Saturday, October 13, 2001

Saturday, October 13, 2001, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska

With their win last night over Providence and the win by Minnesota-Duluth over host Nebraska, the Wolverines will face the Bulldogs in the championship game of the Maverick Stampede. Michigan skated a good game on Friday night to beat Providence and the Bulldogs had an easier time than expected in disposing of the host Mavericks.

The Wolverines task tonight is to get emotionally re-focused for a second straight night of competitive hockey. So far this season they have only played one competitive game a weekend - in that they have been successful. While the Wolverines are a team that will need to rely on their defense in the early going this year, the Bulldogs will be relying on their offense in the early going. While Minnesota has been picked to finish rather low in the WCHA, they disposed of the Mavericks with relative ease. Michigan's first real test of the season will be tonight when they meet a team they should beat after winning a game over a nationally ranked opponent. These were games, that last year, Michigan really struggled with; how will this years team fare?

It looked like Michigan was going to have their way with the Bulldogs in the early going of this contest as they spent the majority of the contest in the Bulldog zone. Through all of that the Wolverines came out of the first period with a single goal. That goal came with just under five minutes remaining in the period when Cammalleri would get to his own rebound and punch it into the Bulldog net. The whole scoring sequence started from a shot by Rogers from the top of the right face off circle. This shot was blocked with the rebound being picked up and shot by Cammalleri. Cammalleri's first shot was again blocked, but he was right there to get his own rebound and score the Wolverines first goal of the night. Assists on the goal went to Rogers and Woodford.

The Bulldogs survived playing most of the first period in their own zone and it was perhaps a sign of things to come as Michigan failed to score on several golden opportunities. Both Ortmeyer and Gajic missed shots at open nets in a three-minute span. All those missed opportunities simply helped to fuel the confidence of the Bulldog squad. The first period came to an end with the Wolverines holding a one to nothing lead. The Wolverines also held the edge in shots on goal with an 11 to 6 count.

The Michigan lead evaporated quickly in the second period with Minnesota on the power play. Just over three minutes into the period Kautz was called for tripping putting the Bulldogs on the power play. Just thirty seconds into the power play the Bulldogs got their first goal of the night, beating Blackburn backdoor to tie the game.

The game would remain tied for several minutes until the clock moved just under ten minutes. Cammalleri would get a shot off along the right goal line that would be blocked by the Minnesota netminder. However, the puck bounced off his stick and right onto the stick of Kautz who slipped it into the Bulldog net to once again put Michigan in the lead.

It would again be a Michigan mistake that would lead to the Bulldogs second goal of the night with less than two minutes remaining in the second period. With Nystrom in the box for obstruction hooking the Bulldogs scored their second power play goal of the game to tie the score at two goals each. The second period came to an end with the score all tied at two goals each. Michigan continued to hold the edge in shots on goal with a 20 to 14 count.

The Bulldogs would score their only even strength goal of the night with just over three minutes gone when Andy Reierson blasted a shot from the high slot to beat Blackburn over his left shoulder. For the remainder of the period the Bulldog defense would stymie the Wolverines. Michigan would pull their goalie with about one and half minutes left in the game, but even the extra attacker couldn't find the opening to the Bulldog net. Michigan looses its first game of the year by a score of 2 to 3 and takes second place in the Maverick Stampede. Michigan ended the game with a 30 to 23 edge in shots on goal.

Michigan got a bit of a lesson tonight as they played inconsistently and didn't take advantage of the chances they had, especially early in the game when they could have really jumped on the Bulldogs early. They also didn't learn anything in the penalty department as they racked up eleven penalties for a total of 22 minutes. This is especially telling as two of the Bulldogs three goals came while on the power play.

It's obvious the Wolverines can be a good team, but it's equally obvious that they are still quite young. They still need to work on their own power play, which as been inconsistent at best. They got two on Friday night against Providence, but were shut out on the power play tonight against Minnesota. Their penalty kill also needs work. All three of the goals given up to Michigan State were power play goals as were two tonight. The Wolverines really need to get a handle on the number of penalties they are taking and they need work on their special teams.

This team could really be something special come March, but right now they are a young team going through growing pains. The Wolverines return to CCHA play next weekend when they take on the Bronco's in a home and home weekend series.