The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 5A TWELVE BOLD PREDICTIONS THE DAILY HOCKEY WRITERS WEIGH IN ON HOW MICHIGAN WILL FARE DOWN THE STRETCH MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Sophomore forward Matt Rust and senior forward Travis Turnbull will both score at least 10 goals in the regular season. They have seven and eight right now, respectively. Michigan will not let up another power-play goal the rest of the regular season. Recently, the Wolverines' penalty-kill unit has been overwhelmingly dominant, and is currently second-best in the CCHA with a 90.5 kill percentage. Miller will score a pair of goals against Notre Dame in the CCHA Championship game and be named CCHA Tournament MVP. Miller scored all four of his goals last season at Joe Louis Arena, where the CCHA playoff semifinals and finals are played. Playing on the top line, Miller is playing sone of his best hockey right now. NICOLE AUERBACH Sophomore forward Louie Caporusso (22 goals) will leapfrog Air Force's Jacques Lamoureux (25) to finish the season as the nation's top goal scorer. The Wolverines' Hobey Baker Award hopeful is due for a hot streak - just in time for the end of the regular season. Sophomore third-string goaltender Shawn Hunwick will play in net in the Feb. 28 regular season finale against Ferris State at Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines will likely have their CCHA Tournament seed- ing determined before the game. Expect an easy victory over the Bull- dogs, and look for Hunwick to make his second career appearance. Michigan will win the national championship. The Wolverines are on a tear, winning 14 of their last 16 games, including a sweep of No. 5 Miami (Ohio) and a victory at No. 2 Notre Dame. Their slew of qual- ity wins solidifies one of the most impressive resumes in the country, which puts them in prime position for a title run. Matt Rust will have a hat trick sometime during the last four regu- lar-season games. He's been on fire since returning from the World Junior Championships, and is currently tied with sophomore forward Carl Hagelin and freshman forward Luke Glendening for the most lamp-lighters since the start of January (five goals apiece). Louie Caporusso will score at least 30 goals by the end of the post- season. He's got 22 now , and when he scores, they usually come in pairs (or bunches). A couple more multi-goal games will do the trick. Michigan's fourth line will score the game-winning goal in the CCHA Championship game to defeat Notre Dame. The third and fourth lines have tallied crucial goals in recent weeks, and both lines have great chemistry. Senior goaltender Billy Sauer will see significant playing time before the season ends. Michigan coach Red Berenson has said that he plans on having both Sauer and sophomore goaltender Bryan Hogan ready for the playoffs, and Hogan has very limited playoff experience. Freshman Brandon Burlon will end the season by leading Wolverine defensemen in points. Burlon has 13, trailing both junior Chris Sum- mers and sophomore Chad Langlais, who each have 16. Burlon has been hot lately and has four of his five goals in the second half of the season. Michigan won't play in the Grand Rapids bracket, since it will lose to Notre Dame in the CCH A finals. The Fighting Irish are just too good for the Wolverines to beat come tournament time. Instead, the Wolverines will chase their NCAA dreams in Minneapolis. Sophomore Carl Hagelin is tied for the teamlead in goals since the start of January. 'M' opens Big Ten season Benson and Reynolds must lead way for Blue offense against MSU Dominating victory is eighth straight over rival Spartans By GILAD BERKOWITZ Daily Sports Writer When the competitive Big Ten schedule officially opened for the No. 18 Michigan women's tennis team yesterday, sophomore Rika Tatsuno and the team were pre- pared for battle. A week removed from receiv- ing Big Ten Athlete of the Week, Tatsuno was in the win column again yesterday. This time, she helped propel the Wolverines to their second straight 7-0 victory i and eighth straight victory over in-state rival Michigan State. "People are going to start to notice her," Michigan coach Ron- nie Bernstein said. "I would not be surprised if she popped into the national rankings when they come out tomorrow." Tatsuno improved her singles record to 4-2 by beating Spartan sophomore Manon Noe 6-3, 6-2. Last Tuesday, the Big Ten office announced Tatsuno as the Athlete of the Week after she recorded a combined 4-0 record in singles and doubles against both Yale and No. 14 Notre Dame. Tatsuno's wins included an impressive straight-set victory Sophomore Rika Tatsuno's singles win helped Michigan win its Big Ten opener. over Notre Dame's 39th-ranked Kristy Frilling. "If she keeps playing the way she is, she is going to win more (awards)," Bernstein said. "It's great because right now, she is just gaining more and more con- fidence." The Wolverines secured the all- important doubles point behind the duo of freshman Michelle Sulahian and sophomore Whit- ney Taney. Taney, who has proven