The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 22, 1995 - °

- THE COLLEGE HOCKEY SHOWCASE -
Showcase showdown in Milwaukee

Wolverines hope to
have Badgers, Gophers
for Thanksgiving meal
By Alan Goldenbach
Daily Sports Writer
Four perennial college hockey powers will be showcased
this weekend in Milwaukee at the Third Annual College
Hockey Showcase.
Michigan (7-1 CCHA, 9-1 overall), Michigan State (7-2, 9-
3), Minnesota (8'3-1 WCHA, 8-3-1 overall) and the host,
Wisconsin (2-7-1, 2-7-1), will each play two games against
non-conference opponents.
The Wolverines and Spartans will be rep-
resenting the CCHA, while the WCHA will
This send the Golden Gophers and Badgers.
weekend Friday's slate begins with Minnesota skat-
ing against Michigan State at 6 p.m., fol-
hrat nual lowed by a rematch ofone ofthe quarterfinal
College battles from last year's NCAA tournament
Hockey - Michigan and Wisconsin at 9 p.m.
hoce Saturday's twinbill will start with a
Showcase matchup between a pair of top-five teams as
Michigan, the third-ranked Wolverines will face the
Minnesota, No. 5 Gophers at 6 p.m. The Spartans and
Wisconsin, Badgers will follow at 9 p.m.
M iC an St. Michigan will appear in this event for the
W" The third consecutive year. Both of its past two
Bradly trips have resulted in splits.
Center, Last year, the Wolverines smoked Wis-
Mi wI'kee consin. 7-2. scoring six unanswered goals.
When: Friday Jason Botterill's five-point game (two goals.
and Saturday three assists) matched his career-high.
Television: However, Michigan couldn't complete the
The Prime sweep, as the host Gophers sent the Wolver-
Network ines out of St. Paul with a 4-3 loss. Minnesota
Radio: WTKA bounced back from a 3-1 deficit with three
(100 AM) third-period goals to earn the win.
Michigan is coming off a stretch where it
has dominated its opponents, winning its last six games -
four of them on the road - by a combined score of 32-9.
But the Wolverines' three opponents during that span were


NAPPORN KICHANANTHA Daih

Bill Muckalt and his Michigan teammates will be tested by Wisconsin and No. 5 Minnesota this weekend in Milwaukee.


Ferris State, Miami (Ohio) and Alaska-Fairbanks, which are not
among the tougher teams in the nation.
Now, as Michigan ventures outside the CCHA, the Wolverines
shouk get a good chance to see if they can do the same against a
higherjevel of competition.
Besjdes, both teams present interesting matchups simply because
their styles differ so much.
Wisconsin is a big team that likes to use its size and strength to
overpower its opponents. On the contrary, Minnesota, is a more
speed-oriented team, which has placed it among the higher scoring
teams in the nation.
The Badgers are led in scoring by seniors Max Williams and

Shawn Carter, both of whom have racked up seven goals and five
assists in Wisconsin's 10 games.
Wisconsin is coming off of a loss and a tie to St. Cloud State last
weekend and is not playing as well as they did last year. when they
made the NCAA Tournament.
But that hasn't given Michigan coach Red Berenson or his players
a reason to take the Badgers lightly. There's also no doubt that
Wisconsin hasn't forgotten about last year's postseason loss
"We went in there and played them in the Regionals last year and it
was a great game," Berenson said. "Their team hasn't changed much.
"They played physical and very intense, emotional hockey."
Minnesota has the top three scorers in the WCHA in center Brian

Bonin (seven goals. 16 assists). defensemen Mike Crowley (6-15)
and Dan Trebil (3-16).
"We knew (the Gophers) were going to be a good team coming into
this year." Berenson said. "They're typically a skating team because
they play on an Olympic-size rink. Their style is not a feisty style."
Minnesota, like Michiigan, is coming oft a weekend sweep. It
handed Minnesota-Duluth shuouts 6f 2-0 and 7-0 last Friday and
Saturday - the first time the Gophers have had back-to-back
shutouts in the modern era.
This will be the 220th meeting between Michigan and Minnesota.
The Wolverines have played the Gophers more than any other
opponent, but Minnesota holds the edge all-time, 109-98-12.

