Michigan
8-1-1, 5-0-1CCHA
Lake Superior State
3-9-0, 0-8-0CCHA
Wolverines Sweep Lakers to Stay Unbeaten in League
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
| | Gajic's first two goals of his sophomore season came on back-to-back nights. |
As the Lakers' second penalty expired, Gajic scored to give U-M a 1-0 at 13:52 off of a feed from sophomore forward Jason Ryznar (Anchorage, Alaska). Gajic stickhandled his way along the left side of the goal line and shoved the puck between the post and LSSU goalie Matt Violin's pads. The Wolverines outshot the Lakers by a 9-6 count in the opening period.
Gajic had a golden opportunity to add to the Wolverines' lead at the 13:00 mark of the second period as he was sprung on a breakaway from just outside the LSSU blue line. Unfortunately, he never got a shot off since the puck rolled off of his stick as he made a deke to the left of the goal mouth.
Beginning at 13:13 the Wolverines spent the next three minutes on the man advantage as Lake Superior State took back-to-back penalties. At 16:01 Michigan capitalized on its power-play chance with freshman forward Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C.) finding daylight high over a downed Violin after freshman defender Danny Richmond (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) fired a cross-ice pass through the slot to the right faceoff circle where Ebbett was waiting.
Michigan's defense suppressed any Lake Superior State comeback by allowing just two shots on goal over the first 12 minutes of the third period, both during a power play. However with 7:38 remaining in the game, sophomore forward Michael Woodford (Westford, Mass.) was given a five-minute major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct.
In an effort to take advantage of the extended power play LSSU pulled its goalie with a little over four minutes left to play. Despite the five-minute power play and the extra attacker from the pulled goaltender, the Wolverines still held on to their 2-0 lead. At 18:07 the Maize and Blue put the finishing touches on the victory with an empty-net tally by sophomore defensman Eric Werner (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.).
The Wolverines (8-1-1, 5-0-1 CCHA) will next face Notre Dame on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22-23, at Yost Ice Arena. Both games will be 7:35 p.m. faceoffs.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On tonight's game ... "The whole weekend hinged on tonight's game as it turned out. We had to have a good game, we had to get the first goal, that was important. We had to hang on, our penalty was maybe the difference in the game, the penalty killing and the goalkeeping. In the beginning of the third period, we had to kill off a couple of penalties and the five-minute penalty was huge. That could have been the whole weekend, it certainly could have been the game."
On the defense tonight, especially the goaltending ... "It was a good weekend for our whole team, this is team defense. Al (Montoya) was doing a good job on the first shot if he can see it and our defense is doing a good job of clearing out the rebounds or not letting anyone get to the puck. It's a team thing. If you leave the goalie back there to stop breakaway after breakaway, or two-on-one after two-on-one, it's going to be tough. I thought we played tighter tonight but Al has been consistent. He's been playing within himself and making the saves he should make and then a little bit of luck here and there doesn't hurt a goalie either. There's a lot of team confidence here right now defensively. The puck doesn't always go in for you. There's nights, even tonight for example, we had some better chances than the goals we scored. It wasn't going in and it was a 1-0 game for a good part of the game so that's when everyone has to have confidence that they can play in a close game and I think that was good for our team to be able to hang on without giving up any goals."
On the weekend ... "I think we struggled at times, with their fore-check and the way they played the trap and certainly our power play didn't look sharp at times. Other times it looked fine. I didn't think we had a great weekend, we did a lot of good things, and we're getting a better effort from our team and certainly puck handling a little better. It was good to get (Jason) Ryznar back in. Our lines are still not really that set yet, but we're coming together. If you get a penalty-filled game, it becomes a game of special teams so you really have to rely on your special teams."
Sophomore Forward Milan Gajic
On the team's defensive play this weekend ... "After last weekend's one win, one tie against Bowling Green we weren't satisfied (with the outcome). One goal against in two games, we must be doing something right. Monty (Al Montoya) made an bunch of big saves too. We weren't a hundred percent tight but our goalie backed us up when he needed to."
On the closeness of this weekend's games ... "We just kept on chipping away, chipping away and then we just kept on hitting them and hitting them and, after a while, after you get hit a couple of hundred times it kind of hurts and you really don't want to do anything. We just kept on working hard and attacking the net and hitting."
On his scoring opportunities ... "(The) linemates I had were great. (Andrew) Ebbett is a good centerman; he looks for me a lot, sometimes I think he looks for me too much, but it was good. I thought I was skating pretty well but I still have a lot of things to work on. The puck was going in last night and tonight but I should have had another goal and a couple last night."
N O T E S
Dating back to last season, Michigan is on a 15-game unbeaten streak in CCHA play (14-0-1). Also, the Wolverines are currently enjoying an eight-game undefeated stretch (7-0-1), which includes a perfect 6-0 record at home this season.
The Wolverines have secured at least three points in seven consecutive CCHA series going back to the 2001-02 campaign.
Five of the last eight games against Lake Superior State have been shutout wins for the Wolverines with the previous two coming in consecutive games last season (Jan. 31, 5-0; Feb. 2, 1-0).
Al Montoya notched his second career shutout, making 21 stops. His first blanking came in his career debut against Niagara (3-0) on Oct. 11.
Milan Gajic's first two goals of the season have come on back-to-back nights, matching his career-long goal-scoring streak at two games.
Jason Ryznar returned to action for the first time in five games and recorded his first point of the season by assisting on Gajic's goal. He has played in just three contests out of 10 this season due to shoulder injuries.
Mike Roemensky picked up his first assist of the season on U-M's first goal of the game. It marked his first helper since the April 4, 2002, game against Minnesota in the Frozen Four.
Andrew Ebbett snapped his six-game goal-less drought by notching his second goal of the season.
Eric Werner added his sixth assist of the year to put him third on the Michigan roster for helpers. Werner is the top-scoring defenseman (3-6-9).
Danny Richmond recorded his fifth assist of the season after his two-game assist streak was snapped last night (Nov. 15 vs. LSSU). Richmond has four assists in the last four games.
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
