U The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I April 7, 2008
FROZEN FOUR DENVER, COLORADO
BOSTON COLLEGE VS. NORTH DAKOTA * MICHIGAN VS. NOTRE DAME
DAYS
UNTIL
FACEOFF
Freeze frames
Four moments that defined the Michigan hockey team's regular season
AP PHOTO
SETT NG THE TONE
Going into the season-opening Ice Breaker the win and the crucial start to a surprising sea-
Invitational in St. Paul, expectations couldn't son.
have been much lower for No. 9 Michigan. Fac- Although Michigan lost to Minnesota in the
ing No. 2 Boston College in the first game, the next night's championship game, getting the
young Wolverines should have been happy to win against Boston College was the key to start-
just keep up with the Eagles. ing the season fast. If the Wolverines had given
Instead, Michigan opened up a 3-1 lead with up their two-goal lead and lost in overtime, the
less than 12 minutes left in the game. But Boston team's outlook could have been entirely different
College didn't go quietly. The favorites tied the for the rest of the year.
game with just over six minutes left in regula- If the puck hadn't bounced right for Michi-
tion. Michigan goalie Billy Sauer was shaken, gan that night, things wouldn't have gotten
and the Eagles had all the momentum. off on the right foot. Sometimes the difference
But when a Boston College defenseman between a good season and a great season is one
cleared the puck off his own teammate and into lucky break.
the net halfway through overtime, Michigan got - NATE SANDALS
/
MAX COLLINS/Daily
BUZZER-BEATER
After boasting a 16-2 record in the first half of Every part of the Wolverines' winning machine
the season, Michigan had its first real CCHA test had a newsworthy performance. Captain Kevin
during the Notre Dame series on Jan. 18-19. With Porter came through with the game-tying goal.
weekends against CCHA contenders Michigan One of the team's 11 freshmen pulled through
State and Miami also looming, the Wolverines when it counted to seal the game. Goalie Billy
needed to convincingly beat the Fighting Irish to Sauer, who had fought all season to erase his repu-
prove their fast start wasn't a fluke. tation of choking in important games, regained
But after just six minutes of play, the Wolverines his composure to record two shutout periods. The
were in a 2-0 hole and looking vulnerable. In the defense killed a five-minute major penalty in the
second period, they scored two goals 21 seconds third period by blocking a barrage of shots while
apart to tie the game. And with 20 seconds left in dealing with few line changes.
the third period, forward Louie Caporusso poked After a lackluster start to the game, the Wolver-
in the game-winner to give the rocking Yost Arena ines came together - and they showed that once
crowd little doubt Michigan could deliver in high- they were on, they were almost unstoppable.
pressure situations. - COURTNEYRATKOWIAK
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
/AN11-YEAR HUMP
A 16-2 start and a No. 1 ranking wasn't enough win tight contests, beating Michigan Tech 1-0 in
to convince many people that Michigan was a the second overtime of the championship game.
National Championship-caliber team. The victory validated the Wolverines' school-best
The Wolverines' schedule difficulty was ques- season start.
tioned - perhaps the fast start was a deceiving. Even more impressive was Michigan's abil-
Could Michigan continue that pace after 20 days ity to win despite playing with a depleted roster.
off? Could goalie Billy Sauer carry the Wolverines? It had the depth to overcome the loss of three of
Could Michigan win without scoring three goals? the team's most prolific freshmen and one of the
Overcoming an 11-year stretch of losses in the squad's three experienced defensemen to the
Great Lakes Invitational silenced almost all those World Junior Championships.
doubts. But most important is what happened last time
Sauer, who has struggled at times to complete the Wolverines brought back the GLItrophy -they
shutouts, backstopped a pair of them on the week- went on to win their first National Championship
end with 87 saves. Michigan showed it could blow in more than 30 years.
out a team, thrashing Providence 6-0, as well as - MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Con
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
1-2 SHOWDOWN
After 24 games of overachieving, it looked like season title.
Michigan, boasting a freshman-laden roster, had But that's why games are played.
finally run out of steam. The Wolverines limped The Wolverines shirked the negativity of their
into a weekend series at then-No. 1 Miami (Ohio) last two weekends, pouncing early and often on
with a 0-1-3 record in their last four games. Miami goaltender Jeff Zatkoff to the tune of four
Even though Michigan brought a No. 2 rank- goals in the first period. It was a hole the Red-
ing into the series, the optimism surrounding Hawks' powerful offense couldn't climb out of,
the program through the first half of the season losing 4-2.
was nowhere to be found. Using the momentum from the surprising vic-
Most college hockey pundits thought a crush- tory, Michigan has since scorched through its
ing defeat at the hands of the RedHawks seemed schedule. The Wolverines won both the CCHA
almost inevitable. regular-season and playoff title, posting a 10-2-1
Miami students lined up for free tickets almost record on their way to the program's first Frozen
two days in advance to watch their team claim Four appearance since 2003.
the top spot in the race for the CCHA regular- -ANDYREID
BASEBALL
Despite loss, Blue
gets revenge in series
Freshman fans fourteen -twice
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - Michigan
baseball coach Rich Maloney never
talked to his team about exacting
revenge
on Penn MICHIGAN 1
State this PENN STATE 10
weekend,
but that doesn't mean it wasn't on
his mind.
Last year, the Nittany Lionsm
were the only Big Ten team to win
a regular-season series against
Michigan. They eliminated the
host Wolverines from the 2007 Big
Ten tournament, too.
But after winning three of four
games at Penn State this weekend, y
Maloney wasn't afraid to show his
relief. FILE PH(
"It was sure nice to redeem our- Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchi
See NITTANY LIONS, Page 3B impressed with this weekend's strong
By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA
Daily Sports Writer
Freshman pitcher Jordan Tay-
lor isn't waiting to make her pres-
ence known on campus.
On Saturday, the No. 5 Michi-
gan softball team defeated Iowa
3-0 behind Taylor's 14 strikeouts.
The freshman fanned the first
seven batters she faced.
Against Illinois a day later,
Taylor had an identical showing,
recording a 5-0 win to cap two
Wolverine shutouts against the
Fighting Illini.
"Let's just say that we need
consistent performances from
everybody in our lineup, wheth-
er they're pitching, hitting or
catching," Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins said. "And I'm very
pleased with her consistency this
weekend."
As the weekend progressed,
the entire Michigan squad
rebounded from a shaky start on
a dreary Friday afternoon. Right
out of the gate, the Wolverines
struggled to field and pitch early,
giving up their only two runs in
the first inning of the first game.
The bats also failed to string
together hits, tallying just one
run late in the 2-1 loss.
But there were no signs of
Friday's troubles on Saturday.
The Wolverine offense produced
all of its five hits and three runs
in Michigan's first three innings
Saturday.
And that was all Taylor need-
ed.
With her change-up and curve
ball effective the entire weekend,
the freshman fanned at least one
batter each inning. Working with
coaches during practice to refo-
cus her control, Taylor was ahead
in the count against most Hawk-
eyes in the 3-0 victory.
"We had a lead and her job was
really just to hold it," Hutchins
See TAYLOR, Page 5B
4