COLUMBUS - The Michigan hockey team has been struggling with consistency. The Wolverines have been see-sawing back and forth. Sometimes the Wolverines' offense clicks, sometimes their defense clicks. Sometimes they hold onto their leads, sometime they lose their leads.
One thing that has been consistent is the play of Michigan's veterans. Players like senior Bill Muckalt and junior Bobby Hayes have taken the giant's share of the offensive load on their shoulders.
But during two road games this weekend, the Michigan freshmen decided to get off the see-saw and start playing with the big kids.
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| PAUL TALANIAN/Daily Josh Langfeld and the other Michigan freshmen had one of their best weekends of the season as the Wolverines picked up two important victories against Bowling Green and Ohio State. Freshman Geoff Koch scored the game-winning goal in both games. Against the Buckeyes, his heroics came in the final minute of overtime. |
Ohio State fans still tasted the bitterness of their loss to Michigan in football when the hockey teams clashed yesterday. Emotions ran high throughout the crowd and among the two teams as the underdog Buckeyes forced the Wolverines into overtime during a scrappy, physical game.
Michigan and Ohio State battled to a scoreless draw after the first period, with the Buckeyes outshooting the Wolverines, 16-5. Overall, Ohio State did a good job of keeping the puck in Michigan's zone and used the advantage to get 11 more total shots than the Wolverines, 42-31.
But after a period of tight calling from the referees, in which Ohio State was penalized five times and Michigan six times - including a charging call against Muckalt at 19:45 that provoked the forward into a minor temper-tantrum - the Wolverines loosened up during the second and third periods.
"We knew we'd be a heart-attack team, and I guess we proved that tonight," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "You look back on the game, and I guess winning takes some of the facts out of the way we played. We had a poor first period.
"We got a lot better in the second period, but the third period I thought we did play well. We played harder, much better, with more emotion, we quit worrying about the referee and all the distractions.
"We came in and found a way to win the game."
And the Wolverines demonstrated their new attitude from the very beginning of the second period. Michigan took advantage of the Muckalt penalty - he sat out four minutes with an additional penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct due to his tantrum - to open up the scoring at 3:53 in the second.
At the tail-end of the Buckeyes' power play, Michigan right wing Troy Kahler cleared the puck from their zone - right to the stick of Muckalt, waiting next to Ohio State's blue line for the pass after leaving the penalty box. Muckalt sped ahead of a Buckeye, deked Ohio State goaltender Jeff Maund and scored the goal top-shelf.
But the Wolverines didn't enjoy their lead for long. Two minutes later, Ohio State's Jean-Francois Defour shot the puck from behind the net, deflecting off
Michigan goaltender Marty Turco into the slot, where Eric Meloche shot it above a sprawling Turco for the goal.
The only other blemish to Turco's save average came at the end of the second, when Ohio State's Tyler McMillan drove a slap shot from between the faceoff dots over Turco's shoulder on a 3-on-3 rush. Other than the two letdowns during the second period, Turco had a great afternoon, bailing out the Wolverines frequently en route to 40 saves for the game.
Perhaps Turco's most spectacular save didn't come until the middle of the third period, however. After going for almost 20 minutes without scoring, Michigan finally tied the game up at 3:49 in the third, when in a 2-on-2 rush, Muckalt centered the puck to a trailing Dale Rominski for the goal.
Ten minutes later, the Buckeyes had their best chance to regain the lead but were snuffed by a play from Turco bordering on divine intervention. Meloche intercepted a pass from Michigan defenseman David Huntzicker, who was trying to clear the puck out of the Wolverines' zone. Meloche had a clear look as he skated to Michigan's net, and Turco was the only thing in his path. Meloche shot from the right slot but was stoned by an incredible glove-save by Turco as the goalie fell to the ice.
"He made a breakaway save in goal when we gave the puck away in the third period," Berenson said. "You forget about those things when you win, but Turco is the difference."
After a crucial Michigan penalty kill late in the third, the game went into overtime. In the extra session, each team had a couple decent shots, but neither managed to capitalize.
Just when it seemed the Wolverines would go home with their second tie of the season, Koch jumpstarted the Wolverines^" offense once and for all. Koch attacked the net as he skated down the right wing, beating Maund for the decisive goal æ the second of Koch's career, and his second of the weekend.
Unable to halt his momentum, Koch careened into the net. Before the forward could get to his feet, he was mobbed by a frenzied group of his teammates, celebrating the goal and the victory.
"I don't know if it was the 3 o'clock game or what it was, but it took us until about 5:30 to wake up," Berenson said. "We had a good third period - that was the best part of our game."
The Wolverines managed to defeat Bowling Green without an overtime Friday, although the game was much closer than indicated by the final score of 4-2.
Facing a situation similar to last Sunday's game against Ferris State, when the Wolverines held a 3-0 lead but let the Bulldogs come back to earn a tie, Michigan built up a 2-0 lead going into the second period against Bowling Green - and almost saw its lead whittled away by a surprisingly resilient group of Falcons.
The Wolverines dominated the first period against the Falcons, keeping the puck in the Bowling Green zone for a majority of the time and racked up 15 shots to Bowling Green's five. Michigan got its first goal at 11:12, when Hayes put in a rebound past Bowling Green goalie Mike Savard after a shot from the point by Michigan defenseman Sean Peach.
The second goal came right after a Bowling Green power play, when Michigan's Josh Langfeld made a perfect pass to Mark Kosick in a 2-on-1 rush. Kosick beat Savard top-shelf to make the score 2-0.
Going into the second period, the Wolverines were determined not to experience a letdown like they had last season.
But the Falcons had other ideas. The momentum shifted dramatically, almost as if the two teams had simply exchanged uniforms during the intermission.
Bowling Green looked fresh and aggressive, managing to keep the puck in Michigan's zone for most of the second. The Falcons finally capitalized when Bowling Green's Stewart Nowasad beat Turco off a rebound.
Michigan, however, wouldn't allow a repeat of last weekend's tie with Ferris State. With a shot from the slot, Koch scored the first goal of his career at 15:18 in the second, breaking the Falcons' spirit and icing the game for the Wolverines.
"That was a huge goal," Berenson said. "Anytime the score is 2-1, and you can make it 3-1, it changes the game's flow. We were lucky to get the goals when we needed them."
Bowling Green managed to score again in the opening of the third but never regained the momentum they lost after Koch's goal.
Rominski scored an unassisted goal into an open net during the waning minutes of the game.
Hayes said the Wolverines will use the game against the Falcons as a learning experience.
"Bowling Green came out flying (in the second)," Hayes said. "They caught us back on our heals, and that's going to happen. That's something we have to be aware of, and make sure that next time we have a two-goal lead we're ready to go. Because we know they don't want to lose at home, they're going to come out as hard as they can, and that's what happened - they dominated us.
"Luckily, we weathered the storm and got a victory."
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