March 28, 2008
East Regional | First Round
Maize and Blue Line
Michigan's defense sets the tone in 5-1 win over Niagara

By Joe Gladziszewski and Ken McMillan

Michigan 5, Niagara 1
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
1-MI	Max Pacioretty (15)	PP
0:55	C. Kolarik, A. Palushaj
2-MI	Kevin Porter (30)	EV
9:35	C. Kolarik, M. Pacioretty
Third Period
3-MI	Kevin Porter (30)	EV
8:55	C. Kolarik, T. Llewellyn
4-MI	Kevin Porter (31)	PP
11:02	C. Kolarik, A. Palushaj
1-NIA	Matt Caruana (17)	EV
15:50	V. Rocco
2-MI	Kevin Porter (32)	EN
18:32	unassisted
Goaltending
NIA: Juliano Pagliero, 59:00, 34 saves, 4 GA, 1 ENG
MI: Billy Sauer, 59:56, 16 saves, 1 GA
Penalties: NIA 5/10; MI 3/6
Power Plays: NIA 0-3; MI 2-5
Attendance: 4,175

ALBANY, N.Y. — It was Hobey Baker favorite Kevin Porter who eventually stole the show with a four-goal performance, but it was the defense of the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines which made the ultimate statement in a 5-1 triumph over a frustrated Niagara squad in the second NCAA East Regional semifinal Friday.

Niagara was held to a season-low 17 shots on goal, the fifth time the Wolverines have held a foe under 20 attempts this season.

“Goals in this tournament are precious,” said Michigan defenseman Mark Mitera. “You give up three or four goals and it’s tough to win games. If we can limit the opponent’s shots and have one goal against, that is pretty good in this tournament. It will win you a lot of games.”

Niagara managed only four shots on goal in the first period and five in the second – not one of those came from inside the faceoff dots.

“We tried to get pucks to the net [but] we seemed to miss the net or get blocked,” said Niagara’s Matt Caruana, whose backhanded goal with 4:10 remaining in regulation beat Billy Sauer and spoiled the bid for Michigan’s fourth shutout of the season.

“We had a ton of three-on-twos that we didn’t get anything out of,” said Niagara coach Dave Burkholder, whose team averaged 27.7 shots coming into this game. “We had a number of odd-man rushes where usually we throw it on net and have the center drive and get a rebound chance but there was nothing tonight. Their defense, their gaps were unbelievable ... their long sticks and taking away a lot of lanes that we’re used to having.”

Mitera said the defensive game plan was to keep Niagara’s forwards in front of them and not take chances by stepping up to pick off a pass, thus giving up odd-man rushes. With the Michigan forwards doing a good job of back checking, that allowed the Wolverine defenders to stand up on the blue line and be more assertive in interrupting the Purple Eagles’ forwards. That led to turnovers and the start to Michigan’s transition attack.

“They have tremendous team speed, especially that top line that we saw tonight,” Caruana said. “It’s hard to get in zone and get some chances on them. They’re all quick, they’re all strong, they’re all fast. ... Every time we got across the line, it felt like they were stepping right up on us, not giving us any grade ‘A’ opportunities.”

“Our (defense) did a really good job,” said senior Chad Kolarik, part of the high-powered unit with Porter and Max Pacioretty that accounted for all five goals and seven assists. “Our coach [Red Berenson], he singled them out before the game – he told them they needed to play well. This was their chance to shine, and they stepped up all night.”

Michigan owns the nation’s fifth-ranked defense. The Wolverines did it Friday with a lineup featuring three sophomores (Steve Kampfer, Chris Summers and Eric Elmblad), two freshmen (Chad Langlais and Tristin Llewellyn) and the junior Mitera. In the plus/minus ratings, Mitera is plus-32, Kampfer and Summers are plus-25, Langlais is plus-20, and Llewellyn is plus-10.

“I think the youth is huge for us,” Mitera said. “Those guys ... they come out and are just excited to be out here. I think that’s huge. They don’t take it for granted. They are ready to go every day. It keeps the upperclassmen fighting for spots, which is what you need on a good team.”

- Ken McMillan

PLANNING + EXECUTION = SUCCESS

Clarkson 2 , St. Cloud State 1
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
No Scoring
Second Period
1-SCS	Garrett Raboin (3)	EV
4:08	G. Roe, M. Hartman
1-CLK	David Cayer (10)	EV
14:15	B. Rufenach, T. Mason
Third Period
2-CLK	Shea Guthrie (9)	EV
4:58	G. Clitsome
Goaltending
CLK: David Leggio, 60:00, 24 saves, 1 GA
SCS: Jase Weslosky, 59:02, 38 saves, 1 GA
Penalties: CLK 7/14; SCS 6/10
Power Plays: CLK 0-4; SCS 0-6

It didn't take a hockey genius to know that if Clarkson was to defeat St. Cloud State in the East Regional semifinal Friday in Albany, N.Y., the Golden Knights would have to limit the Huskies' power play throughout the game. What did take hockey genius was finding how to limit the Huskies' power play.