to be a major asset in doubles play this year, has posted a 4-1 record at the No. 2 position. She is also 1-0 at No. 1. "Whitney has really bought into the Michigan program," Bernstein said. "She is just such a great listener and competitor in both singles and doubles." Senior Chisako Sugiyama also improved her singles record, earning a close win against Michigan State senior Stephanie Kehler, 7-5, 3-6, 10-4. Kehler, who Bernstein said was an "aggressive baseliner," was the only Michigan State player to beat a Wolverine last season in East Lansing. For the young Wolverines, the win to open the Big Ten sea- son will serve as a confidence booster heading into the heart of the spring season. The Wolver- ines will take a brief break from Big Ten play and head to Coral Gables, Fla. to face off against the No. 15 Miami Hurricanes next Thursday. By JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Writer During the Michigan women's basketball team's game against in- state rival Michigan State on Jan. 15, a small contingent of the Maize Rage pointed at Michigan State Mcg coach Suzy Mer- MiChigan chant and chant- at MiChigan ed, "Coach is hot!$tate Coach is hot!" Unfortunately Matchup: for the Wolver- Michigan ines, their shoot- 10-15; Michi- ing during the gan State 18-7 game was decid- When: edly not. Michi- Tonight, 7 P.M. gan made just Where: Jack 22 percent of its Breslin Center shots and 6-of- TV: BTN 35 attempted 3-pointers in the Live Blog: 41-37 loss. http://the- But senior game.blogs. forward Carly michigandaily. Benson said the cow Wolverines are changing their game plan tonight in East Lansing. "We're gonna make some of our shots," she said. Benson meant it as a joke, but it's a pretty solid prediction. Since the Michigan State game, Michigan's shooting has drastically improved The team's field-goal percentage has increased 6.7 percent and its 3-point shooting has increased 6.1 percent. Part of the reason for improve- ment in shooting percentage has been the emergence of freshman forward Carmen Reynolds. Reyn- olds has established herself as a versatile offensive threat both in the paint and behind the arc. She has the team's best 3-point per- centage. "Carmen's been playing great," sophomore guard Veronica Hicks said. "We're looking forward to her stepping it up." Reynolds' presence inside has taken some of the scoring burden off Benson, who is shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc since the last Michigan State game. Michigan will look to Reynolds to establish herself in the post once again. This doesn't mean Michigan coach Kevin Borseth doesn't want his players to shoot. He has stressed all year that he has no problem with his players shooting "rhythm shots." "He definitely wants us to shoot if we're open," Reynolds said. "But when you pound it inside, it opens up passes to the wings and things happen." Against the Spartans (11-3 Big Ten, 18-7 overall), that's easier said than done. Boastingone of the biggest frontcourts in the Big Ten, Michigan State leads the confer- ence in rebounding and blocked shots. A big reason for that is 6-foot-9 center Allyssa DeHaan, who is the second-leading shot-blocker in the Big Ten. DeHaan scored 12 points against Michigan last month, six of which came on free throws. After their last run-in with the Spartans, the emotions of the rival- ry spilled over and a few Michigan players had tears in their eyes. "We definitely look forward to this game," Hicks said. "This year, we've made it known that we come to play." But Borseth, in his second year in Ann Arbor, said he person- ally doesn't put it above any other game. "I think if you're not aware that Michigan and Michigan State has a tradition, you need to get out from underneath that rock,"' he said. "We're not trying to do any- thing more than win a basketball game." Are You Feeling Sad or Blue and Without Energy? Have you lost interest in people? Do you have problems with sleep? If you answered "yes" to these questions, you are a woman or man over the age of 18, and NOT taking medications, you may be eligible to participate in studies looking at stress hormones. Both studies involve multiple blood draws and between 2 and 5 study visits of varying length. Compensation provided for study participation. For further information, please contact depressionstudies@umich.edu or 734-232-0382 1 Congrats! January 18th-March 28th U-M placed 1st in the TIPaInstead of using a paper cup for coffee, Big Ten! use amug! But 72nd overall for the recycling percentage! $0 COME ON, MICHIGAN! INCREASE YOUR RECYCLING! University of Michigan Waste Management Services www.recycle.umich.edu THE FR GABRIEL RICHARD LECTURES Calling ts to examine current issues in light of ourfaith IS BIOETHICS STUPID? Thursday, February 19, 2009 Myles Sheehan, S.J., M.D. Professor of Medicine Loyola University Health System 4:00 p.m., Auditorium Biomedical Science Research Bldg. 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor (on the curve where Washtenaw becomes Huron) Co-Sponsored by: St. Mary Student Parish Centerfor Ethics in Public Lfe Eu. .U, U