8 - Tuesday, November 24, 2009 -

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

0

M power play comes
alive vs. Bowling Green

By RYAN KARTJE "We've been snakebit offen-
Daily Sports Writer sively," Berenson said Saturday
when asked about the weak power
TOLEDO, Ohio - Michigan play. "When Michigan plays five
coach Red Berenson made the games and only scores six goals,,
power play a priority tjhis season. I can't remember in my long-term
According' to Berenson, this memory that happening."
year's Wolverines have spentmore in addition to ending their los-
time practicingspecial teamsthan ing skid Saturday in Toledo with
any team he has ever coached. a 4-1 win, the Wolverines ended
After all, the unit was mediocre at their drought on the power play
best last year, with a 15.8 percent this weekend. Junior center Louie
power play conversion rate. Caporusso scored with the man
So after the first period of advantage on Friday and fresh-
Michigan's home opener against man forward Chris Brown lit the
Niagara, it looked as though prac- lamp in Saturday's third period.
tice had made perfect. The Wol- "It was huge to get those goals,"
verines lit the lamp on four of junior forward Carl Hagelin said.
their first eight power plays this "We haven't been scoring lately on
year, dominating with the man the power play or on the 5-on-5. It
advantage. starts with the power play."
But after the team managed Despite the team's trouble scor-
just six goals in its five-game los- ing on the power play, a dominant
ing streak, Michigan's power play penalty kill has kept Michigan's
went into a tailspin. The Wolver- special. teams play relevant for
ines mustered just three goals in much of the season, checking in at
49 attempts, two of which came almost 90 percent after this week-
against CCHA basement-dweller end.
Lake Superior State. Heading But it was two penalty-killing
into the weekend's series against mistakes that doomed the Wol-
Bowling Green, the Wolverines' verines in their 4-2 loss in the
anemic power play hit a low at 83 weekend's first game.
percent on the season. In the third period, senior

defenseman Steve Kampfer took
an ill-advised penalty to put
Michigan on the wrong end of a
5-oen-3. As a result, Bowling Green
scored three goals, including two
on the power play, in a span of just
over two minutes.
Despite the poor performance 0
with a man down on Friday, Mich-
igan still retained its place as the
top penalty kill in the conference
and sixth best in the nation.
The weekend's two power play
goals may not have affected the
final outcome of either game, but
the momentum from both scores
will do a great deal for a team that
was lacking confidence on special
teams and offense.
And for Caporusso, who tal-
lied two assists in addition to his
goal, it could be just enough to
turn around his scoring woes this
season.
Whatever the win does for the
team's confidence, Berensonis
just relieved to see glimpses some
of his expectations for the offense
and special teams come to fruition
over the weekend.
"We haven't turned the corner,"
Berenson said. "But we definitely
stopped the bleeding."

ARIEL BOND/Daily
Sophomore Robbie Czarnik tallied three goals and three assists this season. He is expected to play for the Plymouth Whalers tonight.
Sop homore forward
quits hockey team

By NICK SPAR He showed marked improvement
Daily Sparta Writer at the beginnitng of his sophomore
season, 'highlighted by his two-
A familiar face was missing at point performance in Michigan's
yesterday's hockey practice, and it win against Niagara on Oct. 22. It
won't be coming back. was the first multi-point game of
Michigan coach Red Berenson his young career, and he scored the
announced yesterday that sopho- game-winninggoal.
more forward Robbie Czarnik has But Czarnik amassed just three
quit the team and signed with the points in the last nine games and
Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario had been relegated to the third line
Hockey League (OHL). last weekend against the Falcons.
He will make his debut with the Still, Berenson was hopeful that
Whalers today against the Windsor he would ultimately live up to his
Spitfires. potential in a Michigan uniform.
Czarnik, a 2008 third-round "We have had meetings about
draft pick of the L.A. Kings, will his development and about his role
continue going to school at Michi- and about what he can improve on,
gan. how he's feeling about everything,"
He tallied three goals and three Berenson said. "We've never
assists this season with the Wol- benched him, never sat him out.
verines and contributed a goal last We have always encouraged him
Friday in a loss against Bowling and tried to put him in a role where
Green. he might succeed."
"H-e's just not happy," Berenson Czarnik played center and right
said. "He hasn't been happy since wingthisseason,leavinganobvious
he's been here. ... Things haven't void on the front line to fill. Senior
gone maybe the way he expected Anthony Ciraulo and freshman
them to go. Lindsay Sparks had been scratched
"(Robbie is) just one of those from the majority of games this sea-
kids that's been down all the time. son, but both saw action last week-
We're trying to pick him up -'It's end and are possible candidates for
okay, Robbie. You're a good player,' Czarnik's replacement.
and on and on. But this is the end Associate head coach Mel Pear-
result." son also mentioned the possibil-
Callsto the Czarnik family about ity of moving senior captain Chris
his decision to leave the team were Summers from defense to offense.
not returned. Summers has experience as a for-
Most of Czarnik's frustration ward, and the Wolverines have
stems from last year's disappoint- more depth on the blue line than on
ing freshman campaign. He was offense.
one of the most highly touted for- Pearson also discussed the
ward recruits Michigan has had effects on the program's recruiting
in years, but he didn't meet lofty process. He said the team will now
expectations, notching just five try to sign another forward. With
goals and 11 assists in 2008-09. almost three seasons of eligibility

