Michigan takes 4-1 win at Western Michigan

Linemates T.J. Hensick (goal, two assists) and Kevin Porter (two goals, assist) teamed up for three goals and three assists to send Michigan to a 4-1 win at Western Michigan last night.

Jack Johnson (pictured) also scored for the Wolverines (17-10-3, 12-7-3 CCHA) and goaltender Noah Ruden made 25 saves.

Brent Walton ruined Ruden's shutout bid with a shorthanded goal at 10:28 of the third period.

Daniel Bellissimo stopped 20 shots for the Broncos (6-20-4, 6-15-3 CCHA).

The Wolverines return to Yost Ice Arena for a pair of games against Lake Superior State on Friday and Saturday. Both games begin at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday's contest will be televised by FSN Detroit. WMU hosts Bemidji State from the CHA at Lawson Ice Arena.

LSSU salvages one point against UNO

Lake Superior State was unable to mount an offensive attack against Nebraska-Omaha Friday night, nor was their defense able to contain the Maverick's high-flying offense.

The Lakers fell behind early giving up a power play goal to UNO's Alex Nikiforuk just minutes into the game. The Lakers then gave up goals to Bill Thomas and Scott Parse (Portage) before heading to the locker room down 3-0 at the end of the first period. LSSU was only able to get five shots in the first period.

The Lakers were able to slow down the UNO attack in the second period but they still surrendered two goals. Thomas picked up his second of the game, and Micah Sanford scored his first of the season to give Omaha a 5-0 lead.

Head coach Jim Roque pulled Jeff Jakaitis after the second period, after giving up five goals on 23 shots, marking the second time this season that Jakaitis has been pulled early from a game.

Freshman goaltender Vince Wheeler saw action for the third time this season; he faced 14 UNO shots in the third period and gave up goals to former Michigan State forward Nenad Gajic, Brandon Scero (Canton) and Parse.

Saturday night LSSU jumped out to an early lead with Kory Scoran connecting on the power play just three minutes into the first period. UNO's Adam Bartholomay tied the game at 1-1 midway through the first period. The Lakers where able to regain the lead with Trent Campbell scoring his 10th goal of the season.

Hobey Baker hopeful Scott Parse scored his third goal of the weekend in the second period, marking the second time in the game that the Lakers were unable to maintain the lead.

LSSU was out shot by UNO 40-32, including 18-9 in the third period and overtime.

Ferris State sweeps away Western

Second periods were critical for the Ferris State Bulldogs last weekend -- both Friday and Saturday night saw the team net three goals which aided them in sweeping the Western Michigan Broncos in Kalamazoo. The Bulldogs won 4-2 on Friday and 7-2 on Saturday.

On Friday, Western jumped out to an early lead when Brent Walton knocked a Nathan Ansell (pictured) rebound past Ferris netminder Mitch O'Keefe. Paul Szczechura was also credited with an assist on Walton's goal. Ferris evened the score at 7:21 of the first. Adam Miller scored his eighth of the season with some help from Andrew Winnick and Chris Zarb.

The game went decidedly in the Bulldogs' favor early in the second period, when Greg Rallo reversed the energy of a five-minute Western power play to score a shorthanded goal. Rallo's goal, which came courtesy of a Mark Bomersback pass, started Ferris's scoring surge. Miller netted his second of the game on the power play at 8:06 of the period, and Justin Lewandowski got in on the action by scoring his first of the season at 17:33.

Western tried to get back in the game by giving Ferris a taste of its own medicine--Mike Lesperance took advantage of a Bulldogs power play to score on a breakaway and cut Western's deficit to two. But they could not foil O'Keefe again--even with an extra attacker during the game's last minute--and Ferris took away the 4-2 win.

O'Keefe had 23 saves while Western goalie Daniel Bellissimo stopped 26 shots.

Western's quest for redemption on Saturday didn't get very far--Rallo gave the Broncos an unfortunate sense of deja vu by netting his second shorthanded goal of the weekend just three minutes into the game. Bomersback and Alex Spezia earned assists on the play. Rallo also earned an unassisted power play goal at 7:24 of the first period. Szezechura took a pass from Walton to cut the Bulldogs' lead to one going into the second period.

Ferris scored three straight goals in the second period: Joe Van Culin, Corey Couturier, and Dan Riedel each contributed a tally to Ferris's dismantling of Western.