'M' spikers a
may get to
NCAAs
with 2 wins
By Chris Murphy
Daily Sports Writer
The M ichigan women's xvol leball
team is entering this we ekend w ith
one thing in mind an NC'AA Four-
nament berth.
The Wolverines w ill get th'
chance to make the tourne when they-
face Northwestern Friday and Purdue
Saturday. Two wins will all but se -
cure their first NCAA appearanee
ever.
Michigan wilI face the struggl1itH
Wildcats (1-1 7 Big Ten, 5-23 ox erl y
who are having as poor o1 a season as
the Wolverines did last year, whe
they finished with a Bi Ten recordi of
just 4-16.
Northwestern hopes to aoid be-
coming only the third team ex er to
finish the conference schedule with
one or fe\ er ins. I lox ecr, gix e
the fact that the Wildcats face Mich
galn State Satunrda. the top team in
the league. that dubious dlist inet ion
seems likely.
With such a tough test loom in Sat-
urday, Northwestern should be foeus-
ing its energy on spoiling Mi ichi bans
tournament hopes.
"We're expect ing them to come out
and play their best balL' Michion
coach Greg (Jio ana/zi said. "We
went four (games) with them the first
time we played them. so we know
the re capable of putting together a
pretty good attack."
While Northwestern has proxen it
can handle the ball and move its at-
tack around. the team's real weakness
is a lack of size in its blocking game.
Unlike the Wildcats. Purdue (6- l.2°
8-1 8) features a team with both depth
and experience.
The Boilermakers have t\o of the
league's better players outside hif
ter Lauri Grimes and middle blocker
Brooke White. Nonetheless. the team
has been unable to sustain a lotg'
enough winning streak to push it ii o
the top half of the league.
This weekend, the Wolverines wilJ
look to ride their strong blocking
game, which helped defeat No. 8 Penn
State last Saturday when the Wolver-
ines out-blocked the Nittany Lions,
1 1-9.
Giovanazzi is also hoping that -he
can use as many of his players as
possible. As opposed to relying ,n
one or two people, the contributions
of the rest of the starters and the bench
should prove crucial, both this week-
end and in the postseason.
"As far as the game plan goes, we
have to mix it up as much as ps-
sible," Giovanazzi said. "When ye,
end up just having to ride Shanpn ,
(Brownlee) we become too predict,
able."
Perhaps the most important part of
the Wolverines' game plan will be
concentration, however.
Even }though both opponents are
bringing up the rear in the Big Ten,
the Wolverines are being careful about
a possible letdown. With a possible
spot in the tournament and two games
against cellar-dwellers, Michigan will
be looking for the correct frame of.
mind.

"I really don't believe we'll make
the mistake of going into this week
end unprepared," G iovanazzi said:
The importance of making NCAAs
is not lost on the Wolverines.
After rebounding from a dismal
1994 season, a year in which they
went 8-23 and placed 10th in the coif-
ference, the Wolverines have started-
to turn things around. Michigan can .
tie its 11-9 Big Ten record of 1992
with two wins this weekend. That
tally would be its best in 10 years.
The Wolverines are currently in-,
sixth place in the Big Ten with,. .
record of 9-9. Ahead of them are
Indiana;'in fourth.and Illinois. in fift-
Michigan may be able to overtake
them because both must play powvrs
Penn State and Ohio State this (e-
end.
Two wins for the Wolverines
clinch a spot in the tournament 101-
them. while two losses or a split wv'Auld
likely land them in the National Insi-
tational Volleyball Championship.
Of course. -do-or-die situaiois
are nothingt new to MIichigan. 1 acinu'-
elimination from the N('AA rac, the
Wolx erines were able to pull ofi their
stunning fiv e set x ictorx o er Pen
State last Saturday
Michigan surx ix ed the 1994 ca'm-
paign and noxx a confterence race Pi
giving the team big-game experience
All that remains is the weekend fiina-

Tough guy Bertogliat has to score more and more often for Golden Gophers to win

By Jeff Sherry
The Mirinesota Daily
The three consecutive Minnesota
-state hockey titles Mike Crowley won
.at Bloomington Jefferson High School
provided the Gophers sophomore with
plenty of fond memories.
But when Crowley reminisces about
his 1992 state title run, some of those
memories are missing. And Gophers
forwavra Jesse Bertogliat, who played
for Cloquet High School at the time,
provided the reason why.
"We were playing Cloquet," Crowley
.said. "I came around from behind the
net, and Jesse just nailed me. I don't
remember anything that happened after
that."
Crowley called the collision the hard-
est hit of his career. He said the second-
hardest hit of his career came during
practice last year - also from
Bertogliat.
This is not a coincidence. Bertogliat,
a senior winger for the Gophers, is a
very physical hockey player. He devel-
oped that reputation in high school and

