The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 56

The Boston Glob FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008 i j2-. -s. 0 MS kj yN A "7 DAVID ZALUBOWKSiASSOClATEO PRESS ST-Notre Dame goalie Jordan Pearce turns aside a scoring bid by Michigan's Louie Caporusso in the Fighting Irish's upset win in overtime. INotre Dame blocks out Michigan fairish prevail in OT, advance to first final Immelman times it just right ByJimMcCabe GLOBE STAFF Ef AUGUSTA, Ga. Nothing he had done in recent trips Jj around Augusta National Golf Club could have led anyone to MAsjeijs choose Trevor Immelman for notebook first-round fireworks in the 72d Masters.

After all, in his last seven rounds, dating to 2005, the 28-year-old South African was a whopping 29 over par, his best score a 1-over-par 73. Obviously, the bogeys were plentiful in that stretch, so how does he explain posting the only bogey-free trip of the 94 competitors yesterday? "It was just perfect conditions for golf out there," he said. But there was also the matter of his 2008 season four missed cuts in seven stroke-play starts, with no finish better than joint 40th. Again, how does he explain vaulting into a share of the lead with Justin Rose? The soft-spoken Immelman wanted to brush it off. Diagnosed with an intestinal parasite earlier this year, there was a terribly slow start, and it wasn't until March that he played on the weekend of a stroke-play tournament.

"Obviously, my form hasn't been too stellar so far this season," said Immelman. "But each week I've kind of felt like I chipped away at something new and started getting a little bit better." It wasn't lost on some that a trio of players who came to Augusta National together a few weeks ago for two practice rounds combined to go 10 under in the opening round Immelman, Rose, and Ian Poulter (70). "Yeah, it's a great coincidence," said Immelman. "Hopefully, we'll keep it going." As he started to leave, he was asked about those practice rounds with his mates. Surely, there had been some sort of game.

Immelman thought for a moment and nodded. Indeed, there had. "Justin actually won," he said. "I think I still owe him some money." Royal send-off For a second straight year, the Masters began with royalty an opening tee shot by The King, Arnold Palmer. The four-time Masters champion came out of the clubhouse just after 7:45 a.m., after hitting "about three practice drives," and walked onto the first tee amid a thick fog.

Barely able to see 150 yards down the fairway, Palmer delivered a solid shot, though no one seemed to know quite where it went. So, where did it go? Palmer smiled. "I hit it out of sight," he said If it seemed to be a bittersweet morning for Palmer, that's because it was. His wife, Kit, did not make the trip. She's hospitalized in Pennsylvania, having had two procedures in the last week for an infected ankle Before he went out and shot 83, the suspicion was that Gary Player, 72, could be making his last Masters start.

Certainly, Palmer would vote for that. When asked if he enjoyed the role of honorary starter, he nodded and said, "I think it's something that Jack Nicklaus and Gary should be doing in the next few years." Up-and-down day Some stalwarts in the world rankings rode roller coasters in the opening round. No. 3 Ernie Els was level par following a birdie at the 13th, but he double bogeyed the par-4 14th, and followed a birdie at the 15th with a bogey at the 18th to shoot 74 and settle into a tie for 44th. No.

4 Steve Strieker shot 73, but it featured a double bogey at the par-5 eighth and a bogey at the par-4 ninth. No. 8 Adam Scott started with bogeys on three of his first five holes, got it back to 1 over with a birdie at the 13th, but bogeyed twice over the final five holes to shoot 75. Low Singh honors went to Jeev Singh (71), as No. 10 Vijay Singh needed to make one of three birdies at the 18th to shoot 72 In 23 rounds at Augusta National, Scott has yet to break 70 Dashing Argentine Andres Romero, who won the recent PGA Tour stop in New Orleans, made five birdies, including three in a row starting at the par-3 sixth, but with a double bogey at the 10th and bogey at the 11th, he only managed a 72 in his Masters debut.

