Michigan
26-10-5
Michigan State
27-8-5
Wolverines Top Spartans to Win CCHA Tournament Title
3/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
DETROIT, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team captured its fifth CCHA Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament, beating the Michigan State Spartans 3-2 Sunday (March 17) in front of 16,452 fans at the Joe Louis Arena. Jed Ortmeyer (Omaha, Neb.) scored his second goal of the game with 16:21 remaining in the third, and the Wolverines held off the Spartans for the remainder of the contest to earn both the CCHA regular-season championship and CCHA Tournament title for the first time since 1996-97.
| | Ortmeyer |
Only three minutes later, however, Spartan forward Ash Goldie put in a rebound of his own, this time on the power play, to tie the game 1-1. A loose puck scooted out of the corner right to MSU defenseman Brad Fast, who was parked in the high slot. Fast let a shot go that senior goaltender Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) was able to save with his left shoulder. The rebound redirected to the left of Blackburn as sophomore defenseman Andy Burnes (Battle Creek, Mich.) attempted the clear. Burnes, without a stick, was unable to clear the rebound as Goldie swept in and chipped the puck into the top of net to tie the game at 1-1 heading into second. Each team recorded nine shots on goal in the first period.
The second period followed the same trend with the Wolverines scoring first, only to be answered by a Spartan tally. Junior forward Jed Ortmeyer gave Michigan the 2-1 lead after putting in a rebound off a Mike Cammalleri (Richmond Hills, Ontario) blast from the top of the faceoff circle. Cammalleri received a pass off a faceoff win from Ortmeyer and fired the shot on net. Miller made the save but gave up the rebound right in front that Ortmeyer picked up and slid past Miller between his pad and the post.
With just over a minute remaining in the period, MSU was once again able to draw even. MSU defenseman Jon Insana made a point pass to Steve Clark, located in the far corner. Clark's pass, directed toward the front of the net, deflected off of freshman forward Charlie Henderson's (East Lansing, Mich.) stick and into the goal just past Blackburn's glove. After two periods, with the scored tied at 2-2, Michigan was leading the shots on goal battle 22-16.
In the third period, Michigan was able to break the trend and keep the Spartans off the board while netting a goal of its own. With Michigan on its fourth power play, Shouneyia skated along the far-side boards toward the MSU blue line and left a drop pass for Cammalleri, who quickly moved the puck back deep into the Spartan zone to freshman forward Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.) in the far corner. Nystrom fired a pass directly across the goal mouth to a wide-open Ortmeyer, who was parked on the near post. Ortmeyer one-timed the pass past Miller to give Michigan the 3-2 lead at the 16:21 mark of the third.
With a one-goal lead, the Wolverines held off MSU's repeated attempts to draw the game even. With just under a minute remaining in the contest, the Spartan's pulled Miller for the extra attacker but failed to create any scoring chances against the Michigan defense. In the third, the Spartans outshot U-M 7-5.
Blackburn made 21 saves on 23 shots and earned the honor of all-tournament team goaltender, while Miller stopped 24 of 27 shots. Michigan finished the game 1-4 on the power play while the Spartans tallied one goal on three power-play chances.
Cammalleri, who had two assists in the final after scoring both U-M goals in the 2-1 semifinal win over Ohio State, was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Michigan's Ortmeyer, Blackburn and defenseman Mike Komisarek (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) as well as Michigan State defenseman Brad Fast and Northern Michigan forward Chris Gobert.
Michigan will await the NCAA Hockey Selection Show this evening at 9 p.m. EST on ESPNews to find out whom they will face in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines host the West Regional on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, in Yost Ice Arena, with game times scheduled for 4:30 and 8 p.m. on Friday and 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available through the U-M Athletic Ticket Office and online.
GAME SUMMARY
| Goals By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
| Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
1st period
1, MICH, Mark Mink/5 (Milan Gajic/12, John Shouneyia/37) 3:43.
2, MSU, Ash Goldie/9 (Brad Fast/16) 6:55 (pp).
PENALTIES - John Shouneyia, MICH (boarding) 6:26; Lee Falardeau, MSU (high sticking) 7:36; Mike Komisarek, MICH (high sticking) 7:36; Brad Fast, MSU (cross-checking) 10:16.
2nd period
3, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer/13 (Mike Cammalleri/16) 9:02.
4, MSU, Steve Clark/1 (Jon Insana/4) 18:56. PENALTIES - Troy Ferguson, MSU (obstruction-holding) 4:40; Steve Swistak, MSU (charging) 13:13; Dwight Helminen, MICH (cross-checking) 16:03.
3rd period
5, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer/14 (Eric Nystrom/11, Mike Cammalleri/17) 4:39 (pp).
PENALTIES - Adam Hall, MSU (high sticking) 3:39; John Shouneyia, MICH (obstuction-tripping) 16:08.
