Excited about the two tight victories in East Lansing this past
weekend, the Wolverines (5-1 Big Ten, 17-6 overall) celebrated as
four players received All-Region honors for their outstanding play
during the year.

Excited about the two tight victories in East Lansing this past
weekend, the Wolverines (5-1 Big Ten, 17-6 overall) celebrated as
four players received All-Region honors for their outstanding play
during the year.

Senior tri-captains April Fronzoni, Kristi Gannon and Stephanie
Johnson were all named to the 16-member STX/NFHCA Division I
All-West Region first-team on Monday. Junior Adrienne Hortillosa
also earned a spot on the All-West Region second-team.

“It’s good. It shows how good our team is,”
Johnson said. “A lot of the individual awards that we get
reflect how our team plays. If we didn’t have the rest of our
team, we wouldn’t be getting any of those
accolades.”

Fronzoni has received All-West Region first-team honors all four
years at Michigan. The Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year is the
first player in school history to do so.

The All-West Region first-team award is Gannon’s third
selection. The Big Ten Athlete of the Year is the third player in
Michigan history to receive such an accolade.

The honor is Johnson’s second straight selection to the
first-team and Hortillosa’s first selection to the
second-team.

“I think the whole team is really stepping up and playing
well,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. “It really
does take an ‘A’ game from everybody to get in and win
the finals. This past weekend, Stephanie Johnson had a very stellar
game as usual. Kristi was our field general in the middle, and
April finishing and scoring goals. But, with that trio commanding
most of the attention, there are other players that are really
stepping up their games and making a difference.”

With the stage set for the Final Four weekend, the Wolverines
remember their national championship run in 2001.

“We’re definitely a very superstitious team,”
Fronzoni said. “There are actually a lot of things that are
lining up to the way it lined up when we won it in 2001. So I think
that the way this team flows, it is actually helping us to stay
mentally focused.”

As they did in their championship year of 2001, this year the
Wolverines beat the same two opponents en route to the Final Four.
Michigan defeated the Tar Heels and the Spartans on both
occasions.

The Wolverines beat the Tar Heels 1-0 in the first round of this
year’s tournament. Michigan faced the Spartans next, and
behind a controversial goal, due to high sticking, the Wolverines
beat the Spartans 2-1 en route to a spot in the Final Four.

“We are coming off of a really good strong weekend
obviously,” Fronzoni said. “The win against State is
actually going to propel us. We are ready and prepared for
Wake.”

Michigan is coming off of two hard-fought victories against No.
4 seed North Carolina (2-2 ACC, 16-6) and No. 5 seed Michigan State
(5-1, 17-5) to gain momentum for this upcoming weekend.

“I think we are obviously excited,” coach Marcia
Pankratz said. “It’s something that the players have
worked extraordinarily hard for. We are just looking forward to
competing and winning a championship.”

The Wolverines will enter Amherst, Mass. Friday as one of the
four surviving clubs in the 16-team national tournament.

“It will be a wonderful Final Four,” Pankratz said.
“All four teams are really strong. It’s probably the
strongest field I’ve every seen in the final four, so
hopefully we will be at the top of our game and playing the best
hockey we can and capitalizing on our chances.”

The Wolverines’ semifinal matchup is against the top team
in the nation, Wake Forest (4-0 ACC, 18-1). Michigan lost its first
game with the Demon Deacons earlier in the year, 4-2, and the
Wolverines hope that their third trip to the Final Four in the past
five years will end like it did in 2001.