The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 — 17
Mira Shane aims to foster Michigan’s
next generation in coaching role
For four years, Mira Shane
was the best goaltender in
Michigan women’s lacrosse
history. And now, just 18
months later, she’s making the
return to Ann Arbor.
Shane finished her career
as Michigan’s all-time leader
in
career
victories,
saves
and save percentage. Now,
Shane is returning to her
college town as a volunteer
assistant coach to help out the
Wolverines’ goalkeepers.
After spending last season
coaching at Harvard, Shane
hopes to bring her “energy”
and “good vibes” to Michigan.
Aside from simply helping
build enthusiasm on the field,
Shane is looking forward to
creating strong bonds with
the goalkeepers, helping them
improve both on and off the
field. She also understands
that her athletes have lives
outside of their sport.
“Every other coach told
me that I wasn’t able to do
my music,” Shane said. “I
wouldn’t be the player that
I had been without music.
I (knew that I) would have
support staff and a coaching
staff that would see that
(music) was important to me.
I had other facets to who I was
as an athlete.”
Now, as a coach, Shane
recognizes that relating to
the goalies and asking them
how they’re doing is just
as important as improving
technical
aspects
of
goalkeeping.
“Going from Harvard to
here, I’ve kinda taken the page
of listening to my goalies,”
Shane said. “I think it goes
back to that point about really
trying to relate with whatever
the athlete is going through.”
At the end of the day,
athletes walk away from the
game
with
memories
and
feelings, not just the physical
skills.
It’s
something
she
experienced first-hand during
her collegiate playing career.
In the last three minutes
of her final game, a NCAA
Tournament matchup on her
home turf, Shane dove in
an attempt to make a save,
dislocating
her
shoulder
on the play. By this time,
the Wolverines were losing
by an insurmountable goal
differential.
With tears in her eyes —
maybe due to her physical
pain,
maybe
due
to
the
sadness of her college career
ending — Shane was flooded
with
the
many
memories
of her time at Michigan:
memories of making amazing
saves on the field, of hanging
out with the members of her
a capella group, of advocating
for mental health awareness
across
campus
and
of
speaking up for social justice
and opportunity for all.
Mira Shane returns to Ann
Arbor with years of playing
experience and a season of
coaching under her belt, and
she’s ready to support her
athletes both on and off the
field. It was the support that
made the difference for her
as a player. Now, it’s the same
support that will help shape
Michigan women’s lacrosse.
HAYDEN GRIJNSZTEIN
For The Daily
Harbaugh’s message after blowout
loss: ‘We’re not very good right now.’
Michigan handles Arizona State, 3-0, to
sweep series
Kent Johnson already looks the part
When Jim Harbaugh spoke
with
the
media
following
Michigan’s 49-11 evisceration
at the hands of Wisconsin on
Saturday night, his message
was accountability.
“We were thoroughly beaten
in every phase,” Harbaugh
opened, still settling into his
place at a lectern beneath
Michigan
Stadium.
“Didn’t
really do anything well. And
did not play good, did not
coach good.
“… Not a good place as a
football team right now and
that falls on me.”
For Harbaugh, it was a
unique tone to match a unique
low point of his tenure. In
past defeats, his lesson has
been myopic. Michigan has
had
bad
games,
showings
where Harbaugh felt his own
performance wasn’t up to
snuff.
But rarely has he taken a
macro view of his team and
admitted that the Wolverines
simply aren’t very good.
On Monday morning, that’s
the message he carried into
meetings with his players.
“We’re not very good this
year, as our record shows,”
Harbaugh
said,
according
to junior cornerback Gemon
Green.
Harbaugh
wasn’t
telling
his
players
anything
they
didn’t
already
know.
On
Monday,
both
Green
and
sophomore safety Daxton Hill
acknowledged that Michigan
isn’t where it needs to be.
“This is really my first
(time), having a losing record
and all that,” Green said.
“Even growing up in PeeWee I
never had a losing record.”
But the point of Harbaugh’s
message wasn’t to kick his
team
while
they’re
down.
It was to tell them to take
advantage of this adversity.
It’s
a
situation
Michigan
didn’t expect to be in — its Big
Ten title hopes, New Years’
Six Bowl hopes and more out
the window by week four —
but the Wolverines “still have
the opportunity to be the best
players we can be,” according
to Green.
“It’s
a
faith
in
each
individual player and each
individual coach,” Harbaugh
said. “And collectively as a
team … keep pushing. You’re
gonna find a way. You’re
gonna find out what works,
you’re gonna break through. I
think there’s so many athletes
that have realized greatness in
athletic performance and in
sports, a lot of areas of life isn’t
perfection,
it’s
overcoming
adversity and obstacles. That’s
what we’re striving for.”
