**** MICHIGAN 3  BOWLING GREEN 3 ****
Michigan      1  0  2  0 -- 3
Bowling Green 2  1  0  0 -- 3
 
I can only start this summary with a note of praise to both teams and both
coaches.  From the first face off until the final buzzer 65 (playing)
minutes later, both teams played HOCKEY.  Good hockey.  There were no
cheap shots, no fights, and few penalties.  All praise to the Falcons and
to the Wolverines for putting the incidents of the previous weekend into
their hockey game rather than into their fists.
 
Both teams skated and played hard through the first 20 minutes and the
play was rather even in both directions, except that BG got to Turco a
little more than UM got to Petrie.  Hence the 2-1 score at the first
intermission.
 
The Falcons seemed to turn it up a notch in the second, and the Wolverines
didn't follow.  I don't know if the Wolverines were tired or what, but the
Falcons took control of the game during the second period, especially in
the last five minutes (in which Price scored to give the Falcons a two
goal lead).
 
I wasn't sure if the Wolverines could bounce back this time, and for the
beginning minutes of the third, I wasn't encouraged.  The first ten
minutes of the third was exactly like the second--with the Falcons skating
a little bit faster and a little bit better.  The Wolverines say they have
great "patience" but I'm not sure that merely translates into "we floated
through the second and half of the third before we finally realized that
we had better score goals if we want to win."
 
With 50 minutes played, the Wolverines finally turned their game up a
a few notches and seemed to get new life.  Warren Luhning skated into the
Falcon zone backwards and carrying the puck, passed to Matt Herr who got
the puck behind Petrie and into the net.  My initial impression (and, it
seemed, the impression of many of the other 5015 people in the arena) was
that the play was offsides.  It was later explained to me that a skater in
possesion of the puck can skate in backwards (thus entering the zone
before the puck) and still be onside.
 
This was the spark that took Michigan out of their "patient" mode and into
their "action" mode.  Herr was sent to the box with a tripping penalty and
John (The ShortHanded Magic Man) Madden got his 4th shorthanded goal of
the season, setup by Bobby Hayes and Chris Fox.  This tied the score at 3,
and the BG fans around us seemed stunned.  In fact, I was stunned too.
 
With a few minutes left in the game, Brendan Morrison, at least in his own
opinion, appeared to get the puck across the goal line for UM's fourth
goal.  Morrison was quoted in Sunday's Ann Arbor News that he believed
that the puck hit the back of the goal and came out.  If it did, it did so
without referee Sotiroff nor the goal judge seeing it.  I was at the other
end of the rink and couldn't see the play.  A fellow UM friend sitting at
the goal line said to me after the game that puck did not go in.
 
So, the Wolverines escape Bowling Green with a stolen point.  BG outplayed
the Wolverines Saturday night and the Wolverines should be extremely happy
to get a point out of the game.
 
The BG Ice Arena was packed--with a record crowd of 5,016.  Now, anyone
for a Curling match?
 
From the Top Row,
roger
 
// Roger L Spurgeon     [log in to unmask]
 
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