Wolverines Buck Broncos in Battle for Second Place

Friday, January 19

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:35 PM

Michigan

17-6-3, 11-4-1CCHA

Western Michigan

16-5-3, 9-4-3CCHA

Western Michigan

Michigan

1/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The ninth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team unleashed an offensive explosion Friday night (Jan. 19) en route to a 5-1 win over No. 7 Western Michigan University at Yost Ice Arena. After falling behind 1-0 early in the first period, the Wolverines responded for five unanswered goals and now own sole possession of second place in the CCHA with 23 points after 16 conference games.

Western Michigan (16-5-3, 9-4-3 CCHA) jumped out to an early lead in the first period on a power-play goal from Dana Lattery. David Gove took a shot from the right circle that was stopped initially by Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) before Lattery slid the rebound into the open net 4:05 into the game.

Jeff Jillson's (North Smithfield, R.I.) goal with 6:17 left in the first period started Michigan's scoring spree. Craig Murray (Penticton, B.C.) won the faceoff to the left of the Bronco goal before Jillson skated to his right and sent a shot through traffic past WMU goalie Jeff Reynaert to knot the contest at 1-1.

The Wolverines (17-6-3, 11-4-1 CCHA) took a 2-1 lead 20 seconds into the second period on Andy Hilbert's (Howell, Mich.) 18th goal of the season. Geoff Koch (Exeter, N.H.) fed Hilbert a pass behind the Western defense, and Hilbert deked past Reynaert and backhanded a shot into the net. Michigan pushed its lead to 3-1 late in the period on Hilbert's second goal of the game. With U-M on a four-on-three advantage, Hilbert took a shot from just above the right circle and it slid past the Bronco netminder into the goal.

Mark Mink's (Livonia, Mich.) power-play goal 3:39 into the third period extended the Wolverine lead to 4-1. John Shouneyia (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) carried the puck through the Bronco zone and passed from the right circle through the slot to Mink, who was perched below the left circle. Mink took the feed and one-timed a shot past Reynaert for his seventh goal of the season.

Mike Roemensky (White Lake, Mich.) picked up his first goal of the season -- a shorthanded score -- midway through the third period on a blast from center ice that deflected of Raynaert's paddle into the net, giving U-M a 5-1 lead.

Blackburn turned in a strong performance in goal for the Wolverines, stopping 22 shots including a breakaway save on Brent Rumble midway through the second period. Blackburn improved his record to 16-6-3 on the season. Raynaert stopped 39 Wolverine shots and suffered the loss, dropping his record to 15-4-3.

The Wolverines and Broncos close out the weekend home-and-home series Saturday (Jan. 20) night at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich., starting at 7:05 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

Goals By Period	1	2	3	F
Western Michigan	1	0	0	1
Michigan	1	2	2	5

1st period
1, WMU, Dana Lattery 7 (David Gove, David Cousineau) 04:03 (pp).
2, MICH, Jeff Jillson 7 (Craig Murray) 13:43.
PENALTIES - Brian Pasko, WMU (ROUGHING) 01:30; Geoff Koch, MICH (OBSTRUCTION-TRIPPING) 02:11; Dave Huntzicker, MICH (INTERFERENCE) 03:13; David Cousineau, WMU (ELBOWING) 09:27; Jed Ortmeyer, MICH (INTERFERENCE) 11:15; David Cousineau, WMU (OBSTRUCTION-HOOKING) 13:14; Mike Cammalleri, MICH (INTERFERENCE) 13:14; Bob Gassoff, MICH (CROSS-CHECKING) 15:26; Brett Mills, WMU (INTERFERENCE) 17:07.

2nd period
3, MICH, Andy Hilbert 18 (Geoff Koch, Mike Cammalleri) 00:20.
4, MICH, Andy Hilbert 19 (Mike Cammalleri, Jeff Jillson) 16:00 (pp).
PENALTIES - Andy Townsend, WMU (Hooking) 05:51; Jeff Jillson, MICH (SLASHING) 09:45; David Cousineau, WMU (SLASHING) 11:57; Andy Burnes, MICH (ROUGHING) 14:06; David Gove, WMU (ROUGHING) 14:06; David Cousineau, WMU (Hooking) 14:50; Mike Bishai, WMU (DELAYING THE GAME) 17:07; John Shouneyia, MICH (DELAYING THE GAME) 17:07; Andy Burnes, MICH (SLASHING) 19:52.

3rd period
5, MICH, Mark Mink 7 (John Shouneyia, Jed Ortmeyer) 03:39 (pp).
6, MICH, Mike Roemensky (Jed Ortmeyer) 07:17 (sh).
PENALTIES - Scott Matzka, MICH (HOLDING) 01:18; Dana Lattery, WMU (TRIPPING) 01:47; David Cousineau, WMU (UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT) 01:47; Geoff Koch, MICH (CROSS-CHECKING) 06:10; Josh Langfeld, MICH (Checking From Behind) 09:35; Scott Matzka, MICH (SLASHING) 13:52; Scott Matzka, MICH (ROUGHING) 13:52; Josh Akright, WMU (SLASHING) 13:52; Bob Gassoff, MICH (Hooking) 18:24; Brent Rumble, WMU (ROUGHING) 18:24.

