Icers say 'Soo' long to Lake Superior

SAULT STE. MARIE - The trip to the Upper Peninsula to face Lake Superior has usually been an unpleasant one for the Michigan hockey team.

But Friday night looked like the first step toward erasing those bad memories for the Wolverines as they annihilated the Lakers, 7-0.

The struggle Michigan (7-2-1 CCHA, 12-3-1 overall) expected the entire game lasted only a period against Lake State (6-3-2, 5-7-3), as the Wolverines soon turned the affair into a one-sided beating after the first intermission.

After a scoreless first, Michigan came out with a vengeance led by forward Bill Muckalt, who began the period like a man possessed. After getting the puck at the left slot, Muckalt curled around a couple of Lake Superior defenders and slid a shot past the left leg of goalie Rob Galatiuk for the first goal of the game at 1:18 in the period.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Freshman forward Josh Langfeld scored one of Michigan's seven goals on Friday at Lake Superior.

Besides giving Michigan its first lead of the game, the goal also signaled the return of Michigan center Matt Herr, who fed Muckalt the puck for an assist. Herr had been out of action for the Wolverines with a groin injury since a 3-2 victory over Minnesota on Oct. 10.

"I thought (Herr) was fine tonight," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "His timing will get better, his conditioning will get better but he wanted to be here, and he made a difference."

"It's going to be great to get him back 100 percent."

After a couple of acrobatic saves by goalie Marty Turco, the Wolverines were on the offensive, once again led by Muckalt. This time, Michigan's leading goal scorer flashed a bit of his knack for passing, assisting on a goal by center Bobby Hayes.

Receiving the puck from linemate Dale Rominski, Muckalt skated in from the left point and flew by a pair of Lakers, this time swooping behind the net. As he reappeared in front of the goal, Muckalt found himself alone with Galatiuk. Muckalt flipped the puck over to Hayes, who poked it into an open net for a 2-0 Michigan lead.

While Michigan's offensive onslaught in the second was impressive, it was tame in comparison to Michigan's five-goal effort in the final stanza.

Muckalt scored Michigan's first power play goal of the game - 42 seconds into the second period - on a one-timer from the left faceoff dot.

Once again, it was the Herr-to-Muckalt combination that scored, as the returning captain slipped a pass through Lake Superior's defense over to Muckalt.

With the 3-0 lead, Muckalt still wasn't through. The senior followed up his power-play goal with a hard-fought effort to score his third goal on a pass from Hayes. Muckalt fought off defenders in front of the Lake Superior net to gain position, and then he turned on a quick shot into the net.

The goal at 2:03 in the third period gave Muckalt his third career hat trick.

The 4-0 lead may have put the game out of reach for the Lakers, but it didn't slow down Michigan's offense, which added three late goals by freshman Josh Langfeld, Rominski and Chris Fox.

Although the outcome was lopsided, the game looked to be anything butfrom the onset. The Lakers came out with intensity that the Wolverines had trouble matching, as they outshot Michigan in the period, 9-6.

"We wanted to work hard ... and play well defensively," Berenson said. "We didn't do either in the first period.

"We ended up watching them for half of the period."

Turco's efforts, in spite of his defense's slow start, kept Michigan in the game until its offense exploded.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Freshman Mark Kosick assisted on the third and fifth goals for the Wolverines on Friday night. Kosick and his unit - the 'freshman line' - have been playing well all season long.

12-08-97