8A Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Michigan needs to shake its
early-season scoring woese.

T hrough25gameslastseason,
then-sophomore forward
Louie Caporusso looked
invincible.
He netted 20 goals in that span,
putting him in contention for the
Hobey Baker Award, given to col-
lege hockey's best player.
But Caporusso's fortunes turned
soon after he lifted the Great Lakes
Invitational MVP trophy in-Decem-
ber.
In the final 16 games of last sea-
son, he scored just four more goals,
a disappointingly low number con-
sidering he had scored almost one
goal per game
before. And RYAN
in matchups
against ranked KARTJE
opponents in the On ice hockey
season's final
stretch, Capo-
russo notched just three points - all
of which came againstthen-No. 15
Ohio State.
The Michigan hockey team
managed to wina majority of those
games, (12 of 16), thanks to players
like Aaron Palushaj, Tim Miller
and Travis Turnbull, whose physi-
cal play on offense provided other
Wolverines like Matt Rust and Carl
Hagelin with scoring opportunities.
The problem is that list of
capable forwards who can set up
scoring opportunities got drasti-
cally shorter this offseason with the
graduation of Miller and Turnbull
and Palushaj's ascendancy to the
NHL.
And as much as Michigan coach
Red Berenson may have hoped
Caporusso's scoring blues had
ceased with the offseason, Capo-
russo has yet to even register a
single point this year.
What's even more worrisome is
he has only taken four shots - good
for 17th on the team.
"Is he a bit of a concern? Yeah.
He'll work his way through it,"
Berenson said.
But, even through four games,
it's clear that No.5 Michigan (2-2)
is in desperate need of someone to
light the lamp. Whether it's Capo-
russo or not remains to be seen.

ARIEL BOND/Daily
Junior Louie Caporusso hasn't tallied a point through the first four games of the year.

Entering the season, much of
the team's buildup surrounded the
defense, which was thought to be
the catalyst to a possible national
championship run.
Senior defenseman and captain
Chris Summers even claimed that
this season's defense was better
than the Wolverines' star-studded
cast his freshman year-- one that
included current NHLers Jack
Johnson and Matt Hunwick.
"To me, the team with the best
defense wins," Berenson said ear-
lier this season.
But so far, Coach, that hasn't
been the case.
The defense will certainly close
out games for this team like they
did against Niagara when, after a
three-score offensive surge in the
first period, the offense couldn't
buy a goal.
But when the Wolverines face off
againstgreat teams, like defending
champion Boston University last
weekend, the team can't expect to
win very often with two scoreless
periods to start the game.
Michigan's most effective line
thus far has been its second, with
Rust, Hagelin and freshman Chris
Brown scoring six of the Wolver-
ines' 11 goals this season.
Meanwhile, the first line, high-
lighted by Caporusso and sopho-
more David Wohlberg, has zero
points to its name.

Berenson's solution? Switching
up the lines.
"You don't want to stay with the
same lines if your team is under-
achieving," Berenson said. "And I
think we are.... We're still not sure
who the best combinations are."
But his proposed plan to couple
Hagelin with Caporusso means
breaking up the team's best offen-
sive combination, which also
doesn't seem to be the best solu-
tion.
Sophomore forward Robbie
Czarnik has shown flashes of
offense this season with two goals
and two assists, second only to Rust
in points. After a disappointing
freshman season, Czarnik could be
the answer to Michigan's offensive
woes.
Meanwhile, Brown's ability to
take overa game physically, make
space and put a few goals in the
back of the net might be able to
jumpstart a .500 squad.
But with a-matchup against No.
1 Miami (Ohio) looming in two
weeks, one thing is frighteningly
clear. This Michigan team needs
a hardnosed, offensive specialist
on the first line, one in the mold of
an Aaron Palushaj, Tim Miller or
Travis Turnbull - and they need
it fast.
Because a lack of scorers on the
first line will just result in a whole
lot of disappointment this season.

COIF REEDER/Daily
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez had issues with several of the officiating calls from the weekend, including the play during
which freshrnan Denard Robinson threw an interception. Replays showed Penn State had 12 men on the field at the time.
Coach spares no
words about flags*

I ENJY THE

By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Editor
In hindsight, it seems like it
was almost an omen.
After announcing that officials
would be stricter in enforcing
holding, Big Ten coaches watched
tape of what would constitute the
penalty before the season - and
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
was shocked.
"By the end of the clip, there
were three or four clips you're
thinking, 'You've got to be. kid-
ding me,' " Rodriguez said Mon-
day. "A guy falls down, a guy loses
his balance or he's not as good an
athlete, and he gets pancaked and
they're calling it holding."
And that's pretty much how
Rodriguez felt about the penalties
Michigan was called for - and the
yellow flags it didn't get - after its
35-10 drubbing at the hands of the
12th-ranked Nittany Lions. It was
the most he had vented about pen-
alties at a Monday press confer-
ence all year, even though it was a
blowout loss that did not hinge on
any one call.
"Some of them I understand,
when you twist and turn a guy,
whatever," Rodriguez said. "But
if you've got your hands inside
in great position, you're drive
blocking a guy and he falls down,
because, one, he loses his bal-
ance or something, I don't think it
should be called holding.
"There is more of a gray area,
and there's more frustration,
I think, in seeing some of the