The Broncos tried to start the third period fresh--coach Jim Culhane pulled Bellissimo in favor of Eric Marvin, and Jason Moul set up Matt Clackson for Western's second goal of the night. But Ferris stifled any Bronco energy a few minutes later, when Riedel and Zac Pearson (who also assisted on Riedel's goal) set up Matt Verdone for his 13th of the season. Eric Vesely drove in the final nail at 16:39 of the period, scoring off assists from Jim Jorgensen (his second assist after helping on Riedel's goal) and Matt Frank.

O'Keefe had 23 saves in the 7-2 win. Bellissimo had 21 saves and Marvin 11.

Western meets Michigan on Tuesday night, while Ferris will meet Notre Dame in a home-and-home series next weekend.

ACHA Weekend Round-Up, Feb. 6

Grand Valley State sweeps weekend, sets scoring records
By Chris Moore

Grand Valley State finished their home season this past weekend with three games. WCCHA league champion St. Cloud State came to town on Thursday night and Northern Illinois University on Friday and Saturday.

On Thursday, GVSU scored quickly against St. Cloud. Leading scorer Phil Murray broke out of a three-week slump to put the Lakers up 1-0 early. For the rest of the period, however, GVSU played poorly and St. Cloud won the period 2-1. That was the end of St. Cloud having the upper hand, as GVSU came out and dominated the second, scoring six goals and going up 7-3. GVSU against dominated the third, securing a 8-3 win. Mike Kadzban, Dean Watkins, Jeff Tejchma, Adam Zobl, Andrew Dykstra, Robb Higgins, and Andrew Beller each put one in for GVSU. Chris Moore won the game, facing 23 shots, while GVSU put up 42 on St. Cloud.

Friday, GVSU played a NIU team that had surprised two top Central region teams earlier this year. Though dominating the first, GVSU found themselves in a hole early, as an NIU player beat rookie goaltender Kevin Chapman on a breakaway. The period ended 1-0 for NIU, until the Lakers came out strong in the second and scored twice quickly. GVSU fell asleep again and NIU scored on two quick shots. After a Laker goalie change, the ice was slanted toward NIU's end and GVSU scored four more before the end of the period to take a 6-3 lead into the third. The third period began to shape up as a massacre, as GVSU continued to pump in goals past the hapless NIU goaltending. In the end, GVSU would score a record 17 goals, including 11 in the final frame, another record. Scooter Hillebrand and Kadzban each scored five points a piece, while Nate Morang and Higgins each had four. Joe Bozek, Travis Bravata and Ben Kadzban each scored their first goal of the year. Moore made 11 saves and picked up his 12th win of the year in relief of Chapman, who also faced 11 shots. Final shots were 76-22 in with the game ending in a 17-3 victory.

Saturday was the last home game for the seniors and they were each honored before the game for their hard work with the team. GVSU started strong against NIU, winning the first 2-0. This was a game dominated by one man, as Jeff Tejchma scored four goals and picked up two assists to lead the Lakers to a 7-1 lead. NIU took advantage of a five-minute major in the third, scoring a few power-play goals, but it was not enough as GVSU cruised to a 7-4 win. Greg Kehr scored his first goal in two years for GVSU in this game. Moore started the game and stopped all seven shots he faced. Troy VanderWeyden replaced him in the second and faced 20 shots in the rest of the game.

GVSU finishes out the regular season and GLIHA league games next week with a game against Central Michigan University on Saturday. With a win, GVSU clinches the No. 2 spot in the GLIHA rankings.

The Lakers finished the year with a No. 5 ranking in the Central Region. This earns them a spot in the regional playoffs in Chicago the weekend of Feb. 17. GVSU faces off in the tournament against No. 8 CMU. The top two teams in the tournament head two the national championship in Rochester, New York.

D-I

#3 OHIO 5, #18 Eastern Michigan 3 (Empty Net Goal)
#3 OHIO 4, #18 Eastern Michigan 1

#4 ILLINOIS 5, #8 Michigan-Dearborn 1
#4 ILLINOIS 3, #8 Michigan-Dearborn 1

#12 Robert Morris (IL) 4, WESTERN MICHIGAN 3
#12 Robert Morris (IL) 6, WESTERN MICHIGAN 5

D-II

Illinois 1, Central Michigan 2
Illinois 3, Central Michigan 4

Davenport 6, Liberty 5
Davenport 2, Liberty 4

Ferris 5, St. Cloud 7
Ferris 5, St. Cloud 4

Grand Valley 8, St. Cloud 3
Grand Valley 17, Northern Illinois 3
Grand Valley 7, Northern Illinois 4

