March 23, 2002

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The curse of the NCAA West Regional No. 1 seed lives.

Junior Jed Ortmeyer scored the game-winning goal with 1:21 left in regulation to propel Michigan to a 5-3 win over Denver in an NCAA West Regional quarterfinal match tonight. The Wolverines (27-10-5 overall), wearing their road blue uniforms despite playing in front nearly 7,000 of their own fans at Yost Ice Arena, take on Minnesota in one NCAA Frozen Four semifinal in St. Paul April 4.

The West's top seed hasn't won the national title since the NCAA switched to a 12-team format in 1988.

"It's always tough when you're not the last one standing," said coach George Gwozdecky. "This is a difficult thing to swallow."

The Wolverines opened the scoring in what would turn out to be an entertaining second period on a goal by Eric Nystrom. A failed Pioneer clearing attempt lead to a 2-on-1 chance for Michigan, with the Wolverines' John Shouneyia feeding Nystrom across the slot for a one-timer 56 seconds into the middle frame.

Senior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) evened the score a little more than two minutes later with a power-play goal at 3:05, a slap shot from the far point that rocketed over Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn's glove. Sophomores Connor James (Calgary, Alta.) and Ryan Caldwell (Deloraine, Manitoba) earned assists on the goal, Paradise's 22nd of the season.

"Both teams played well," said Paradise. "We just ended up making a couple more mistakes and they were able to capitalize on it."

Michigan's Mike Komisarek added a power-play goal to put the Wolverines up 2-1 at 5:43 of the second period. The defenseman's shot from just inside the blue line caromed off a Denver defender's stick and over goaltender Wade Dubielewicz's (Invermere, B.C.) blocker.

"It's kind of disheartening, especially not sending the senior class out on a winning note," said Dubielewicz, who sparkled in goal, making 34 saves. "We established three goals, and the third one was winning a national championship."

Kevin Doell (Saskatoon, Sask.) scored the second Pioneer goal of the period, taking advantage of yet another man-advantage opportunity. The junior pivot corralled a rebound off a shot by freshman wing Kevin Ulanski (Madison, Wis.) and easily put the puck into a wide-open net for his 20th goal of the season at 9:20.

Freshman Luke Fulghum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) gave Denver (32-8-1 overall) its first lead of the game at 12:25 of the second period. Fulghum and linemates Greg Keith (Delta, B.C.) and Max Bull (Faribault, Minn.) broke into the Michigan zone on an odd-man rush. Bull threw a pass out in front of the Wolverine net and Fulghum tipped the centering attempt past a surprised Blackburn for his fifth goal of the season.

As in the second frame, the Wolverines scored the first goal of the third period, evening the score when freshman defenseman Eric Werner converted at 4:57. Junior center Mike Cammalleri fed Werner as he drove through the slot toward the net and beat Dubielewicz upstairs for his fifth goal of the season.

"This has been the greatest year of hockey in my life," said Paradise. "We had 28 unbelievable guys in the locker room who will be friends of mine for the rest of my life. I've never felt a chemistry like this and I'm just disappointed we didn't go all the way. But it's been a great season and you have to focus on the positives."

"We didn't come up with quite the end result, but the memories are going to be awesome," Gwozdecky summarized. "The relationships (these players) have established will stay with them for a lot longer than the pain of this game will. We're extremely proud of them."