8A - Wednesday, March 18, 2009T nd
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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S"OCKEY
Rust's resurgence
bolsters second line
By GJON JUNCAJ tion of both me being so bad, you
Daily Sports Writer couldn't possibly get any worse,
and me getting a little bit more
During the past 10 weeks, soph- confidence," Rust said. "Normally,
omore Matt Rust has been the you go (to World Juniors) and you
exception to a strange rule. play the best-of-the-best talent....
When the center on the Michi- I thought I got my scoring touch
gan hockey team joined Team USA back over there, and was able to
in December for the 2009 World carry it over here."
Junior Championships in Ottawa, Rust's resurrected offensive
Ont., he was stuck in the worst output has been linked to marked
slump of his collegiate career. improvement in the circles. Rust
In his 13 games prior to the has won a stellar 54.7 percent of
international tournament, Rust his drawsathis semester, something
had managed just two points, both he attributes to sharper focus, bet-
assists. ter luck and his linemates reaching
His offensive rut stemmed in in for pucks that result in a faceoff
part from struggles in the faceoff win.
circle, where the Bloomfield Hills Whatever the reason, Rust is
native was converting an uninspir- defined as an offensive player by
ing 48 percent of his draws. his success on the draw.
In theory, taking a temporary "If you're stealing some points
leavefromDivision-Ihockeywould and some goals, and you're not
serve as a nice mental refresher. playing well (overall), then you're
But Michigan coach Red Berenson really kidding yourself," Berenson
said he has seen plenty of players said. "That's like winning games
leave for the World Junior Cham- you don't deserve to win. Pretty
pionships during winter break and soon, that'll catch up with you. My
come back with bad experiences, whole thing with Rust was getting
which can carry over once the sec- him to play harder and to be more
ond semester begins. prepared every night to play well,
But in Rust's case, the tourna- and to keep it simple."
ment jump-started one of Michi- Rust's offense has been given
gan's most impressive second-half a huge lift by sophomore wingers
performances. In eightgames with Carl Hagelin and Aaron Palushaj,
Team USA, including two exhibi- who also played alongside Rust last
tions, Rust notched four goals and year. The three were reunited Jan.
four assists. 23 against Michigan State, and the
And Rust brought the surpris- line has since tallied a combined 19
ing offensive success back to Ann goals and 29 assists in 14 games. Of
Arbor with him. In 17 games this those totals, Rust is responsible for
semester, Rust has scored nine eight markers and four assists. He
goals and five assists. attributes those stats to the line's
His 14 points since January are chemistry that has developed over
tied for third-highest on the team the last two seasons.
in that span, and he's currently "Them knowing the type of
in the middle of a four-game goal player I am, it makes things a lot
streak. easier," Rust said. "I can have my
Rust said his 180-degree turn head down and pretty much know
for the better was inevitable. where both of them are on the
"I think it was a combina- ice."
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Strong pitching and defense key
in Wolverines' blowout of Eagles
By TIM ROHAN. performance was good enough to of the game. Cislo finished 3-for-5 defensive plays behind Sinnery
Daily Sports Writer record his first collegiate victory. with two runs batted in and three which saved several Eagle runs
Eastern Michigan freshman runs scored. from scoring.
YPSILANTI - The Michigan pitcher Jordan Glover's day would "It was good to get that (big In the second inning, sopho-
baseball team powered its way be much shorter as he worked inning) so that everybody could more shortstop Anthony Toth
through its game against East- less than three innings and was feel good again, because we didn't made a backhanded grab on a
ern Michigan in more ways than charged with all eight of the Wol- really feel good this past week- sharply hit groundball head-
one yesterday afternoon. An 11-3 verines' third-inning runs (six end," Maloney said. ing away from second base. Toth
win is impressive, but the devel- earned). Sinnery continued to remain in jumped and made a quick throw
opment of a few pitchers could Michigan ended the game with control even though Eastern was to second base to save a run.
