Then: Blue dominates Irish, 9-0

By Jon Schwartz

Daily Sports Writer

Michigan coach Red Berenson was nervous that his seventh-ranked Wolverines would look past Notre Dame this week and think only about Saturday night's game against No. 1 Michigan State.

But as the team proved last night with a 9-0 annihilation, it was ready for anything and everything that the Fighting Irish (3-12-4 CCHA, 5-18-5 overall) could throw at it.

"Every game you win, you get two points," Michigan senior Mark Kosick said. "We're not in first place right now - we're trying to come from behind. Every game is huge for us."

Led on by hat tricks from Mike Cammalleri and Mark Kosick, the Wolverines (12-4-2, 18-6-4) succeeded in keeping last-place Notre Dame from becoming another Alaska-Fairbanks or Ferris State - teams at the bottom of the CCHA that found ways to knock off Michigan.

"This is an exceptional night for this team," Berenson said. "I think the momentum from Saturday's game (a 4-4 comeback tie against Western Michigan) really carried over."

The only suspense in the made-for-TV Tuesday night game was who else would score a hat trick. Michigan was able to put two goals past Notre Dame's senior goalie Kyle Kolquist by the 3:02 point of the first period, all but ending the Irish's chances right there.

That was the least of their worries.

Kolquist, looking for his first career win, lasted just 25:45, compliments of goals by Michigan's John Shouneyia, Cammalleri, Kosick and Mike Roemensky - staking the Wolverines out to a 4-0 advantage before Notre Dame coach Dave Poulin knew what hit him.

"The first one was a dead giveaway and they capitalized and the second one went off (Cammalleri's) skate," Poulin said. "From that point, it was just crumbling. Every facet of our game was off tonight."

"They had a few good breaks and we didn't really respond well to it," Notre Dame junior David Inman said.

Shouneyia's goal at 1:09 in the first got things going for Michigan, but Cammalleri's first of his three scores at 3:02 really set things in motion for the Maize and Blue. As the Wolverines have proven countless times this season, falling behind one goal early is not always telling of the game's outcome. But 2-0, or subsequently 7-0 by the end of the second period, is often a death knell.

Notre Dame suffered through punch after punch from Michigan's first line of Geoff Koch, Cammalleri and Andy Hilbert. The trio combined for four goals, eight assists and a plethora of additional chances, adding up to a plus/minus of +11 for the line. But Cammalleri's third tally for the hat trick lacked some of the usual pomp - as the second hat trick in 7:52 is known to do.

Kosick had already performed the feat, beating Kolquist's backup, Jeremiah Kimento, to net the second three-goal game of his career.

Even though Cammalleri's hat trick was the second of the night, it still meant a lot to him.

"It's nice to get a hat trick," he said. "I haven't scored one yet at Michigan. My goals were definitely results of Geoff Koch's work tonight."

Somewhat lost in the offensive domination was another shutout for Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn, his fourth of the season.

point, it was just crumbling. Every facet of our game was off tonight."

"They had a few good breaks and we didn't really respond well to it," Notre Dame junior David Inman said.

Shouneyia's goal at 1:09 in the first got things going for Michigan, but Cammalleri's first of his three scores at 3:02 really set things in motion for the Maize and Blue. As the Wolverines have proven countless times this season, falling behind one goal early is not always telling of the game's outcome. But 2-0, or subsequently 7-0 by the end of the second period, is often a death knell.

Notre Dame suffered through punch after punch from Michigan's first line of Geoff Koch, Cammalleri and Andy Hilbert. The trio combined for four goals, eight assists and a plethora of additional chances, adding up to a plus/minus of +11 for the line. But Cammalleri's third tally for the hat trick lacked some of the usual pomp - as the second hat trick in 7:52 is known to do.

Kosick had already performed the feat, beating Kolquist's backup, Jeremiah Kimento, to net the second three-goal game of his career.

Even though Cammalleri's hat trick was the second of the night, it still meant a lot to him.

"It's nice to get a hat trick," he said. "I haven't had one yet at Michigan. My goals were definitely results of Geoff Koch's work tonight."

Somewhat lost in the offensive domination was a shutout for Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn, his fourth of the season.

"It's good for the goalie," Berenson said. "I would have been disappointed if we'd given up a cheap goal or a lazy goal. You're playing for you goalie in the last period, especially in the last 10 minutes."