incorporated it into his play at Minne-
sota. Hitting is what he does, and he
prides himself on doing it well.
"My style is aggressive," Bertogliat
said. "Ilike to go into the corners and
muck it up. I just think that's the way
the game should be played. I don't
think guys should just be able to skate
around out there. I
think if you're not
hitting somebody,
you're not playing
hockey."
But Gophers f
fans this year have
seen more thanjust r
physical play out
of Bertogliat. Only
three weeks into
the season, he had
two goals and two Bertogliat
assists. This is a
big change. In his first three seasons
at the University, he totaled only five
goals.
And while his scoring has slowed as
of late, Bertogliat said he has made

scoring a higher priority.
"Last year it was a bonus if I
scored," Bertogliat said. "So far this
year my attitude is starting to change.
If I come out of a game now and I
haven't gotten a point, then I don't
feel I've played that well. I like get-
ting into that attitude. And I hope to
continue with that."
Getting consistent scoring from play-
ers like Bertogliat will be key for Min-
nesota this season. Defense and
goaltending will keep the Gophers in
most games. When they can get bal-
anced scoring, the Gophers will be tough
to beat.
Minnesota assistant coach Tom Ward
said the players seem to rally around
Bertogliat.
"When Jesse scores, the team really
gets a lift," Ward said. "The guys really
like him. It makes a big difference for
this team if we can get scoring from all
four lines."
Bertogliat's increased offensive pro-
duction could also affect the way others
view him. His physical style has been

interpreted by some as cheap.
But what most people don't realize is
that Bertogliat, 22, has never been in a
real fight on the ice. He has been in-
volved in some mini-wrestling matches,
but never in a "let's-drop-the-gloves-
and-go" type of fight.
"I'm not a fighter," Bertogliat said.
"I never have been. The only time I'm
hitting someone is usually when I'm
getting a good shoulder into him. And
very rarely are people willing to drop
the gloves with you just because they
got hit hard."
Bertogliat said he likes to use the low
center of gravity from his muscular, 5-
foot-8, 198-pound frame for legal, tac-
tical hits. He thinks he plays a clean
brand of hockey.
"I don't look at myself as a goon,"
Bertogliat said. "I don't think I'm all
that good ofa hitter if I'm trying to goon
somebody. I think I've got the knack of
hitting somebody when they're not ex-
pecting it. And that's why I'm success-
ful."
But even if people do give him that

"If I'm hitting
somebody on the
ice and I'm not
getting a penalty I
can't be too much
of a goon"
- Jesse Bertogliat
Minnesota forward
label, Bertogliat said he doesn't mind.
"If I'm labeled as a goon, I'd al-
most take that as a compliment,"
Bertogliat said. "At least I'm being
recognized. Half of the time when
they call you a goon that means you're
playing the game the way it's sup-
posed to be played and you're getting
on their nerves.
"If I'm hitting somebody on the ice
and I'm not getting a penalty. I can't be
too much of a goon."

IHealthy, optimistic WolverinesI*
anxious for Wisconsin-Milwaukee

ByDM Stillman
ai ports Writer
Tf injury-free Michigan women's
baktball team embarks on the 1995-
96 campaign with new-found determi-
nad n and optimism.
Itieigan opens its season on the
road-with games against Wisconsin-
Milwaukee, Friday at 5 p.m., and
Marquette. Sunday at 3:15 p.m., both at
the MECCA Arena.
'hej Wolverines look to erase the
m ies of last season's 8-19 record
wBhlearned them a last place finish in
th Bg Ten.
Despite being predicted last in the
Preseason Big Ten Coaches' Poll ear-
lier this month, Michigan's mind-set is
that of anyone but losers.
..Therp.'c ~ ~ ~ Isaos irif-ettiu -Mh-

Chicago All-Big Ten Freshman team.
Johns' season-ending anterior cruci-
ate ligament injury in December caused
her to miss the entire Big Ten schedule.
At 6-3. Johns is expected to have a
major impact.
"Pollyanna is the best post player we
have," Roberts said. "She could be the
key to our success this year.,,
Kiefer and Johns both played well in
last Friday's 71-69 exhibition victory
over New Zealand. Johns had 20 points.
13 rebounds, and three blocks in 30
minutes of play.
"Ironically, the two kids who sat out
last year are the (hungriest)." Roberts
said.
The Wolverines open the season
against two very different non-confer-
ence annnnnt

"They're out to
prove everyone
wrong, it's like
they're on a
mission. "
- Trish Roberts
Michigan basketball coach
on her team's attitude
out winners.'
The Wolverines wihl face much stron-
ger competition Sunday when they take
on Marquette.
The Goiden Foaies hone to irnni've

MERMIN