Michigan
1-1-0
Boston University
0-2-0
Wolverines Blow Out Boston University for First Victory
10/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
DAYTON, Ohio -- The No. 1-ranked Michigan hockey team earned its first win of the season as a result of a 7-2 triumph over Boston University on Saturday (Oct. 9) at the Lefty McFadden Invitational at the Nutter Center. Thirteen U-M players recorded at least one point in the effort, including 10 of the 12 forwards.
Milan Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) tied a career high for goals with two, Jeff Tambellini (Port Moody, B.C.) equaled a career high with three assists, and Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill.) stopped 30 shots for the win.
To open the game the Wolverines benefited from a Terrier penalty called at 31 seconds. Michigan capitalized on the chance when Chad Kolarik (Abington, Pa.) scored the first goal of his career at 1:54. Matt Hunwick (Sterling Heights, Mich.) initiated the play with a long, cross-ice pass to David Moss (Livonia, Mich.) skating along the right side of the neutral zone. Moss fired a shot on Karson Gillespie that was stopped, but Kolarik pounced on the loose puck near the left circle and roofed it for a 1-0 U-M lead.
Michigan added another tally to make it 2-0 while the teams skated four-on-four just over one minute later. Hunwick jumped into the play and filled the left wing while U-M was on the counterattack. Kevin Porter (Northville, Mich.) flipped a pass into the slot and Hunwick rifled a shot over the goalie's blocker. The assist was the first career point for Porter.
At 5:34 of the first the Wolverines made it 3-0. Nick Martens (Ann Arbor, Mich.) pinched in and held the puck behind the Terrier net. He then centered the puck for a shot by Tambellini that was redirected into the BU goal by Michael Woodford Jr. (Westford, Mass.).
Boston University made an attempt to stall U-M's offense with a timeout following the third goal. Nevertheless, Michigan scored quickly after to bump its lead up to 4-0 at 7:20. U-M caught BU in transition with Tambellini banging the puck off the boards to T.J. Hensick (Howell, Mich.) at the Terrier blue line. Hensick found Brandon Rogers (Rochester, N.H.) streaking through the right circle and Rogers beat the goalie between the legs for the tally.
The second period began just as well for the Wolverines with Gajic scoring his first of the game at 3:42. Tambellini's slap shot on the play was stopped by the BU goalie, but the rebound bounced right into the slot where Gajic fired it into the net.
On the very next shift Michigan added another goal to make it 6-0. At 4:34, David Rohlfs (Northville, Mich.) broke into the Terriers' zone just ahead of his defender and beat the goalie with a backhander up high. Jason Ryznar (Anchorage, Alaska) earned the primary assist with a long pass off the boards from blue line to blue line to spring Rohlfs free.
The final Michigan goal came at 8:36 of the middle frame to make it 7-0. Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C.) recovered a loose puck along the right boards in the Boston zone and moved in toward the goal alone. Ebbett waited for Gajic to break out of the scrum along the boards and fed him for his second score of the day.
In the third period Michigan was satisfied with sitting on its comfortable lead. The Wolverines had just three shots on goal in the stanza. Boston University finally beat Montoya to spoil the shutout bid at 14:11. Peter MacArthur managed to bank the puck off something in front past the U-M goalie from behind the of the net. At 17:00, MacArthur scored a second BU goal with a hard wrister into the top right corner of the net from the left circle.
Michigan returns to Yost Ice Arena for its home opener on Friday (Oct. 15) against New Hampshire. The game is scheduled to start at 8:05 p.m. and will be nationally broadcast live by College Sports Television.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