Indiana 5, Michigan 1
Indiana 4, Michigan 1

MSU 9, Miami (OH) 4
MSU 5, Miami (OH) 4

D-III

Wright State 4, Calvin 3
Wright State 2, Calvin 0

Lawrence Tech 4, Hope 12
Northwood 4, Hope 5

Lawrence Tech 5, Oakland 3

Lansing CC 17, Kalamazoo 7
Kalamazoo 2, Lansing CC 12

Women

Michigan 2, Lindenwood 6

Western 1, Ohio State 1
Western 7, Ohio State 1

Southern leads Northern past Warriors

The Northern Michigan Wildcats (16-12-2, 10-10-2, CCHA) continued their domination of the Wayne State Warriors (5-16-5, 2-6-4 CHA) by sweeping a two game bill at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, MI over the weekend.

Friday- Dirk Southern (pictured) was just about all Northern Michigan needed in the series opener as he notched a hat trick in the Wildcats 3-1 win over the Warriors.

The ‘Cats senior scored his first goal shorthanded in the first period, picked up the game winner on the power-play in the second, and then closed the night with a 4 on 4 marker in the third.

The outburst put Southern in the’ Cats scoring lead with 28 points (10-28—28) and fourth on the goal scoring chart.

Derek Janzen steered away 24 shots in the NMU net for his 4th win of the year.

Freshman Mark Cannon scored the lone Wayne State goal and Matt Kelly turned aside 31 shots in net.

Saturday- If the Wildcats only needed one player to seal the win on Friday, then they only needed 10 minutes of play on Saturday as they swept the series with a 2-1 victory over the Warriors.

After a scoreless first period, NMU jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Mike Santorelli scored just :56 in and Nathan Oystrick picked up a 5 on 3 goal at 9:57 of the second.

Jason Bloomingburg scored Wayne State’s only goal at 8:47 of the third.

Will Hooper stopped 30 shots in the WSU net and Bill Zaniboni stopped 20 in the NMU net.

Counting the 6-2 win at this year’s Badger Showdown, Northern went 3-0 vs. Wayne State this year and owns an all time record of 7-0-0 vs. their Motown rivals.

NMU returns to CCHA action this weekend by hosting Nebraska-Omaha for a pair of games.

Wayne State stays on the road with two CHA conference games against the Robert Morris Colonials in Moon Township, PA.

Michigan Tech splits with Minnesota State - Mankato

Behind the pads of Michael Lee Teslak, Michigan Tech recorded its 4th straight WCHA series with 2 or more points. MTU got the win on Saturday with a score of 3-2, after losing 4-0 on Friday night. Excellent defense and good play by the home team was enough to keep MTU off the board Friday, but was not the case Saturday.

Friday was highlightless for MTU, as they saw a well played 1st period drastically change in the following 2 periods. Tech was done 1-0 at the end on 1 and 3-0 at the end of 2. MSU-M found the back of the net one last time in the 3rd making the final 4-0.

Teslak was named MTU player of the game, with 40 saves on 44 shots.

Saturday started the same, as both teams played well in the early going, and MSU-M got a late 1st period goal. They took that lead into the second. It was then when MTU took its first lead of the series, off of 2 power play goals, the first from Tyler Shelast and the by Mike Botavanja.

In the third, Taggart Desmet put in an errant pass from a Maverick defender. Making the game 3-1. Chris Conner nearly put the game away, but was unable to capitalize on a nifty move. Mankato scored halfway through the period, but MTU and netminder Teslak kept them out of the net the rest of the game, including a breakaway in the last minutes of the game.

Teslak was again named MTU player of the game with 38 saves on 40 shots.

Up Next...

MTU will be host to Minnesota, the likely number one in the USCHO poll when it comes out later today, for its annual Winter Carnival. Minnesota will be looking at avenging the road sweep they suffered at the hands of MTU last year.

Finlandia men & women weekend recap

The Finlandia men and women hit a rough skid this past weekend as both suffered losses, though each played an overtime game.

The women (7-12-2, 1-9-1 NCHA) could only put two goals on the board against St. Mary's at home and lost 1-0 in overtime on Friday and 4-2 Saturday.

In Friday's heartbreaker, Katie Markovich stopped 26 shots.