calls."
Halfway through the third
quarter, redshirt junior offen-
sive lineman Steve Schilling was
called for holding, which offset a
first down on one of the few sec-
ond-half Wolverine drives that
seemed to be gaining momentum.
The series ended up as a three-
and-out, which stumped the
Michigan offense in the decisive
13-point quarter.
Rodriguez's frustration was
even more pronounced when dis-
cussing another call - one for five
men in the backfield on quarter-
back Denard Robinson's intercep-
tion-ending drive.
After reviewing the tape Sun-
day, Rodriguez is positive the
offensive lineman "had his head
across the midpoint of center,
which is what you're supposed to
do."
"We'll turn it in to get another
interpretation," Rodriguez said.
"Some of those calls, you know,
you see the official on the oppos-
ing sideline, the one that calls it,
and they're standing next to their
coaches."
The penalty turned out to be
somewhat inconsequential -
Michigan earned an automatic
first down the next play because
of a Penn State holding call.
Rodriguez's irritation with
what has not been a major weak-
ness this season is somewhat
surprising. The Wolverines were
called for just five penalties for
33 yards against Penn State, and
have been smack in the middle of

the conference in average penalty
yards per game (46.9). Last sea-
son, Michigan wasn't much dif-
ferent, averaging about five yards
fewer.
Rodriguez's aggravation stems
from the penalties directly affect-
ing the Nittany Lions' ability to
score.
Back-to-back false start and
delay of game penalties pushed
the Wolverines back to their own
two-yard line before surrender-
ing a safety. And maybe more
importantly, when Robinson's
second-quarter pass was inter-
cepted, Penn State wasn't called
for having too many men on the
field. One Nittany Lion was still
running off the field when the ball
was snapped.
"But he's still on the field,"
Rodriguez said. "Generally that's
always been called, even if he's
running off, so it's a five-yard
penalty, whatever. We'll see.
There's nothing you can do about
it now."
While Rodriguez is certainly
right - nothing can be done about
it now - penalties will likely have
a significant impact against Illi-
nois this weekend.
Just two Big Ten teams have
been penalized more than the
Fighting Illini (48 times for 444
yards). And Illinois has played
one fewer game than every other
team but Wisconsin.
If that trend continues, Rodri-
guez will probably be fuming a bit
less about penalties after Satur-
day's game in Champaign.

S HALLSWEEK
Saturday. October 31.2009'

Junior's great weekend leads
way for Michigan in fall tourney .

206 S. State St. Ann Arbor 734.99.9143

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By ALEX HERMANN
Daily Sports Writer
Junior Denise Muresan steam-
rolled through the competition
early in the Intercollegiate Ten-
nis Association Midwest Region-
al Championships.
But in the semifinals, Mure-
san was faced with playing the
nation's top-ranked player.
Muresan hoped her hot streak
would continue in the semifinals
against No. 1 Maria Mosolova
from Northwestern. But things
didn't quite work out as planned
as the junior lost 6-1, 6-2 to the
top-seed. Mosolova went on to
win the tournament yesterday.
"She has not played (Mosolova)
before, so it was good for her to
see that level," Bernstein said.
"She can definitely hang with her,
and hopefully she gets another
chance during the season to play
her. If Denise plays well, I think
she can beat anybody in the coun-
try."
Muresan played lights out in
her first three matches of the
tournament in Evanston, -II1, set-
ting the tone early with a 6-1, 6-1
victory on Saturday. On the fol-

lowing day, Muresan made short
work of Ohio State senior Chris-
tina Keesey (6-2, 6-2) to advance
to Monday's quarterfinals.
In her bout against 89th-
ranked Northwestern senior,
Lauren Liu, Muresan won anoth-
er match in straight sets (6-4,
6-4) before going up against Liu's
teammate.
"Denise had a great tourna-
ment," Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein said. "She played at a
really high level this weekend.
We see her continuing to improve
and doing great things for us
again this year."
The match was a boost for
Muresan even in defeat.
"Knowing I can hang with
these top players definitely helps
my confidence," Muresan said.
"I don't feel that when I'm play-
ing these girls that they're a lot
better than me. So when I am
playing well, I feel like I can beat
them."
Other Wolverines also saw
success on the court this week-
end. Junior Rika Tatsuno was
the only other Wolverine to win
in the main draw. Freshman Tay-
lor Fournier continuedher strong

play, coming off of a flight title in
the team's last event by winning
both of her qualifying matches.
"Taylor has done everything
that we've asked of her," Bern-
stein said. "For her to do what
she's done not feeling totally
comfortable on the court ... that
looks good for her and her future
at Michigan.
Bernstein puts special impor-
tance on doubles play during
the fall, which is used strictly to
determine individual rankings in
the spring season. The Wolver-
ines went 6-4 overall with only
one pairing, Fournier and junior
Kari Wig, who were unable to
win a match.
Michigan has one event left in
the fall season before team play
begins in January. The amount
of Big Ten competition in the ITA
Regional gives the Wolverines
a sneak peak into the upcoming
conference season.
"We're looking to win it,"
Bernstein said of her team's goal,
winning the Big Ten Champion-
ship. "If we're at the bottom of
the conference, we're not going
to be happy with that. We're defi-
nitely lookin to be on top."

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