Michigan
2-4-1, 1-3-1CCHA
Northern Michigan
3-0-1, 3-0-1CCHA
Wolverines Drop Game, Series to Northern Michigan
10/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team suffered its first sweep by an opponent at Yost Ice Arena in nearly two years Saturday evening (Oct. 27), falling to Northern Michigan by a 5-3 margin. The Wildcats (3-0-1, 3-0-1 CCHA) earned the victory with the game's final three goals to post their third straight win over the No. 7-ranked Wolverines and sweep Michigan for the first time since Feb. 24-25, 1984.
Northern Michigan opened the scoring early in the first period when senior Chad Theuer and junior Mike Stutzel skated into the Michigan zone with a two-on-one advantage. Theuer fed the puck across the slot to Stutzel, who beat Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) through the legs. Michigan tied the score four minutes following a faceoff deep in the Northern Michigan zone. Junior Mike Cammalleri (Richmond Hill, Ontario) drew the puck to junior Mark Mink (Livonia, Mich.), who was positioned in the high slot, and Mink ripped a wrist shot past Northern goaltender Craig Kowalski on his stick side.
NMU retook the lead at 14:07 in the first period on a power-play goal by freshman Alan Swanson, who sent a snap shot from the high slot past a screened Blackburn, but Michigan answered, scoring twice to take a 3-2 lead. The first score came early in the second period on a goal by freshman Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich.). Freshman David Moss (Dearborn, Mich.) collected the puck behind the net and threw it into the slot, where Helminen banged it past Kowalski. The Wolverines took the lead two minutes later on a power-play goal by Cammalleri, who one-timed a pass from sophomore defenseman Mike Komisarek (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) through the legs of Kowalski at 4:42.
The Wildcats responded with the game's final three markers, including two on the power play. Theuer tied the contest at three apiece 6:40 into the second period, beating Blackburn on his stick side, while freshman Kevin Gardner gave Northern the lead for good at 8:08, tipping in a shot from freshman blueliner Jesse Baraniuk. Junior Bryce Cockburn added the Wildcats' final tally, netting a pass from Gardner on the right side of the net five minutes into the third period.
Blackburn made 22 stops in net for the Wolverines, while Kowalski stopped 35 of Michigan's 38 shots for his third consecutive win at Yost Ice Arena. Michigan outshot the Wildcats 38-27 and converted one of its five power-play attempts. Northern was 3-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Wolverines will hit the road for their next four games, opening the set with a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, for a two-game CCHA series with the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (6-2-0, 2-2-0 CCHA) on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3. Opening faceoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. AST on both nights at the Carlson Center on the campus of UAF.
GAME SUMMARY
| Goals By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
| Northern Michigan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Michigan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
1st period
1, NMU, Mike Stutzel/1 (Chad Theuer) 4:02.
2, MICH, Mark Mink/1 (Mike Cammalleri) 8:30.
3, NMU, Alan Swanson/2 (Chad Theuer, Sean Connolly) 14:07 (pp).
PENALTIES - Alex Sawruk, NMU (high sticking) 11:43; Joe Kautz, MICH (roughing) 11:43; Michael Woodford, MICH (checking from behind) 13:36; Bryce Cockburn, NMU (roughing) 14:07; Mike Komisarek, MICH (roughing) 14:07; Jimmy Jackson, NMU (10-minute misconduct) 14:07; Joe Kautz, MICH (10-minute misconduct) 14:07; Bryce Cockburn, NMU (instigating) 14:07; Mike Komisarek, MICH (elbowing) 18:07.
2nd period
4, MICH, Dwight Helminen/2 (David Moss, Michael Woodford) 2:14.
5, MICH, Mike Cammalleri/5 (Mike Komisarek, Jason Ryznar) 4:42 (pp).
6, NMU, Chad Theuer/3 (Bryce Cockburn) 6:40.
7, NMU, Kevin Gardner/1 (Jesse Baraniuk, Chris Gobert) 8:08 (pp).
PENALTIES - Justin Kinnunen, NMU (tripping) 3:08; Jesse Baraniuk, NMU (cross-checking) 4:13; Jay Vancik, MICH (hooking) 7:27; Sean Owens, NMU (cross-checking) 15:15; J.J. Swistak, MICH (roughing) 15:15.
3rd period
8, NMU, Bryce Cockburn/1 (Kevin Gardner, Chad Theuer) 5:01 (pp).
PENALTIES - Michael Woodford, MICH (roughing) 4:21; Ryan Moderson, NMU (obstruction-holding) 5:52; Mike Komisarek, MICH (roughing) 9:39; Alex Sawruk, NMU (roughing) 9:39; Alex Sawruk, NMU (checking) 9:39; Mike Komisarek, MICH (roughing) 9:39; Jesse Baraniuk, NMU (tripping) 11:20.