Honest assessment One day earlier, Woody Austin had had a chance to earn a share of the par-3 championship, but he missed a short putt at the final hole. Did he miss it because he knows about the jinx that no player has ever won the par-3 championship and the Masters in the same year? "I don't believe in that," he said. "Every streak loses, every streak gains, everything is broken." Besides, he dismissed himself as a Masters contender. "To be totally honest," said the man who is the definition of honest, "I would not say my chances are all that good. The golf course is just way too long for me." Then, to almost prove himself right, Austin pulled his drive into the trees at No.

1, hit a tree with a recovery shot, and saw his ball carom backward, and went on to make a double bogey to begin a round of 79 For the day, there were but three eagles the hole-in-one at the 16th by Poulter, and one each at the par-5 13th (Boo Weekley) and par-5 15th (Tiger Woods) The 440-yard, par-4 17th played toughest, with a field average of 4.372, while No. 13 was easiest, at 4.670 Michael Thompson (73) was the low of the three amateurs, while Drew Weaver shot 76 and Trip Kuehne 78. By Theresa Smith GLOBE CORRESPONDENT DENVER Swed- i. i iiimi isn iresnman aue 1 put a re- ines' end. Then, with four seconds left in the power play, Thang made a steal, carried the puck into the Michigan zone with defenseman Steve Kampfer trying to keep pace, and drilled the puck in a glint of space between Sauer and the near post.

The unassisted, shorthanded goal, his team-leading 18th of the season, put the Irish ahead, 3-0, with 34.9 seconds left in the period. It was only the second three-goal first period of the season by Notre Dame. In response, Michigan coach Red Berenson pulled Sauer for freshman Bryan Hogan, who appeared in only five games, most recently March 1. It was a bold move, given Hogan's inexperience. Hogan made two saves, then got a little help from his teammates.

Hobey Baker Award finalist Kevin Porter carried the puck down the left side, sliding it across to Kolarik, who held it as long as possible as he skated at Pearce, then let it fly into the right Irish's too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty put Michigan on the power play. The Wolverines (33-6-4) took advantage, tying the score, 3-3, when senior winger Chad Kolarik tapped a rebound just inside the post past goaltender Jordan Pearce. It was the third consecutive goal by Michigan, which had trailed, 3-0, after the first period. Notre Dame struck first on a wrist shot by Ridderwall five minutes into the first period. With a burst of speed, the freshman from Sweden skated in zigzag fashion through the defense and fired before Michigan goaltender Billy Sauer could react.

Just 42 seconds later, Fighting Irish captain Mark Van Guilder ripped a low shot to the far post past Sauer. Ryan Thang started the play with a pass to Van Guilder. At the other end, Pearce was building confidence with early saves. Late in the period, Michigan went on its first power play, but it was anything but potent. Three times the Notre Dame penalty killers gained control of the puck and sent it flying to the Wolver The Wolverines won the ensuing fa-ceoff and scored 15 seconds later on another centering pass, this time with a quick shot by freshman center Matt Rust to draw within 3-2.

The Fighting Irish gained a 4-3 lead with 8:30 left in the final period via a superb pass from Dan Kissel, inches from the stick of a back-skating defenseman, onto the stick of center Kevin Deeth, a sophomore from the non-hockey hot bed Gig Harbor, Wash. Deeth moved Hogan out of the way by shifting the puck from his right side to his left side and burying the puck, using his 10th goal of the season to energize an offense that hadn't scored since their three-goal first period. But it didn't last long. Instead of adding an insurance goal, the Irish allowed Michigan to knot it, 4-4, with 5:24 remaining on the 11th goal of the season by freshman Carl Hagelin. With 2:54 to go, Michigan appeared to gain the upper hand when Deeth was called for hooking Aaron Palushaj.

However, the Irish penalty killers cleared the puck three times and Pearce made a tough save to kill the penalty. bound of Dan VeNard's slap shot Bryan Hogan 5 minutes 44 seconds into over-time, lifting Notre Dame to a 5-4 win Michigan and a spot in the NCAA game. first-ever Frozen Four ap- by Notre Dame, who prevailed over a battle-tested Michigan program that had won nine NCAA titles, most re-cently in 1998. The Irish (27-15-4) will meet Boston College in tomorrow night's final. Last night's meeting was the third of '-the season between the Central Colle-Citgiate Hockey Association rivals, and No-ire Dame finally won when it mattered trmost.

