The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 9
Senior sparks
Blue's scoring
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Writer
A cheap shot on senior Chad
Kolairik left him doubled over on
the ice late
in Saturday
night's game.
But his
two good.
shots earlier
in the week-
end knocked
the fight KOLARIK
out of Alas-
ka. Kolarik
notched the Wolverines' first
goal in both games, ensuring the
Nanooks never took the lead.
After the hit on Kolarik with
less than five minutes remaining
in the weekend series, linemate
Max Pacioretty defended him
by fighting the Nanook aggres-
sor. Pacioretty drew a double
minor and game misconduct. The
Nanooks' frustration was under-
standable, though - Kolarik was
the weekend's top scorer and set
the winning pace for the Wolver-
ines.
Kolarik started Michigan's
scoring for the weekend 10-and-
a-half minutes into Friday's game
on a cross-crease shot that landed
in the back left corner of the net as
a Michigan power play expired.
Kolarik's goal was the only scored
by either team until the Wolver-
ines scored three in the final six
minutes of the game.
"Everybody knows that Chad
loves scoring goals," Pacioretty
said. "When he scores a goal, it
gets the whole team going because
you just see the intensity he has
when he puts the puck in the net."
Less than five minutes into Sat-
urday night's game, Alaska goalie
Wylie Rogers tried to clear the
puck but Pacioretty intercepted
it in the slot. Pacioretty quickly
handed it off to Kolarik, and
Kolarik's shot from the right side
put Michigan on the board.
And just in case starting the
scoring wasn't enough, Kolarik
tallied what was the eventual
game-winner on Saturday. On
the power play, Kolarik stole
another Alaska clearance attempt
and scored unassisted to put the
Wolverines up 3-0 in the second
period.
After this weekend's three
goals, Kolarik has six for the sea-
son and is tied for the points lead
with Michigan captain Kevin Por-
ter. Though he has fewer goals and
points than last year, when he had
eight goals and 15 points through
10 games, he's taken eight more
shots this season than at this point
last year. Kolarik led the team this
weekend with 12 shots and is the
team's most prolific shooter with
44 for the season, tallying 11 more
than Porter.
But Pacioretty said there was
no specific strategy this weekend
or this season to give Kolarik the
puck and let him take shots.
"He had the puck luck," Pacio-
retty said after Saturday's game.
"We all had a bunch of shots and
he just put his chances in."
Since getting his first goal
against Northern Michigan,
Kolarik has scored at least one
goal against Michigan's last four
opponents.
His goal-scoring consistency
could mark a change in the senior
forward's style from last year, in
which he notched back-to-back
hat tricks early in Octoberbut had
two five-game and one eight-game
goal-less stretches.
"Kolarik is playing his best
hockey right now," Berenson
said. "The line is playing really
well, so I wasn't surprised that
one of them got (the first goal of
the games). They took advantage
of loose pucks and opportunities.
Chad Kolarik is an opportunist
who's playing right wing. He's a
playmaker. He's a goal scorer. He's
a smart player. And I think you
saw alot of that this weekend."
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was as quiet about the team's injuries at yesterday's press conference as he was loud on the field at Wisconsin Saturday.
TIGHT LIPPED
With Ohio State state looming, Carr is mum on status of injured players
By Jack Herman I Daily Sports Editor
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
never likes to reveal too much
about injuries at his Monday press
conference. And with the Big Ten
Championship on the line against
Ohio State this Saturday, he was
more tight-lipped than usual yes-
terday.
Never mind Chad Henne and
Mike Hart. Even the status of spe-
cial teams player Anton Campbell
was off limits.
"Saturday," Carr said when
asked about Campbell's injury.
The same went for Henne and
Hart: "We'll have to see on Satur-
day."
Carr's only comments about the
injuries rehashed his statements
following the Wolverines' loss to
Wisconsin. Hart wanted to play,
but Carr said he sat him because
of something he saw in pre-game
warm-ups. Henne looked good in
warm-ups, but Carr said after the
quarterback threw an interception
on Michigan's second drive, it was
"pretty apparent at that time to
him and to everybody that it wasn't
going to be his day."
Many speculated Carr rested
them because the Wisconsin
game wouldn't impact Michigan's
Big Ten Championship chances.
Coaches denied that was the case.
"You play every game to win,"
offensive coordinator Mike DeBord
said after the game.
Oddly enough, the game did sort
of matter. With Ohio State's loss
Senior Mike Hart pleaded with Carr to let him play Saturday, but the coach kept
him off the field after watching the running back's pre-game warm-ups
this game," Carr said.