Shots on goal: MSU 9-9-5 23; MICH 9-13-5 27. Power plays: MSU 1 of 3; MICH 1 of 4. Penalties: MSU 5 (10 min); MICH 4 (8 min). Goalies: MSU, Ryan Miller 26-8-5 (59:03 minutes, 27 shots-24 saves) , EMPTY NET (00:57, 0-0); MICH, Josh Blackburn 25-10-5 (60:00, 23-21). Referee: Steve Piotrowski. Assistant Referees: Kevin Langseth, John LaDuke. Attendance: 16,452. Time: 2:24.
| Individual Player Statistics | |
## Michigan State G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 2*Jon Insana......... 0 1 0 1 +1 3 Duncan Keith....... 0 0 0 1 -1 4 John-Michael Liles. 0 0 0 0 -1 5 Joe Markusen....... 0 0 0 0 0 6 Steve Clark........ 1 0 0 1 +1 9 Brock Radunske..... 0 0 0 1 -1 10 Kevin Estrada...... 0 0 0 0 0 11*Steve Jackson...... 0 0 0 3 0 14 Ash Goldie......... 1 0 0 5 0 15 Steve Swistak...... 0 0 2 0 0 17 Troy Ferguson...... 0 0 2 3 +1 18 Adam Hall.......... 0 0 2 0 -1 19 Jim Slater......... 0 0 0 0 -1 21 Mike Lalonde....... 0 0 0 2 0 22*Lee Falardeau...... 0 0 2 0 -1 24*Andrew Hutchinson.. 0 0 0 0 0 26*Joe Goodenow....... 0 0 0 4 -1 27 Brad Fast.......... 0 1 2 2 -1 Totals............. 2 2 10 23 -5 | ## Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 3 Eric Werner........ 0 0 0 2 0 4 Andy Burnes........ 0 0 0 0 +1 5 Brandon Rogers..... 0 0 0 1 0 8*Mike Komisarek..... 0 0 2 1 +1 9 Milan Gajic........ 0 1 0 1 +1 10 Dwight Helminen.... 0 0 2 2 -1 12 J.J. Swistak....... 0 0 0 1 0 13*Mike Cammalleri.... 0 2 0 2 +1 14 Craig Murray....... 0 0 0 1 0 15*Jay Vancik......... 0 0 0 1 +1 17 Michael Woodford... 0 0 0 3 -1 18 David Moss......... 0 0 0 1 -1 20 Charlie Henderson.. 0 0 0 0 0 21*Eric Nystrom....... 0 1 0 1 +1 23 Mike Roemensky..... 0 0 0 0 -1 25 Mark Mink.......... 1 0 0 4 +1 26*Jed Ortmeyer....... 2 0 0 3 +1 28 John Shouneyia..... 0 1 4 3 +1 Totals............. 3 5 8 27 +5 |
N O T E S
Michigan scored the first goal of the game vs. the Spartans for the first time in their last eight meetings.
Mike Cammalleri is currently enjoying a seven-game scoring streak, the longest of the season, totaling 8-6-14.
Michigan's tournament title is its fifth overall and its first since the 1998-99 campaign.
The win over Michigan State snaps a six-game winless streak in the series and marks the first victory over the Spartans since Jan. 27, 2001.
Michigan is the 15th No. 1 seed to win the CCHA Tournament title.
Michigan was 4-0 in the CCHA Tournament when scoring first.
118,050 fans saw Michigan and Michigan State play in four contests this season.
Michigan has scored a power-play goal in each of its last eight games, a season high.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On the game ... "We knew it was going to be a tough game. Michigan State played a great game. We knew we couldn't get behind them in the game and I think our team did a good job of getting the lead and continuing to get the lead throughout the game. It was a tough game right through the third period. I thought our team, considering everything they have been through, held up well and did all the little things that they had to do. I can't tell you it was any special strategy. It was just a lot of character, hard work, leadership, poise and all the things that you need to have a winning team."
On his big players ... "These guys right here (Jed Ortmeyer, Mike Cammalleri, Josh Blackburn) are players that can make a difference in a big game and they had their chance this weekend. I think they did that."
Junior Captain Jed Ortmeyer
On scoring the first goal ... "Obviously it's very important to go out and get that first goal against them. They really concentrate on playing "D." If you let them get the lead right away, it's tough for us. They like to trap and just chip the puck down the ice and break up any flow on our offense. It was a huge boost for us to get that first goal."
On the third-period goal ... "I think it gave our team a lift. We came out and we were excited between periods. We wanted to come out and have a good start. (Eric) Nystrom made a great pass and I was just fortunate enough to get it over his (Ryan Miller) pads."
Junior Forward Mike Cammalleri
On MSU's effort to contain him ... "I don't know. I have said it so many times that there are so many guys capable of doing so many things offensively on our team that you are going to see guys step up and score goals. (Jed) Ortmeyer did that tonight. He steps up with two goals. Mark Mink, who can score goals, comes up in the big game and scores a goal. That is the thing when you play here at a school like Michigan, you have so many guys capable of doing the job that you don't really rely on one guy to do the job. You just go out there with the idea that we are going to play a good team game. Whoever gets the goals gets the goals."
On raising the banner with blue instead of green on it ... "It's real exciting for us. I know we come here as recruits to Michigan as freshmen and haven't seen the blue in three years for me. One more for (Josh) Blackburn. It's real exciting for me to see that."
Senior Goaltender Josh Blackburn
On the game ... "I just wanted to come down here and play well. I was trying to help our team any way I could."
On defensive play ... "Young guys and old guys are playing great right now. A couple of two-on-ones and we got them to do exactly what we wanted -- just take the shot. Any time your team gives up 23 shots they are playing good defense."
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