The Golden Knights held St. Cloud State scoreless in six power-play attempts and went on to a 2-1 victory in an East Regional semifinal at Times Union Center.

Clarkson came into the game well-prepared with a plan in mind of how to go about shutting down a man-advantage unit that ranked fourth nationally with a 23.2 percent success rate. The key for the Golden Knights were to focus on two of St. Cloud State's most important players on a power-play unit that features five dangerous players.

It was evident all game long. When St. Cloud State's perimeter players – other than Garrett Roe and Ryan Lasch – held the puck, Clarkson sat back a little bit and guarded against cross-ice passes or diagonal looks to the far post. When Roe and Lasch possessed it, a Clarkson defender or penalty-killing forward was quickly there to pressure and force them to move it down the wall.

"We tried to take Roe and Lasch away. Those are two key guys on the power play and we knew they love that back-door play, and actually they had some chances on the back door and [David Leggio] made some big saves," Clarkson assistant coach J-F Houle said.

Houle and head coach George Roll works with the Clarkson penalty killers and were able to develop a strong scouting report. After that, it was a matter of making the sacrifices, competing, and executing the game plan.

Was knowledge or effort more important?

"I think it was a combination of both. We spent a lot of time going over their tapes of their last games from the last time we played them, and we had a good idea of what they really wanted to do and took that away from them. I think it threw them off a little bit, because that's what they wanted to do and they didn't get that done," Clarkson senior forward Steve Zalewski said.

Zalewski teams on a penalty-killing forward tandem with Matt Beca and another pairing up front features Chris D'Alvise and Nick Dodge. That quartet possesses speed, size, hockey sense, skill, and work ethic by the bucketful. They had several short-handed opportunities that rivaled some of St. Cloud State's best power-play chances.

The Huskies responded in two ways. The first was to switch up some of the sets and positioning while on the power play and the second was the more human response of growing frustration.

"They were taking Lasch away in a couple of places and plays we like to make but as the game wore on, it was frustration. We had a couple open shots that we didn't get off, especially early in the game," Motzko said. "And then they showed their frustration at times, a couple of them staying out for the whole two minutes and that's uncharacteristic, and it's a sign of young guys."

As St. Cloud State's frustration grew, Clarkson's confidence and momentum grew. They held the Huskies to 0-for-3 on the power play in the first period to keep the game scoreless through one.

"It was great after the first 20. I think we came out playing physical and when we killed off those penalties knowing they have such a good power play it gave us a little boost," Clarkson defenseman Grant Clitsome said.

- Joe Gladziszewski

SEEN AND HEARD AT TIMES UNION CENTER

INCH's Three Stars of the Night

3. Shea Guthrie, Clarkson He scored the game-winner with a strong, skilled move after using speed to win a race to a loose puck and sealed off two St. Cloud State defenders before backhanding it into the net. Also played physical on the forecheck for the Golden Knights, as the forwards set a physical tone throughout the game. 2. Grant Clitsome, Clarkson The Golden Knights' top defenseman was spectacular all game long matching up against St. Cloud State's top forwards and moving the puck effectively out of the defensive zone. He blocked five shots, played the point on Clarkson's power play, and made great decisions and reads throughout the contest. 1. Pacioretty-Porter-Kolarik, Michigan The Wolverines' top line carried the mail and carried Michigan into the Regional Final on Saturday night against Clarkson. Kevin Porter heard chants of "Hobey Baker" throughout the night in a four-goal performance and the trio combined for 12 points. Kolarik assisted on all five Michigan goals

• Michigan forward Chad Kolarik described himself as Kevin Porter's Hobey Baker campaign manager and said, "I'm glad that he could finally match me. He's the best player in the nation."

Of course, Kolarik was referring to Porter's four-goal performance. Earlier this season, Kolarik scored four goals in two games, once at Western Michigan and once against Lake Superior State.

• Clarkson goalie David Leggio hails from the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, but he played two seasons of junior hockey with the Capital District Selects from the Albany market.

“If it wasn’t for the Capital District Selects, I wouldn’t be where I am today," Leggio said. “A lot of my (former) teammates come out and support us, and I stay close with them. (Albany) is like a home away from home."

• Michigan coach Red Berenson has 24 NCAA tourney wins, trailing only Jack Parker of Boston University (26) and Jerry York (25) of Boston College, Clarkson, and Bowling Green. The win snapped a three-game losing streak in NCAA play for Michigan. The Wolverines bowed to Colorado College in the 2005 Midwest final, to North Dakota in the 2006 and 2007 West semifinals. The previous Michigan tourney win came in 2005 against Wisconsin.