pay dividends for the Wolverines junior first baseman and reliever getting on base. After a leadoff "The defense has to be a staple
down the line. Mike Dufek on the mound. Malo- single in the bottom of the third, for us," Maloney said. "Reality is,
This season, Michigan expects ney said he was glad to give Dufek Sinnery turned and picked off the we got to play good defense, and
to be guided by its starting rota- some work and liked how hard he Eastern Michigan base runner. we got to pitch well. And today,
tion. But it might be a freshman was throwing, but admitted the But in the fourth inning, Sinnery's we did those two things."
and a newly converted relief junior wasn't as crisp as Maloney control faltered. After allowing a Bouncing back with a win after
pitcher who make a surprising would have liked. Dufek allowed a one-out double, he hit the next last weekend's disappointment
impact. single and walk to start the inning batter. A single and a sacrifice fly was important for the Wolver-
The Wolverines (11-5) won eas- before striking out the next three later, Eastern had two runs on the ines. But Sinnery's performance
ily at Eastern Michigan's Oestrike batters to close out the game. board. might have been just as important
Stadium, sparked by an eight-run Last Saturday, Michigan was Sinnery said he had been work- as Michigan looks for its first-year
third inning. the victim of a six-run third ing on his changeup recently, and players to continue to improve
The matchup featured two inning against Arizona in the it seemed to be keeping batters off and settle into a starting role.
freshman starting pitchers. In midst of being swept by the Wild- balance after he threw his fast- "I thought Brandon Sinnery
five innings, Michigan's freshman cats in the three-game series. On ball. was excellent today, which was
starter Brandon Sinnery allowed Tuesday, the Wolverines had a big "It was nice to have three pitch- very encouraging," Maloney said.
just two runs and struck out three third inning of their own. es today instead of just (being) "Because we think he is a guy that
batters, even though he had base In the third inning, senior tri- dominant with slider and fast- can really help us, and might have
runners threatening in scoring captain Kevin Cislo had two dou- ball," Sinnery said. to do it sooner than later. ... We
position throughout the game. His bles off of Glover to chase him out The Wolverines made solid needed that from somebody."
Bregman rehabs after two season-ending injuries
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
On Jan. 30, senior Scott Breg-
man stepped onto the floor exercise
in a meet for the first time in almost
10 months. His right ankle was
wrapped tightly in several layers
of tape, and his left foot bore a scar
resembling a pink centipede.
Bregman saluted, ran across the
floor, performed a perfect Arabian
double pike and stuck the landing.
The fans cheered, but his team-
mates went wild.
As if he has never left competi-
tion, Bregman flowed through the
rest of his routine, finishing with
a tiny hop on his dismount. He
earned a 14.85 score and the floor
title in his first meet back.
Behind Bregman's two minutes
of triumph were the result of nearly
two arduous years of rehab from
a pair of separate, season-ending
ankle injuries.
For Bregman, just stepping on
the floor as a competitor was a vic-
tory that went against all odds.
On Mar. 10, 2007, the then-soph-
omore landed his competition vault
short. A few days later, he stood in a
surgeon's office, waiting for a diag-
nosis that he knew might mean the
end of his career.
He had sustained a Lisfranc dis-
location in his left foot, a serious
tendon injury that usually prevents
people from ever returning to the
peak of their athletic career.
The surgeon couldn't even look
Bregman in the eye, staring at the
floor as he informed the gymnast
that he might never compete again.
Gymnastics had been central to
Bregman's life since he was a little
boy, and all of a sudden, everything
could be finished. Bregman held his
emotions back as athletic trainer
Bill Shinavier drove him from the
doctor's office to practice.
When teammate Jamie Thomp-
son asked how the appointmenthad
gone, emotions came flooding out.
"It was the first moment that I
had to really contemplate what it
would mean to me," Bregman said.
"I just broke down. It's not one of
my strongest moments. I was liter-
ally unable to form a complete sen-
tence for about 30 minutes."
His teammates soon surrounded
Bregman, offering hugs and words
of reassurance.