It was the first Frozen Four appearance by Notre Dame, and it showed 34 seconds into the final period when the Ford decides to keep riding with Minutemen IHIinillllllUMIIUUHIItllllMIHMilMIMItlllMflllllllMMIIHIH HltMMIiMIIMMMIllMtnilHMIIIIIMIIMMMMI Inglese resigns as coach at BC seasons, the first seven at the University of Vermont. "Her teams have had some great success and she leaves our program in much better shape than when she arrived," said athletic director Gene De-Filippo. "She recruited some outstanding young women to Boston College and her teams always performed with class, integrity, and sportsmanship." DeFilippo named assistant Erik Johnson as interim coach while beginning a search for a replacement for Cathy Inglese, the winningest coach in Boston College women's basketball history, announced her resignation yesterday after 15 seasons with the Eagles. Inglese was 21-12 this season, good for fifth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and earned an invitation totheWNTT. She had eight 20-win seasons at BC, seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 10 years, and three trips to the Sweet 16.

She has a 273-129 overall mark at BC and is 393-253 in 22 By Mark Blaudschun GLOBE STAFF After a full day of being pursued by Providence, Massachusetts men's bas-, ketball coach Travis Ford said no to the Friars and yes to the Minutemen, which made last night's basketball banquet in Amherst a true celebration of not only a 25-11 season, but of keeping a coach who had flirted with leaving. Ford, 38, who is under contract at UMass through 2015, had spent the week dealing with rumors about his future. "It was an incredible honor to be considered at Providence College," Ford said last night. "I looked at it hard and I decided that it was best for me and my family to stay here at UMass. I wanted to stay here, my family and I have devel- oped some great relationships over the last three years." The dance began Tuesday when Ford rr announced that he was not a candidate for the vacant LSU opening, hours before Stanford coach Trent Johnson ac-cepted an offer to coach the Tigers.

On Wednesday, however, Provi- dence, which fired coach Tim Welsh a month ago, thought it had its man when it brought Ford and his wife, Heather, to Providence for a whirlwind tour of the campus and city. Included was a multiyear offer to coach the Friars at considerably more than the approximately $400,000 per season Ford makes at UMass. TRAVIS FORD Turns down offer from Providence Ford went back to Amherst yesterday to make a decision. Although Providence is in the higher-profile Big East Conference, it has become a second-tier program in the 16-team league, with aging facilities despite a renovation of the Dunkin' Donuts Center. UMass is an upper-tier team in the Atlantic 10 and while Ford's ultimate desire likely is to land a job in the Southeastern Conference he played at Kentucky for Rick Pitlno Providence seemed more like a sideways move.

When Ford, who is 62-35 in three seasons at UMass with a trip to the NTT title game this season, returned to Amherst, Minutemen officials had put together a counteroffer as a way of keeping him for at least another season. Providence now has to regroup after having been turned down twice, the first time by George Mason coach Jim Larranaga. The Friars cannot afford another public turndown, which presents a dilemma. Of the candidates PC athletic director Bob Driscoll interviewed in the past two weeks, Ohio University's Tim O'Shea remains the most logical candidate. O'Shea played at Boston College and was an assistant at both Rhode Island and BC for Al Skinner.

If the Friars do not want O'Shea, the picture becomes murkier. Former BC coach Jim O'Brien and Siena coach Fran McCaffery could be candidates, but neither apparently has been contacted by PC officials. Other possibilities include Albany coach Will Brown and Kevin O'Neill, who is looking for a job after leaving his role as an assistant coach at Arizona, where he served as the interim coach this season after Lute Olson took a year off for personal reasons. Another possible candidate emerging last night was George Washington coach Karl Hobbs, who has Big East ties from his days at Connecticut.