Bottoms up for Michigan icers in Ohio

When the Michigan hockey team travels to Ohio this weekend, they will be facing two teams at the bottom of the CCHA standings.

Michigan faces 10th-place Bowling Green (1-3-1 CCHA, 2-8-1 overall) Friday night and ninth-place Ohio State (2-3-0, 5-4-1) on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the Falcons' and Buckeyes' records, Michigan coach Red Berenson says the Wolverines can't take these games for granted.

"I don't think these teams are weak," Berenson said. "Bowling Green lost some players and we lost some players, so I know they'll be tough to beat."

Like Michigan, Bowling Green lost nine players from last season's team. As a result, the Falcons must rely heavily on eight freshmen and six sophomores to fill the void.

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Michigan right wing Sean Ritchlin will be trying to smash CCHA cellar-dwellers Bowling Green and Ohio State this weekend.

So far, things aren't going very well for the Falcons. Excluding their 9-2 victory over Waterloo, the Falcons have averaged only 2.1 goals per game, while giving up 4.1 goals per game. As a result, Bowling Green has lost three straight games and eight of their past 11.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes will be looking for their first win against the Wolverines in more than eight years.

Since a 7-3 victory on Nov. 19, 1989, Ohio State has gone 0-26-5 against Michigan.

Defensively, the Buckeyes have played well, with goaltender Ray Aho giving up only 2.7 goals per game. Offensively, however, Ohio State has had trouble putting the puck in the net, scoring an average of only 2.6 goals per game in league play.

But the Wolverines have problems of their own to worry about.

Michigan will be looking to regain its confidence after giving up a three-goal lead in a hard-fought 3-3 tie against Ferris State last Sunday.

"That second period affected the whole team," Berenson said. "The offense didn't like it, the defense didn't like it, the coaches - everyone didn't like it.

"It's up to the team to learn from that by staying focused to prevent that from happening again."

To keep it from happening again, the Wolverines defense will have to do a better job of limiting their opponent's scoring chances.

Against Ferris, all three of the Bulldogs' goals were the result of defensive breakdowns that gave the Bulldogs open chances in front of Michigan goaltender Marty Turco.

With better defense, Berenson hopes the offense will get going as well.

"The team has to play better defensively," Berenson said. "When our defense plays well we can get more chances offensively, more opportunities to score."

Offensively, the Wolverines will have to get some production from someone other than Bobby Hayes and Bill Muckalt. In the last three games, Hayes and Muckalt have scored all six of the Wolverines' goals.

"Bill Muckalt is our best scorer, and he's proven that," Berenson said. "More players need to score.

"But Bobby Hayes is playing well, and we're getting good production from that line. But we need more contributions from other players."

11-21-97