"I think it's harder to hear that
later (in your career)," Thompson
said. "To hear that you're just going
to have to be done, not by your own
choice, not by your own timeline,
takes a toll."
But soon after, Bregman's innate
stubbornness took over. Nobody
was going to tell him when or how
his gymnastics career would end.
He threw himself into his rehab,
and a few weeks into hisjunior sea-
son, he was back at his peak.
It was as if the injury hadn't hap-
pened.
Then came March14,2008 -just
over a year since his first injury.
At practice, Bregman decided
to perform a second, full floor rou-
tine, ending with his usual full-in
dismount, even though he was a bit
tired. His right ankle landed just
before his face hit the carpet.
"I saw his back handspring and I
knew that it wasn't good enough to
get two flips and one twist around,"
junior Evan Heiter said. "My initial
reaction was that it would be hard
for something not to be wrong."
Bregman knew he was hurt, but
he thought it was just a sprain. He
picked himself up, limped to the
training room, and almost casually,
called for Shinavier.
His ankle was broken, and his
season, once again, was over prema-
turely. And though a broken ankle
didn't seem as serious as his earlier
tendon injury, for the second time,
Bregman's career almost ended.
Though Shinavier and Breg-
man's teammates just remember
the Lawrence, Kan., native's wry
humor and determination to come
back, Bregman said he had serious
doubts.
"I just can't do this again," he
thought after learning he would
need surgery on his right ankle. He
knewexactlyhowlongand difficult
the road back would be - he'd been
there before.
"I thought a lot about not com-
ing back," Bregman said. "But the
truth of the matter is, you have to
do the rehab if you want to exist as
a human being. ... Then my body
started to feel better and better,
and I was like, 'Well, I've come this
far, so I'll give it a shot."'
Just as they'd supported him
through his first injury, Bregman's
teammates rallied around him. And
the second time around, Bregman
remembers, he milked it for all it
was worth.
"The second time, I'd be like, 'I
can't move that, so you're going to
have to,' " Bregman said. "I'd make
(Heiter) drive me. ... I could drive
with my legs trossed, but it was
really awkward, probably unsafe,
probably illegal, I'm not sure."
Sophomore Ben Baldus-Strauss,
who broke his ankle just a month
and a half after Bregman, can empa-
thize with the struggles of a come-
back.
"It's probably less than 50 per-
cent physical," Baldus-Strauss said.
"You're trapped. When you can't
walk, you're dependent on everyone
and it's mentally draining.... I don't
know where I would have gotten
the motivation to go through it all
over again."
Now, each day before practice,
Bregman arrives early and stays
late to get treatment and do main-
tenance rehab for his ankle. Not
including the time spent actually
doing gymnastics, it takes about an
hour and a half.
But Bregman knew he couldn't
ever cut corners in his rehabilita-
tion. If Shinavier thought some-
thing should be easy for Bregman,
the gymnast would convince him-
self it was. If the trainer asked him
to do more repetitions, Bregman
wouldn't protest.
"He really exemplified what
an athletic trainer expects and
hopes for from an injured ath-
lete," Shinavier said. "He was very
diligent, always willing to do more.
He worked hard, he never com-
plained."
He'll still be glad once April and
the postseason arrive without an
incident.
After joking that he'd like to
bubble wrap himself during the
second week of March, Bregman
sailed through the week with no
problems, though he did tape both
his ankles instead of just one.
On March 14, he hit his floor
routine in his final appearance at
Cliff Keen Arena. It was exactly
one year after his second injury,
and in exactly the same scenario
as his first - the Senior Night meet
against Illinois.
All through the monotonous
rehab, Bregman had motivated
himself with a mental image of
sticking those floor passes.
With his first pass against Iowa
in January, it was as if everything
had come true. And Senior Night
made it even better.
"To go out and nail it, tonail floor,
was really good," Bregman said. "It
was the moment that I'd been envi-
sioning during my rehab."
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