Icers explode to victory with 4 goals in the third

The Michigan hockey team only played one game this weekend, but Saturday's 4-1 victory against Lake Superior State (9-10-4 CCHA, 12-12-4 overall) seemed like it could have been two different games.

After being shut out in the first two periods, No. 6 Michigan (17-4-1, 23-6-1) looked like a different team in the third, scoring four goals on 17 shots.

"Their defense really had to work hard to contain our forwards, and I think it was just a matter of time before we got the break we needed," Michigan coach Red Berenson said.

The Wolverines fell behind midway through the first period after a Lake Superior goal by forward Jason Sessa.

The Lakers clutching style shut down Michigan's offense for most of the first two periods, limiting the Wolverines to just a couple of scoring chances.

WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan goaltender Marty Turco kept the Wolverines in Saturday's game against Lake Superior. The senior netminder maintained a one-goal deficit long enough for a third period flurry by Wolverines.

But Michigan got on the board early in the third period when a Scott Matzka rebound ricocheted off Geoff Koch's skate into the net to tie the game, 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, Michigan's Matt Herr skated down the left wing, deked around a Laker, cut across the crease and scored with a backhand shot.

"I stand there in practice for five or six hours and try to put those in the upper part of the net," the senior captain said. "In the second period, I had him down and I just couldn't get it up high enough. He ended up going down for me again and I held on to it a little longer and ended up putting it away."

Michigan began to control play after Herr scored and the Lakers fell apart. With seven minutes remaining in the game, Michigan dumped the puck in on Galatiuk. As Galatiuk tried to clear the puck to the boards, the blade of his stick broke and the puck trickled to Michigan forward Mark Kosick, who waited for Galatiuk to go down. Kosick then calmly put the puck into the top right corner of the net for the 3-1 lead.

Michigan scored its final goal two minutes later when Dale Rominski took a pass from Kosick and squeezed a shot between Galatiuk's pad and the post.

The four goals in the third period were a complete turnaround from the first two periods, when the Wolverines struggled with Lake Superior's defense.

"I don't think we're a team that gets frustrated," Rominski said. "For two periods we don't score any goals, in the third period we're still coming out. Michigan teams are teams that don't get frustrated."

Michigan's play in the third period was a complete turnaround from the first period, when the Wolverines couldn't generate any offense despite having four power-play opportunities - including 38 seconds with a two-man advantage.

"They're very good at penalty killing," Herr said. "They're No. 1 in out league in penalty killing. It's definitely a lot of clutch-and-grab. You'll be in the corner and they'll have you pinned there for five or six minutes. You could have a whole dinner in there."

While the Wolverines were struggling to score in the first two periods, the Wolverines weren't giving up many opportunities to the Lakers, limiting them to 10 shots in the first two periods.

"I thought the guys played awesome tonight," Michigan goaltender Marty Turco said. "Making the right plays - easy plays up the glass if there wasn't a play to make. They did a great job tonight like they have all year."

With Michigan State's loss to Ohio State, 4-2 Friday night, and tie with Miami (Ohio), 0-0 Saturday night, the victory gave the Wolverines a three-point lead in the conference standings. 4-1.

02-09-98