• The loss to Clarkson dropped St. Cloud State to 0-8 in NCAA tourney games since the Huskies’ first appearance in 1989. Third-year coach Bob Motzko said the streak is not a weight on the shoulders of his team, aside from losses in back-to-back years on his watch. Maine beat St. Cloud State, 4-1, in last year’s regional semifinals.

“I’ve only been here twice and our group has been here twice," Motzko said. “We were 0-for-1, and we were trying to get our 20th win tonight. Some of these guys (on our team) were 10 years old in one of those first losses (in the NCAAs).

“It’s not the fact that we’re 0-for-8 now, but we need to get a win to take it to the next level. We’re not going to dwell on that. We got here twice and it will be our goal to get back here and advance further. We really didn’t feel that 0-for-7, we didn’t talk about it at all."

St. Cloud dropped two games to Lake Superior State in the 1989 NCAAs. The Huskies also lost NCAA playoffs to Boston University in 2000, Michigan in 2001 and 2002 and New Hampshire in 2003.

• St. Cloud senior defenseman Matt Stephenson feels “the outlook is very bright” for the Huskies next season, and he looks forward to keeping tabs on the internet.

“The foundation of this team is based around the young guys," Stephenson said. “I am pretty sure there is a really good recruiting class coming in; coach Motz is a great recruiter. With Jase [Weslosky] in net, they shouldn’t have too many problems."

The Huskies will lose regulars Aaron Brocklehurst, Nate Dey and Matt Hartman – the Nos. 4, 6, and 7 scorers on this year's team – and Stephenson. Together, they take 598 career games of experience with them..

• Twelve states, five Canadian provinces and three European nations had players represented in the lineups on Friday night. Ontario had 22 players (10 from Niagara, nine for Clarkson, two at St. Cloud and one for Michigan). Minnesota had 13 players – a dozen with St. Cloud and one for Niagara. Michigan had 12 players – all with the Wolverines. New York had eight representatives – five for Clarkson, two from Niagara and one for Michigan. Finland, Austria and Sweden each had one player.

• Porter completed his hat trick with 8:58 remaining in the third period, and Michigan fans either didn't realize or didn't respect the tradition. One single baseball cap landed on the ice, and that came after considerable delay, almost at the time the teams lined up for the center-ice draw.

• The dasher boards at the Times Union Center were devoid of advertising, that is unless you consider the NCAA as promoting itself with its huge blue banners. That was not the case the previous weekend when ECAC Hockey held its championship weekend at the Center. Advertising and the Albany River Rats logo were also removed from the ice surface, as were the goaltender's trapezoid area behind the net, which is needed in professional hockey.

• Among the well-wishers for the Clarkson coaching staff and administrators following their win over St. Cloud State included Colgate head coach Don Vaughan, who is a member of the NCAA Tournament committee, ECAC Hockey Commissioner Steve Hagwell, and Union head coach Nate Leaman.

• CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos and College Hockey America commissioner R.H. "Bob" Peters was also in attendance.

• Niagara brought two buses full of students across the New York State Thruway to Albany for Friday night's game.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

Clarkson sent along a pep band, and it did a great job entertaining the fans through the first game. Most of the band members, at least 20 strong, played a number of lively tunes, among them "The Rhythm is Going to Get You," "Jailhouse Rock," the Ooompa-Loompa song from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and the theme music from "Fox NFL Sunday" and the James Bond movies.

The Times Union Center is only a few blocks from the seat of the New York state government. It's been three weeks since disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned his office for his alleged involvement with a prostitution ring. The good folks of Albany haven’t forgotten. In a conversation between arena employees, one woman said to another: "Some people drink too much. I gamble too much. And Governor Spitzer buys his love too much."

Michigan's Max Pacioretty earned a 5-on-3 power play for his team late in the first period when he dumped the puck to the end boards and proceeded to rapidly shuffle his feet in place before falling to the ice. The penalty call was a hook against Niagara's Vince Rocco, but the real crime was the dive by Pacioretty. It paid off, however, as he scored the game's first goal on the ensuing power play.

WHAT'S NEXT

Saturday's regional final matches two teams that are relatively unfamiliar with one another, having met just three times in history, despite being two of the most storied programs in college hockey. In fact, the last meeting came in a semifinal game at the 1962 Frozen Four in Utica, N.Y., a game that Clarkson won 5-4.

Expect Clarkson's defense pairing of Grant Clitsome and Phil Paquet to be on the ice as much as possible against Michigan's top line, and the Clarkson forwards to continue to play physical against the young Michigan defense.