If one play could define the Michigan hockey team"s season, it would have to be Eric Werner"s game-saving effort with 6:37 remaining in Saturday"s third period.

With the Wolverines trailing Michigan State 1-0, Werner hustled to the blueline to keep the puck in Michigan"s offensive zone. After doing so, the scrappy freshman was pelted by an opposing defender, forcing him down to the ice.

But Werner refused to give up. As the puck squirted out of the crowd into an open area inside the blue line, he hopped up from the ice, flew to the puck and gathered it on his stick. The flashy defenseman then sent a backhand pass to fellow-freshman Dwight Helminen, who fired a wristshot from the right circle past Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller.

Does this sequence sound familiar?

It should.

The Wolverines have taken their share of jarring hits this season as well. But after being swept at home by Northern Michigan in late-October, losing four of their top players to the World Junior Championships over winter break and beginning the season with 12 players who had never played a collegiate game, Michigan just like Werner climbed back up and found a way to succeed.

Prior to last Saturday"s loss to Alaska-Fairbanks, the Wolverines had been undefeated in their last 11 CCHA contests (9-0-2) since their embarrassment against the Wildcats. Without its four stars, Michigan gained depth and increased its confidence over the break.

But just when everything seemed to have fallen into place for Michigan and its CCHA title hopes, Mike Cammalleri its most prolific goal scorer went down with mono last Thursday.

Cammalleri isn"t just a goal scorer. He"s a captain, a leader and the team"s lifeblood a player who takes the team on his back in crunch time.

Once again, fate frowned on the Wolverines and gave them another chance to flounder to fall down and never get back up. And with No. 6 Michigan State coming to Yost Ice Arena Saturday and leading Michigan by two points in the CCHA standings, the Wolverines could have easily lost their confidence without Cammalleri in the lineup and fallen prey to a disciplined Michigan State defense and an All-American goaltender.

But instead of playing the game wishing for Cammalleri to join them on the ice, the Wolverines proved to the Spartans and to their fans that they aren"t a one-man team. They disproved the "As Cammalleri goes, so go the Wolverines" theory by outshooting Michigan State 43-21 (16-3 in the third period).

Michigan State"s traditionally hard-nosed defensive unit spent the entire contest on its heels, as Michigan fired on Miller time after time. The Wolverines did anything they wanted against the vaunted defense, giving them a major confidence boost for the rest of the season.

"The first game I played against them (on Oct. 6) I was like "Wow, these guys are good," " Michigan freshman Michael Woodford said. "But tonight we could wheel and deal out there. We had them on their heels the whole game. I think their team was pretty happy with a tie."

And Michigan State should be content with a tie. The Spartans were clearly the inferior team in Saturday night"s showdown. They know it, and Michigan certainly knows it.

"We outplayed them and outshot them the whole game and we got some confidence out of it, but we know we should have won," Michigan junior John Shouneyia said.

Unfortunately for Michigan, knowing that it should have won and actually winning are not the same thing. Saturday"s 1-1 tie marked the second time this season that the two arch-rivals finished in a tie. The Wolverines were 47 seconds away from upsetting then-No. 1 Michigan State in Spartan Stadium earlier this season, but Michigan State freshman Jim Slater scored to tie the game.

With the two CCHA games between the teams in the books and the Wolverines trailing the Spartans by two points with 10 games left to play, Michigan doesn"t have time to dwell on its missed opportunities.

The Wolverines need to duplicate their intensity level from Saturday night"s game during every single minute down the stretch and use their success at creating scoring chances against Michigan State to build confidence from top to bottom.

With four games against the worst two teams in the conference Bowling Green and Lake Superior in the next two weeks, Michigan has a perfect opportunity to take control of the CCHA race.

But the Wolverines have had problems in the past getting up for games against weaker opponents. They talk about parity and how every game is a battle, but haven"t always come to the rink prepared for that battle.

Because of Michigan"s inability to finish off Michigan State, there is no room for error. The Wolverines must find a way to play with the heart and desire they displayed Saturday against the Falcons and Lakers even if it means imagining their opponents in green and white sweaters.