Shots on goal: WMU 11-7-5-23; MICH 15-16-13-44. Power plays: WMU 1 of 9; MICH 2 of 8. Penalties: WMU 13 (26 min); MICH 15 (30 min). Goalies: WMU, Jeff Reynaert 15-4-3 (44 shots-39 saves); MICH, Josh Blackburn 16-6-3 (23-22). Referee: Brent Rutherford. Assistant Referees: Bruce Vida, Ken Landis. Attendance: 6596. Time: 2:34.

Individual Player Statistics

## Western Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- ## Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- 2*Mike Jarmuth....... 0 0 0 2 -1 3 Bob Gassoff........ 0 0 4 3 0 3 Brian Pasko........ 0 0 2 2 0 4 Andy Burnes........ 0 0 4 2 +1 6 Brent Rumble....... 0 0 2 2 0 5*Jeff Jillson....... 1 1 2 3 +2 8*Mike Bishai........ 0 0 2 3 -2 8*Mike Komisarek..... 0 0 0 3 +2 9 David Gove......... 0 1 2 4 -2 9 Mark Kosick........ 0 0 0 2 0 10 Brett Mills........ 0 0 2 1 0 10 Scott Matzka....... 0 0 6 3 +1 11 Josh Akright....... 0 0 2 0 -1 12 J.J. Swistak....... 0 0 0 1 0 12 Anthony Battaglia.. 0 0 0 1 -1 13*Mike Cammalleri.... 0 2 2 5 +1 14 Chad Kline......... 0 0 0 0 0 14 Craig Murray....... 0 1 0 1 +1 15 Paul Davies........ 0 0 0 0 0 18*Geoff Koch......... 0 1 4 1 +2 16 Dana Lattery....... 1 0 2 2 -1 19*Andy Hilbert....... 2 0 0 9 +1 17 Andy Townsend...... 0 0 2 2 0 21 Josh Langfeld...... 0 0 2 3 +1 19 Lucas Drake........ 0 0 0 0 0 22 Bill Trainor....... 0 0 0 0 0 20 Ben Gagnon......... 0 0 0 0 -1 23 Mike Roemensky..... 1 0 0 2 +1 22 David Cousineau.... 0 1 10 1 -2 25 Mark Mink.......... 1 0 0 2 0 24*Jeff Campbell...... 0 0 0 2 -2 26 Jed Ortmeyer....... 0 2 2 3 +1 25*Shaun Rose......... 0 0 0 1 -1 27 Dave Huntzicker.... 0 0 2 1 0 26*Austin Miller...... 0 0 0 0 -1 28 John Shouneyia..... 0 1 2 0 0 Totals............. 1 2 26 23 -15 Totals............. 5 8 30 44 +14

N O T E S

-- Sophomore Andy Hilbert's two goals extended his scoring streak to 13 consecutive games (15-12-27).

-- Goaltender Josh Blackburn has only allowed five goals in the past five games. He is 4-1 in the stretch.

-- Three-Star Selections: 1. Andy Hilbert (U-M), 2. Josh Blackburn (U-M), 3. Jeff Jillson (U-M).

Q U O T E S

Head Coach Red Berenson
On the game ... "I thought it was a good team effort tonight. I don't think I could point out anyone who had a bad game tonight. Special teams was huge; I think we were prepared. We respected how dangerous their power play was. Our players put a lot of effort into it, and we also got a few breaks."

On goaltender Josh Blackburn ... "Blackburn was solid. There were parts of the game where he didn't need to do much, but when he did, he made some big saves. Blackburn battles; when he's down, he's never out. He rarely gets his back to the play, or totally out of position. He battles in there. There's traffic, there's bodies in there, and he has that knack. He seems to home in on the puck, or at least protect the bottom of the net."

Junior Defenseman Jeff Jillson
On the game ... "This was the way we needed to come out tonight. It was our first game of a big weekend, and we knew they were a great team. We've been preparing all week. I think we started out a little slow, but as the game went on, we played hard, and I think we played an overall great game. Our power play was clicking and we were lucky enough to put a few in."

On the team's defensive play ... "Mentally, I think we had in our minds that we just had to shut the other team down. We needed everybody and every line to help get the puck out. We just had to do the little things out there, and I think that everyone sacrificed in that part of the game."

On Dave Huntzicker's return form injury ... "Anytime you get one of your captains back and a senior leader on the team, it's great. He brings a good spirit to the team and he played really well in his first game back."

Sophomore Forward Andy Hilbert
On his first goal ... "I couldn't believe I had that much time. Geoff Koch had a great effort and was so strong on the puck. I was waiting for the goalie to make a move, and finally he did and I found the back of the net."

Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423