And for a team filled with
underclassmen
starters,
proving yourself for the future
— as a team and as individuals
— means something.
“I wanna lead (the players),”
Harbaugh said. “I want them to
hear my voice and understand
what the objectives are gonna
be each and every day.”
Right
now,
the
first
objective
is
changing
the
energy
surrounding
this
team. It’s painfully clear —
to Harbaugh, to his players,
to anyone watching on TV
— that the Wolverines’ body
language
Saturday
night
embodied a losing team. From
Joe Milton’s first interception
on Michigan’s first offensive
snap, Harbaugh stood with
his hands on his hips, staring
forward. His team reflected
that energy, reacting to their
rare
positive
plays
with
muted claps and to the far
more common negative ones
with drooped shoulders and
silence.
“We came out flat, so just
gotta
continue
changing
the energy,” Hill said. “Not
keeping the same energy but
changing the energy on the
sideline in the game, come
out strong. That’s the biggest
key of this game, whoever has
the momentum first is gonna
determine the outcome of this
game.”
It’s
jarring
to
hear
a
Michigan player say energy
is key to the outcome of a
looming game against Rutgers.
In Harbaugh’s five years, the
Wolverines
have
outscored
the Scarlet Knights, 256-37.
This year is different. On
the season, Rutgers has been
outscored by five fewer points
than Michigan has. Unlike
the Wolverines, the Scarlet
Knights beat Michigan State.
Both schools have lost to
Indiana, but Rutgers did so by
one fewer point.
Still, Michigan is 81 spots
higher in ESPN’s SP+ rankings.
It opened as a 10-point favorite
and a loss, even in Piscataway,
would be somewhat shocking.
But it’s imminently possible
in a way it never previously
has been.
“Who knows what next
Saturday (holds),” fifth-year
senior defensive tackle Carlo
Kemp
said
Saturday.
“We
might be in a dogfight, we
might be winning by a lot,
might be losing by a lot.”
To avoid the third option,
Harbaugh knows his message
needs to click.
“Eventually (the objective)
is
going
to
be
Saturday,
winning that football game,”
Harbaugh said. “Everything
that we can do by all means
necessary to put ourselves in a
position to win.”
Following an 8-1 win on
Saturday in which the Michigan
hockey team controlled play for
nearly the entire game, it was fair
to wonder if the Wolverines could
do it again.
The Wolverines put those
questions to bed almost as soon as
the puck dropped Sunday night.
It only took two and a half
minutes for the Wolverines to get
on the board. After they opened
play controlling the puck in the
offensive zone, freshman forward
Thomas Bordeleau threw a soft
backhand on net from the right
circle. Sun Devils goaltender Cole
Brady gave up a long rebound that
freshman forward Kent Johnson
quickly deposited in the back of
the net.
No.
12
Michigan
(2-0)
continued to dominate play in
the offensive zone, resulting in a
3-0 win over No. 15 Arizona State
(0-2).
“Everything’s
executed
really well. Lots of skill,” junior
goaltender Strauss Mann said.
“Every team gets a certain
amount of opportunities a game
but when you have as much skill
as we have offensively and also on
the D end, it’s pretty likely to go in
the net.”
The story for the Wolverines
was once again their freshmen.
After Johnson tallied their
first goal, he was crucial to
their second. Over the final two
minutes of the first period, the line
of Johnson, freshman forward
Matty Beniers and senior forward
Jack Becker was dominant on
the forecheck and spent over a
minute controlling the puck in
the offensive zone to wear down
the Sun Devil defense. Eventually,
with five seconds left in the
period, Beniers found sophomore
forward Eric Ciccolini in the slot
from behind the net. Ciccolini
made the most of the opportunity
and wristed a shot past Brady.
“Matt and Kent really have
some chemistry, and Jack does
with the line too, but those two
guys seem to have some special
chemistry
with
each
other,”
Michigan coach Mel Pearson
said. “But I like how they play.
They’re good with the puck, but
I really like how hard and what
they’re doing and how smart
they’re playing without the puck.”
The Wolverines spent little
time in their defensive zone. The
only time Arizona State sustained
possession in its offensive zone
was following Johnson’s goal. The
Sun Devils challenged Mann with
two shots while the Wolverines’
defensemen could not get the
puck out of the zone, until junior
defenseman Nick Blankenburg
took a hooking penalty.
But on the ensuing power play,
Arizona State failed to attempt a
shot. The Sun Devils constantly
turned the puck over, spending
nearly no time in the offensive
zone until too many men on the
ice penalty negated the final
minute of their power play.