Shots on goal: NMU 12-11-4 27; MICH 10-13-15 38. Power plays: NMU 3 of 4; MICH 1 of 5. Penalties: NMU 11 (22 min); MICH 10 (20 min). Goalies: NMU, Craig Kowalski 3-0-1 (60:00 minutes, 38 shots-35 saves); MICH, Josh Blackburn 2-4-1 (57:58, 27-22) , EMPTY NET (02:02, 0-0). Referee: Mark Wilkins. Assistant Referees: Ken Landis, Bruce Vida. Attendance: 6469. Time: 2:25.
| Individual Player Statistics | |
## Northern Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 6 Jesse Baraniuk..... 0 1 4 3 +1 9 Peter Michelutti... 0 0 0 0 0 10 Alan Swanson....... 1 0 0 2 0 11 Terry Harrison..... 0 0 0 2 0 12 Ryan Moderson...... 0 0 2 0 -1 14 Sean Owens......... 0 0 2 1 0 15 Brent Robertson.... 0 0 0 0 -2 16*Chad Theuer........ 1 3 0 2 +1 17 Ryan Carrigan...... 0 0 0 0 -1 18*Jimmy Jackson...... 0 0 2 1 +1 19*Mike Stutzel....... 1 0 0 2 +1 20 Dan Donnette....... 0 0 0 2 0 21*Bryce Cockburn..... 1 1 4 4 +1 23 Alex Sawruk........ 0 0 6 1 -1 25 Kevin Gardner...... 1 1 0 1 0 27 Chris Gobert....... 0 1 0 5 0 39 Justin Kinnunen.... 0 0 2 0 0 44*Sean Connolly...... 0 1 0 1 0 Totals............. 5 8 22 27 0 | ## Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 3 Eric Werner........ 0 0 0 0 +2 4 Andy Burnes........ 0 0 0 0 -2 5 Brandon Rogers..... 0 0 0 3 -2 7 Brad Fraser........ 0 0 0 0 +2 8*Mike Komisarek..... 0 1 8 2 0 9 Milan Gajic........ 0 0 0 0 0 10 Dwight Helminen.... 1 0 0 4 0 11 Joe Kautz.......... 0 0 4 2 0 12 J.J. Swistak....... 0 0 2 2 0 13*Mike Cammalleri.... 1 1 0 4 0 15*Jay Vancik......... 0 0 2 1 0 17 Michael Woodford... 0 1 4 1 0 18 David Moss......... 0 1 0 7 0 20 Charlie Henderson.. 0 0 0 1 0 21 Eric Nystrom....... 0 0 0 2 0 22*Jason Ryznar....... 0 1 0 1 0 25*Mark Mink.......... 1 0 0 5 0 28 John Shouneyia..... 0 0 0 3 0 Totals............. 3 5 20 38 0 |
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Red Berenson
On tonight's game ... "We knew we had a young team and a challenging schedule early and as much as I can say we did a lot of good things this weekend and we played a lot of good hockey, we didn't do enough to win obviously. And last night was a game that could have gone either way and we got the goalkeeping that we needed and couldn't find a way to win that game. And tonight, halfway through the game we had the lead and then whether it was their power play or our penalty killing, the breakdown within the few minutes, we're down again, tied up and eventually down. They're a good team, Northern's a real good team, and I was really impressed with the way they play and their goalkeeping obviously. We're a young team and (Craig) Murray got hurt and (Jed) Ortmeyer got hurt so two of our top five players get hurt, so we're playing with nine freshmen tonight. That's not an excuse but obviously we're not at out best but we're doing a lot of good things. I'm disappointed in the outcome, we're going to have to suck it up during this tough part of the schedule and I'm confident our team is going to get better."
On the upcoming road trip to Alaska-Fairbanks ... "Playing on the road is not any easier and certainly we needed to have not necessarily better games but better outcomes at home and you were hoping to get some results and then building on this, but it's going to be a real challenge going up to Fairbanks, who has a real good team. They're off to a good start so it'll be tough but it also may hopefully bring our team together. And not that we're not together but maybe it will make us play a simpler game and help us."
On the depth of the CCHA ... "I don't know if there's anybody in this league that can't beat anybody else this year. That just seems to be the way the teams are built based on who they lost and who they've got returning so we don't have any edge over anyone and neither does Michigan State. Michigan State has (Ryan) Miller coming back on their defense but that's not making a difference right now so it's a tough league and we know Nebraska-Omaha is tough, we know Western (Michigan) is tough, we know Northern is tough and Fairbanks will be tough and then we've got Omaha after that and so it doesn't get any easier."
Junior Forward Mike Cammalleri
On the frustration of being swept ... "I think we all know that through adversity and I guess crisis, if you want to call it that, true character comes out. I think that we'll show that as a team [we'll] get together this week and really keep together. We know what kind of team we are, what kind of team we can be, and we'll have to stick real close together this week in practice and turn things around."
On how far the team is from playing like a constistent team ... "I hate to make excuses, but tonight a couple of bounces go the other way and we could have won the game. ... We have to do a few things differently."
On the team's chances in tonight's game ... "We got some chances, not that we couldn't get anything going. ... It was a hard-fought game and we gave them too many chances. We know that we can do more; everyone on this team knows they can do more for the team. I think we have to take a look in the mirror and realize that and check our egos at the door."
On the team's sense of panic ... "We need to play with a sense of desperation. I think that we need to do that more but at the same time panic can't do anything for you. We know that we have capable players here in this locker room, so it's not a matter of panic, it's a matter of playing Michigan hockey."
On the team's youth ... "Youth doesn't factor in for us. I think that we're sick of being called a young team. I think the freshmen are sick of being called young players; they don't play like it out there. It's not something that we look at. ... There comes a certain point where you realize that this is our team and we like our team and we don't feel we're a young team, we feel we're a capable team."
N O T E S
This weekend's series is the first time Michigan has been swept at home since Nov. 19-20, 1999, with a 3-0 and 4-2 loss to Lake Superior State.
Northern Michigan has won the last three meetings, all at Yost Ice Arena, to tie a series high for consecutive wins.
Northern owns the only two weekend sweeps in the history of the series, with the other coming on Feb. 24-25, 1984.
The Wolverines netted a power-play goal tonight, snapping a two-game streak where they were held scoreless with the man advantage.
Michigan will not return home until Friday, Nov. 23, to host Minnesota in the first night of the College Hockey Showcase.
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
