Coast-
al Carolina, Putnam struck out 10
batters, snapping a 10-game win-
ning streak for the Chanticleers.
Michigan's win over Ball State
Saturday was a landmark one for
lines will be even more important
at the Joe. Michigan will be with-
out top-line winger Max Pacio-
retty in Friday's semifinal. He will
serve a one-game suspension after
receiving a game disqualification
for fighting Saturday.
Just over six minutes into the
second period, tensions boiled over
between the teams after freshman
Aaron Palushaj ran over Kaufa-
mann outside the crease. Quickly,
all 10 skaters paired up for some
pushing and shoving. The tussle
between Pacioretty and Nebras-
ka-Omaha defenseman Nick Von
Bokern quickly escalated into a
full-on fight. Both Pacioretty and
Von Bokern earned game disquali-
fications.
Maloney. He coached the Cardi-
nals before coming to Michigan.
"It was strange (coaching
against Ball State)," Maloney
said. "Ball State will always have
a special place in my heart. It was
certainly pleasing to win against
them. I was just glad I didn't have
any players of mine still there."
Recknagel started his strong
weekend against the Cardinals.
After taking a 2-1 lead over Ball
State in the bottom of the first
inning, he hit a two-run homerun
to extend the lead to 4-2. Ball State
simply couldn't muster the offense
to match Michigan, scoring just
one run before Recknagel added a
two-run double to the stat sheet.
Although the pitching was solid
in the first three games, the loss to
Coastal Carolina was disconcert-
ing. The 11 runs given up by the
Wolverines were the third highest
total this season. There is reason
for optimism,though. The Wolver-
ines started last season in a similar
manner, finishing 6-6 before their
home opener. For now, Maloney is
just happy things are starting to
look better.
"The weekend was a success."
Maloney said. "We won the tour-
nament with more wins than the
other teams, and we played better
baseball."
Michigan starts play at the
newly-renovated Ray Fisher Sta-
dium at the Wilpon Baseball and
Softball Complex Wednesday
against Oakland.
"You don't like to see any of your
players get involved in a fight,"
Berenson said "You know, there's
not fighting in college hockey."
Despite losing one of its top
offensive players for Friday's game,
Michigan can take some confidence
from the balanced scoring it exhib-
ited all weekend.
After adjusting their lineup in
recent weeks because of injuries to
Kolarik and freshmen Matt Rust
and Scooter Vaughan, the Wolver-
ines have become accustomed to
taking these changes in stride.
"We're going to miss Pacioretty
next game," Porter said after Sat-
urday's game. "But I think (junior
Tim) Miller is doing a great job fill-
ing in."
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