“My team in front of me played
really well, blocked shots,” Mann
said. “Especially today, you could
see that at the end.”
With Blankenburg’s penalty
about to expire, Arizona State
defenseman Jacob Wilson laid a
big hit into sophomore forward
Johnny Beecher, sending Beecher
to the locker room. Beecher did
not return, and while Pearson said
he seemed fine after the game, his
injury status is unknown.
Wilson
was
called
for
a
charging
penalty,
giving
Michigan a five-on-three and a
golden opportunity to extend its
lead to two, but Brady came up
with big save after big save for the
Sun Devils. He robbed Beniers
with a diving stop off a rebound
and saved multiple one-timers
from freshman forward Brendan
Brisson from point-blank range.
But despite not scoring on the
power-play, the Wolverines had
regained momentum and were in
control the rest of the way. They
outshot the Sun Devils 47-17 on
the night.
Even though Michigan could
not find the back of the net in the
second period, it spent much of
the frame on offense and outshot
Arizona State 16-3 in the period.
Johnson and Beniers led the
way, regularly on the ice for long
offensive zone shifts. It wasn’t
until the third period that the
Wolverines scored again, when
junior forward Jimmy Lambert
converted on a power-play to seal
the game.
While the score didn’t reflect
it, Michigan played nearly as
dominant of a game on Sunday as
it did on Saturday, with its highly-
touted freshmen leading the way.
An emphatic scream echoed
throughout the mostly-empty
Yost Ice Arena.
Kent Johnson had glided into
the offensive zone, picked up a
rebound that floated into the
slot and fired a puck into the
back of the net.
Before the goalie could even
react, the freshman forward
was already heading to the
corner, cheering in jubilation
with his hands in the air.
“It
was
just
pure
joy,”
Johnson said. “It was just so
much fun to play with the guys.”
Johnson’s first career goal
capped off a memorable debut
weekend for the winger. After
totaling four assists in the
season opener on Saturday
— where Michigan blew out
Arizona State 8-1 — Johnson’s
goal set the tone early as the
Wolverines
captured
their
second win of the season, 3-0.
Michigan looked like the
stronger,
faster
team
all
weekend, and Johnson was
emblematic of that on Sunday.
He was flying around the ice
displaying flashy dangles, and
was a constant scoring threat.
“Kent’s a hockey player, he’s
a rink rat,” Michigan coach Mel
Pearson said. “He enjoys being
at the rink and works on his
game a lot. He’s got very good
hands and a high hockey IQ.”
The
instant
offensive
explosion should come as no
surprise. Johnson tallied 41
goals and 60 assists last year in
the British Columbia Hockey
League — the most in the league
by a wide margin.
For
most
freshmen,
the
transition from juniors to the
college level can be difficult.
Even the most talented players
can face some growing pains as
they adjust to the physicality
and speed of the college game.
But Johnson already looks a
step ahead of his competition.
As a projected top ten pick in
next year’s NHL draft, he’s
starting to prove that the hype
is real.
“Obviously
everything
happens faster, and I won’t
have as many scoring chances
as I did last year,” Johnson said.
“But I feel like I can just play my
game, and it’s really fun.”
Johnson was also expected
to be a boost to the Wolverines’
power play unit, which was
middle-of-the-pack last season.
He didn’t record any power
play points on the weekend,
but
featured
prominently
throughout
Michigan’s
six
man-advantage opportunities.
Playing at left wing, Johnson
spent most of the game on a
line with another well-touted
freshman: Matthew Beniers.
The duo worked in lockstep
and generated several scoring
opportunities
throughout
the game. At one moment in
the second period, Johnson
corralled the puck behind the
net and threw a behind the
back pass to Beniers, who was
sitting in front. Beniers’ shot
was eventually blocked, but the
play showed the potential those
two have to be a special pairing
all season.
“I think we’ve got some
great chemistry,” Johnson said.
“Definitely really nice to play
with him.”
Added
Pearson:
“They
complement each other well.
You got some size, you got some
skill, you have some speed.
Everything you’re looking for
on a line.”
The Wolverines now turn
their attention to Thursday’s
matchup
with
Wisconsin.
Johnson will hope to be a big
part of the offense and find his
way into the stat sheet again.
“He’s a fun player, fun to
watch,” Pearson said. “Probably
not fun to play against.”
THEO MACKIE
Managing Sports Editor
JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer
JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Writer
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Michigan moved to 2-0 with a 3-0 win over Arizona State on Sunday.
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
In his debut weekend with the Wolverines, freshman forward Kent Johnson racked up five points.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Former Michigan women’s lacrosse goalkeeper Mira Shane is returning to Ann Arbor as a volunteer assistant
coach, following a season coaching at Harvard.