But the popular Michigan
sports blog MGoBlog.com fueled
speculation among Wolverine fans
yesterday with a post that said
Carr would announce his retire-
ment next week. The website cited
three anonymous sources as say-
ing the coach was already inform-
ing people inside the athletic
department of his decision.
Athletic Director Bill Martin
told the Ann Arbor News he would
not comment on the post. But he
did point out that the conversation
about Carr's future always seems
to crop up around this time.
"It's like clockwork," Martin
told the paper. "Lloyd Carr can
coach here as long as he wants to."
BACK IN ANN ARBOR: Last
week, ESPN College GameDay
crew covered the 122nd meet-
ing between Division-III schools
Amherst and Williams.
This Saturday, the Boys from
Bristol will attend a rivalry not
quite as old, but just a bit more
notable.
Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and
Kirk Herbstreit will be in Ann
Arbor this weekend for the 104th
matchup of The Big Game. It has
not yet been decided where the set
will be placed.
GameDay was at the. Michi-
gan-Ohio State game last year, but
this will mark its first time in Ann
Arbor since Michigan beat Ohio
State 35-21 in 2003.
to Illinois, Michigan could have
clinched at least a share of the Big
Ten title with a win. Now the Wol-
verines will have to beat the Buck-
eyes to win the championship.
Considering the offense's strug-
gles with freshman quarterback
Ryan Mallett on Saturday, that
probably won't be possible without
Henne and Hart.
But given the injuries Henne
and Hart have played through this
year, some of their teammates say
they the duo will compete - even if
not at 100 percent.
"I predict (Hart's) return. I
always expect Mike Hart to play,"
safety Jamar Adams said. "Always
expect Chad Henne to play."
Said safety Brandent Englemon:
"Anybody who is playing in this
game, whetherthey have any nicks,
bruises, anything, they're going to
play in this game."
WALKING AWAY?: For much of
the season, Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr has avoided the big question
that has followed him the past few
years: Will he back to coach the
Wolverines next season?
With the increased media focus
on this weekend's game, though,
the coach inevitably had to answer
it. But it didn't mean he had to do
it well.
"The only thing on my mind is
Ron Coleman is the lone senior on this year's team with significant experience.
Different take on
leadership for 'M'
Without dropping a set, Jung captures title
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Writer
After the Michigan men's bas-
ketball team wins, it sings "The
Victors" in the locker room. But
this weekend, there was a bit of
confusion about the lyrics.
Granted, that might be expect-
ed on a team with nine under-
classmen.
"We make the freshmen turn
around and look right at the
upperclassmen, and they're lip-
syncing a little bit with (senior)
Ron Coleman," Michigan coach
John Beilein said.
That organic leadership makes
Coleman - the lone senior with
significant playing time before
this season - the de facto captain
on this year's team.
Even if he doesn't have a distin-
guishing "C" on his jersey, he has
taken the lead in offseason work-
outs and has been a more vocal
presence than previous seasons.
The team named Coleman the
captain last season, Beilein said.
But the official roster doesn't list
him as such.
"He's been the leader from
when we got here in the sum-
mer," redshirt freshman Anthony
Wright said. "He's been the leader
ever since coach Beilein stepped
foot in the locker room."
Even though Beilein says Cole-
man will fulfill a captain's duties,
he expects a certain level of lead-
ership from every player.
"The most important thing on
a team is having leadership and
having guys that have their own
self-leadership," Coleman said.
"He wanted everybody to be a
leader within himself, saying that
you know 'There's younger guys
on this team or whatever. But
don't just look up to seeing me as
the one leader. Everybody else can
be leaders, too."'
With a new offensive system in
place, players had to take initia-
tive this summer in fine-tuning
the 3-point-shooting skills Beilein
emphasizes.Sophomore DeShawn
Sims did notmake a 3-pointbasket
last season, but he already made
four in two games.
Just two games into his career,
freshman Manny Harris has said
he envisions himself as a leader on
this team.
"I want to be a leader," Harris
said. "But at the same time, I know
I got experienced guys over me,
so I take stuff in from what they
tell me, but I still feel like I'm a
leader."
This year's team has taken a
much simpler approach to naming
captains than last year's.
Followingteam tradition, then-
coach Tommy Amaker named
tri-captains Lester Abram, Dion
Harris and Brent Petway at the
team's season-ending banquet in
April 2006. But before the season
began, Amaker decided to go with
just Abram.
This year's team doesn't put the
responsibility on a specific leader,
butrather on takingthe leadership
responsibilities uponthemselves.
"We want everybody to think,
'How can I help lead this team?'
