Michigan needs 3 to get past Irish

It wasn't supposed to be this difficult.

Coming into this weekend's first round playoff series against Notre Dame, Michigan had swept its last eight home CCHA playoff series, and no one or two seed had ever been upset in a best of three series in the CCHA playoffs.

But the Irish played Michigan tough, taking the first game 4-2 before losing 2-1 in overtime on Saturday and 4-3 last night.

Yesterday, with the game tied at three five minutes into the third period and Michigan on the power play, Scott Matzka fired bad angle shot from the goal line near the boards, which deflected off Notre Dame goaltender Matt Eisler and into the net for the game winner.

"It was crazy," Matzka said. "I hadn't been putting the puck in the net, so I just started shooting from anywhere and it went in."

For the remainder of the game, Michigan's defense held off Notre Dame and the Wolverines escaped with a one-goal victory.

Early on, things didn't look too good for the Wolverines. Notre Dame got on the board only two minutes into the game when defenseman Mark Eaton deflected a pass from Jay Kopische past Marty Turco.

For much of the period, the Wolverines controlled play in the Notre Dame zone. But despite out-shooting the Irish 15-3, Michigan was unable to put the puck past Eisler.

Four minutes into the second period, Aniket Dhadphale chipped the puck past Turco after a scramble in front of the net, and the Wolverines found themselves down two goals.

"When we were down 2-0, I don't think anyone was really too worried about it," Matzka said. "We've been playing four lines all weekend, and we knew it was just a matter of time before we wore them down."

Three minutes after Dhadphale's goal, Greg Crozier fired a shot from the left wing on a three-on-two rush. The shot caromed off the left goalpost and onto the stick of Mark Kosick, who banged home the rebound to pull the Wolverines within a goal.

Michigan pulled even midway through the period, when Bobby Hayes won a faceoff back to Bubba Berenzweig. The junior defenseman skated in and beat Eisler with a wrist shot just inside the far post.

Four minutes into the third period, the Wolverines took their first. In their third power play opportunity of the game, Michigan captain Matt Herr fired a shot from the point. Eisler made the save, but Josh Langfeld stuffed the rebound past Eisler.

The lead was short-lived. Fourteen seconds after Langfeld's goal, Chad Chipchase broke in on Turco. Turco poked the puck away from Chipchase and onto the stick of Ben Simon, who fired a shot past a sprawling Turco to tie the game.

Less than two minutes later, Matzka scored to give the Wolverines the victory.

While the freshmen had never played in a CCHA series, they played like veterans in the final game. Three of Michigan's four goals were scored by freshmen, and without defensemen Sean Peach and Mike Van Ryn, the Wolverines relied on freshmen Bob Gasoff and Scott Crawford.

"They are getting a great opportunity to play on a team like Michigan in key roles," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "And you expect them to produce and they're living up to that."

Facing elimination Saturday night, the Wolverines played one of their most exciting games of the season, winning 2-1 in the fifth-longest playoff game in CCHA history.

With one minute remaining in overtime, Bobby Hayes took a pass from Chris Fox off to the side of the net, waited for Eisler to go down and beat him up high with a wrist shot.

"He was down so I tried shooting it upstairs," Hayes said. "I think he got a piece of it, which in turn hit one of the Notre Dame players and it ended up in the net."

With Michigan on the power play, Notre Dame took an early lead midway through the first when Dan Carlson came off the bench behind the Michigan defense and took a pass from Steve Noble. Carlson skated in alone on Turco from center ice, and beat the Michigan netminder with a backhand shot.

After missing on several excellent scoring chances, Michigan tied the game at one with six seconds remaining in the second period, when Muckalt took a pass from Kosick and beat Eisler.

"You can't force offense and you can't preach it or coach it," Berenson said. "But there are times that you just about have to pray for it."

After Muckalt's goal, Michigan controlled play for most of the third period and overtime, eventually getting the game winner from Hayes.

Friday, the Wolverines fell behind early, losing 4-2.

After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Irish took advantage of numerous defensive lapses in the second period to score three unanswered goals, giving them a commanding lead.

"With a lead, their team, like a lot of teams, is pretty sound," Berenson said.

Justin Clark and Andrew Merrick scored for the Wolverines.

But, despite winning the first game, Notre Dame couldn't finish off the Wolverines.

"I saw this big sign on the way out that said 'TheLuck of the Irish,'" Herr said. "Your luck is running out."

03-16-98