I had typed a much more complete version of this story in earlier, but just before completing it my telephone's call waiting feature disrupted my modem's communication with our mainframe and I have now lost the entire file--Grrr!! I don't have the time or energy to repeat that (ahem!) journalistic masterpiece (no cheers, now!), so I'll just send an abbreviated version. For the second evening in a row the Golden Gophers and the Wildcats battled to a a tie at Marquette's Lakeview Arena. This time power plays were critical to the Wildcats, as they were to the Gophers the previous night. NMU scored all five of its goals while the Gophers were shorthanded; Minnesota scored one power play goal and one shorthanded marker. Minnesota took a 4-1 lead early in the second period, but the Wildcats stormed back with the help of a huge and inexplicable number of Gopher penalties, scoring three ppgs in 5:04 of the second to knot it at 4-4. Minnesota took the lead at 19:48 of the second, but Northern Michigan tied it at 9:08 of the third, and that ended the scoring. It was a goaltenders' show, with the Gophers' Jeff Callinan making 28 stops, most of them on point-blank shots. His two most notable efforts occurred late and saved the tie for Minnesota. Near the end of the third period NMU's Jason Hehr broke into the offensive zone fairly unmolested and let go a screamer from the left point which was headed for the 2 hole; Callinan gloved it cleanly. The momentum of the shot carried Callinan's glove, arm, and entire body around in a complete circle, and out of the crease. Half way through the overtime the Wildcats buzzed the net feroucisouly for about ten seconds and Callinan stopped a close-in shot and then two attempts on the rebounds following from it. The last of these actually got through his pads and was sliding toward the goal line when he reached behind his own leg and made a first baseman-style backhand stop. Saurdiff had 32 saves, to go with the 37 he notched the previous night; however, he did not seem *quite* as sharp as he was on Friday. Wildcat fans, coaches and players are breathing easier, at least. They now feel the team will be competitive, anyway. The return of Joe Frederick really helped (although his other ankle was injured late in the second period, and it remains to be seen what effect that will have on future play). Minnesota's Darby Hendrickson separated a shoulder late in the Friday night game and is out for several weeks, at least. Doug Woog said he might even be red-shirted now. The second period was wild, wooly, and strange with all the fouling and fighting which occurred. Goals: First Period 1. Minn, Bohin (3) (Dziedzic), 5:11 2. NMU, Frederick (3) (Riplinger, Hehr), ppg, 13:19 3. Minn, Nielsen (4) (Bonin), 16:11 4. Minn, Brill (4) (McHugh, Bonin), 18:17 Second Period 5. Minn, McHugh (3) (Richards), shg, 2:54 6. NMU, Hadden (4) (Frederick, Harding), ppg, 7:13 7. NMU, Riplinger (1) (unassisted), ppg, 9:26 8. NMU, Johnson (1) (Hehr, Frederick), ppg, 13:16 9. Minn, Johnson (5) (unassisted), ppg, 19:48 Third Period 10. NMU, Riplinger (2) (Frederick, Carpenter), ppg, 9:08 Power play opportunities: Minn 1/5; NMU 5/10 Goalie saves: NMU, Saurdiff 12-9-9-2 Minn, Callihan 8-9-6-5 Penalties: Minn 17-34; NMU 13-34 Attendance: 4,106 *********************************** * Steve Christopher, NMU * * "Go 'Cats!''Goin' for it again in * * '93--With a lot less "O" * * but a little more "D"! * * [log in to unmask] * ***********************************