" Beilein said. "Everybody has got
to find a different path to help lead
this group."
By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Writer
With the top-five players in the
Big Ten Singles Championship
knocked out, two unlikely play-
ers took the court for the tourna-
ment's final match.
Sixth-seeded Michigan fresh-
man Jason Jung defeated sev-
enth-seeded Iowa senior Bart van
Monsjou, 6-4, 7-6(8-6), for the
singles title.
For nearly two hours, Jung and
van Monsjou battled on the court
in what Michigan coach Bruce
Berque called "a slugfest."
Both extremely powerful play-
ers, the two rallied extensively
baseline-to-baseline. Jung's cross-
court forehand, which his left-
handed opponent couldn't handle,
was his most effective shot.
"We felt like ifhe could move the
ball around and have some variety,
either his opponent would miss or
it would create some opportuni-
ties for Jason," Berque said. "He's
very good at finishing points."
Jung was especially good at
completing points with just one
shot - his serve. In many pressure
situations, where he was facing
break points, Jung would often
pull out abig serve and blast an ace
past his opponent.
As Jung fought through the
second set tiebreak, the crowd got
behind him. Jung's emotions were
as clear as he showed frustra-
tion when he dropped a point and
pumping his fist when he got one.
"In the second set, I was just
so tired," Jung said. "I knew the
crowd was behind me, so I just
kept with it, kept going. I didn't
want to go three sets."
Jung used key first serves to
close out the match, including an
ace at 6-6 in the tiebreak.
His path to the final went
through the defending champi-
on and fellow Wolverine, senior
Matko Maravic.
Jung defeated Maravic in the
tournament semifinal, 6-3, 6-2.
The clashbetween teammates was
brief and anti-climactic, but the
result was a surprise. The fresh-
man pulled off the upset, beating
the No.21 player in the nation.
"It was tough playing a team-
mate, tough to get fired up," Mara-
vic said. "And obviously, Jason
played very well."
Jung dominated the match from
the start with hard, low-bouncing
ground strokes, a powerful serve,
and gentle touch volleys. He pres-
sured Maravic's serve often, earn-
ing four service breaks.
Jung achieved his goal - to be
more consistent than Maravic -
in the semifinal match. The senior
double faulted at break point in
the second set and constantly hit
volleys into the net. Jung, on the
other hand, played smoothly with
just occasional unforced errors.
The Big Ten Singles champion
has worked hard this fall on his
serve and ground-stroke consis-
tency, which helped him cruise to
the title without dropping a set.
Wolverines face six-game road trip before return
By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's basket-
ball team won't play a game inside
Crisler Arena until the last Friday
of the semester. The Wolverines'
next six games are on the road
against opponents from a variety
of conferences, including the Big
East, the Atlantic Coast Confer-
ence and the Big 12.
After opening up with a 67-55
victory against Mid-American
Conference-foe Akron, Michigan
(1-0) must focus on Big East oppo-
nent Cincinnati (1-1).
The Bearcats were 12-4 at
home last year and likely won't
top that mark this season with a
first-year head coach and second-
team All-Big East guard Treasure
Humphries' graduation. Shelly
Bellman (10.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg in '06-
'07) leads a Cincinnati squad that
returns just three of six players
who started at least 19 games last
year.
Because of that, Michigan
doesn't have much to work with
for preparation.
"New coach, no videotape,"
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth
said. "We don't know a lot about
them other than the coach was
at Lafayette last year, and maybe
some of the stuff he did there will
carry over to this game."
Michigan hopes it can work
out some kinks before returning
to Ann Arbor.
Including their exhibition vic-
tory against Lake Superior State,
the Wolverines have looked ten-
tative at times, mainly resulting
in costly turnovers or players
picking up their dribble at inop-
portune times.
Whether that stems from a lack
of confidence or just the coach-
ing transition remains to be seen,
but it's something Michigan must
change.
But if you ask Borseth what the
team's main focus needs to be on
this road trip, it will have some-
thing to do with stopping dribble
penetration.
When commenting on Akron
breaking down the Wolverines'
defense, Borseth said Akron
was able to go down the middle
"every" time, repeating the word
"every" 11 times. It's obvious the
first-year head coach is expect-
ing a much better defensive effort
against Cincinnati.
The Wolverines will look
to Stephany Skrba to step up
on the defensive end. Skrba's
lengthy frame makes her a diffi-
cult defender to go against and a
deterrent for the Bearcats' guards
driving down the lane.
By the time Michigan comes
back home Dec. 8, it will be clear
what kind of team Borseth has
taken charge of.
The next 20 days will show
whether it's good or bad.
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