Then Saturday, Danielle Syrowik scored twice and Sara Sleik assisted on both. Corinne Czekaj made just 13 saves for the Lions.

The women have this upcoming weekend off before hosting Wisconsin-Eau Claire Feb. 17-18.

Finlandia's men's team fell 5-1 Saturday night to Lawrence. Steve Piccoli netted FU's lone tally to go along with 16 saves from Joe Juntilla.

Sunday, Joe Beaudry's 5-on-3 power-play goal at 18:03 of the third period gave the Lions a 4-4 tie. Joe Welgos scored three for FU (7-10-3, 7-6-3 MCHA) while Juntilla and Lukas Alberer combined for 25 saves.

The men are at Minnesota-Crookston this weekend for two games.

Spartans sweep Irish in home-and-home

Michigan State continued their climb up the CCHA standings with a home-and-home sweep of Notre Dame this past weekend and now sit in second place behind Miami-Ohio.

The freshman line of Justin Abdelkader, Tim Crowder and Tim Kennedy combined for all three goals on the night as the Spartans picked up a 3-2 road win Friday night.

Junior netminder Dominic Vicari made 18 saves to earn his eighth win of the season.

"I think at the beginning of the year, our line was supposed to go out and hit and bang, and just score every now and then," Kennedy said. "Now, we're playing better and the team looks for us to go out and have at least one goal every night. I think that's a big step for the three of us and we just need to go out and continue doing so for the rest of the year."

Saturday night back home at Munn Ice Arena, junior captain Drew Miller's deflection of a David Booth blast from the point on the power play served as the game-winner (pictured) with just over five minutes remaining in the final frame as Michigan State completed the weekend sweep with a 2-1 victory.

Jeff Lerg stopped 26 shots for the win. Livonia native Erik Condra scored Notre Dame's lone goal.

With the win, the Spartans (16-10-7, 10-7-6 CCHA) remain alone in second place in the CCHA, one point ahead of Michigan.

"It was a great weekend, we got four points, but it was tough. We played with a lot more energy last night, but I thought Notre Dame played well," noted MSU head coach Rick Comley. "(UND head coach Jeff Jackson) has them playing well though. They are on the rise and are tough in their own zone. We hit four posts I think. We just couldn't get the darn thing in. But like last night, we got a big goal late. In this league, and point is a good point, I don't care how you get it."

Michigan State goes on the road for a single game this week. The Spartans travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a meeting with Ohio State in Value City Arena at 8:05 p.m. on Thursday.

Wolverines split with scrappy Buckeyes

Michigan was outscored 9-8 over the weekend, but still managed a split with Ohio State at Yost Ice Arena.

Friday night, the line of Brandon Kaleniecki, Andrew Ebbett and Chad Kolarik combined for three goals and three assists in a 7-5 loss. Ebbett notched two of the tallies.

"If you score five goals against that team, you should win," U-M head coach Red Berenson said. "We gave up some soft goals, and that was a big factor in this game. You can't give up some of those goals. It's goalkeeping, it's defensive awareness, too many outnumbered rushes against us. We didn't play a good mental game, and we didn't play a good physical game. They did. They came out jumping and took advantage of turnovers and loose pucks. They were the hungrier team."

The Wolverines had leads of 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, but could not hold on in the third period when they were outscored 4-1.

Jack Johnson and David Rohlfs also scored for Michigan while Billy Sauer and Noah Ruden (pictured above) combined for 25 saves.

"It's frustrating, but we should have finished the deal and not given up when we had the lead," said Rohlfs. "We just gave the game away."

Michigan rebounded Saturday night as Kaleniecki and Travis Turnbull scored third-period goals and Ruden made a career-high 39 saves in a 3-2 victory.

Tim Miller scored Michigan's other goal.

"We have been doing the same thing for three months, playing great one period and terrible the next," said Ruden. "So I think as seniors, we're just fed up with it to the point that we just have to do everything we can to change that. We only have eight games left in the regular season in our careers at Michigan, so if we seem upset it's just because when we go out, we're hoping the young guys will pick it up. They did today. I don't think we had a very good first period, but when the time came, we crunched down and had a pretty good third period and came out on top."

The Wolverines (16-10-3, 11-7-3 CCHA) conclude their season series with Western Michigan in Kalamazoo on Tuesday. The came will be broadcast by Comcast Local and commence at 7:35 p.m.

Ruden photo by Eric Bronson, © Wolverine Photo