Peale's All-American effort
is lone highlight at NCAAs

Marquee goalie
recruit likely to
choose OHL
The Michigan hockey team
received its annual list of
National Letters of Intent yes-
terday for next year's freshman
class. But it's the one player who
didn't sign that's making more
news than those who did sign.
Top goaltending recruit Jack
Campbell - who had made a
verbal commitment to Michigan
- unexpectedly didn't commit
to the Wolverines, and instead is
expected to sign with the Wind-
sor Spitfires of the OHL.
The Wolverines did sign for-
wards Jacob Fallon and Luke
Moffatt and defensemen Mac
Bennett, Kevin Clare and Jon
Merrill. Bennett is the only play-
er of the five commits that isn't
currently playing for the NTDP
with Campbell.
remaining, Czarnik was part of the
Wolverines' long-term plans.
Despite the difficult situation the
team now faces, Berenson is more
upset that Czarnik didn't choose
to work through his own personal
troubles.
"I'm disappointed that he's
giving up on the hockey front (at
Michigan)," Berenson said. "Things
don't always go your way when you
get to this level, but I hoped he
would have persevered. I think last
year was a real challenge for him,
emotionally, and he just never got
over it."

By TIM ROHAN any of
Daily Sports Writer greats:
Mic

Last summer, redshirt sopho-
more Kaitlyn Peale was just
another member of the women's
cross country team.
Now, she's an All-American.
Peale says that at the begin-
ning of the season, she would
have laughed at the idea of being
one of the top cross country run-
ners in the nation by November.
But that's exactly what happened
yesterday at the NCAA champi-
onships in Terre Haute, Ind.
She finished 32nd overall
(20:38) in her first national race.
After discovering she had food
allergies before the season, Peale
changed her diet and found she
had lot more energy.
She started the 2009 season in
grand fashion, with fourth-place,
seventh-place, fourth-place and
first-place finishes. Peale placed
in the top 4 four times this sea-
son.
A year ago, her best race was a
seventh-place finish at the Michi-
gan Open.
- "I've slowly gotten better
throughout the season, so it's just
kind of been like a growing goal,"
Peale said of how she has raised
her expectations. "I feel like each
week, you've improved this much,
so this is possible for Big Tens.
And then after that, maybe this (is
possible) for Regionals. It's been a
growing thing all season.
"But I definitely did not expect

made s
finishin
The sti
fast sta
aggress
Peal
for Mic
out of3
NCAA
was an
the Wol

"I
no
of

this back in August. It's a just being at this (meet)."
urprise." The other Wolverine runners
higan coach Mike McGuire to score finished within nine
ure Peale.was focused on seconds of each other: freshman
ng in the top 40 at NCAAs. Kaitlyn Patterson (176th over-
rategy was to get out to a all), redshirt junior Rachel White
trt, maintain her pace and (109th), freshman Rebecca Addi-
sively try to pass people. son (192nd) and redshirt junior
e was the lone bright spot Rachel Severin (192nd).
chigan, as it finished 27th Michigan's inexperience led
31 teams competing at the to a poor start for most of the
Championships. But this Wolverine runners and, outside
odd year for McGuire and of Peale, they lacked the poise to
Iverines. get back into the race. McGuire
preached to the team about the
importance of not paying atten-
tion to their individual places.
definitely did Even with 30 runners around
her rather than the usual hand-
it expect any ful, Peale was not overwhelmed.
She executed her game plan and
this back in exuded the focus that McGuire
wanted for his whole team.
August." "They take it back as a learning
experience," McGuire said. "You
come to the line the next time ...
you know what is required to get
e of the seven girls compet- out at this level of a meet. And you
he race had ever run in the have 255 athletes that are pretty
s before. darn good. We've been in meets
just didn't have the per- with good athletes. We've just
this year that we've had in never been in a meet with this
st that we could really get many good athletes."
e and knock it out of the Yesterday's race could pay divi-
McGuire said. "I think a lot dends down the road.
ple 'thought on paper that "It was a great experience for
ight be the year that we everyone," Peale said. "Everyone
go. will grow from this.
battled through some i "I learned a lot from the race
We've got good kids here. and I'm pretty sure everyone else
e got to get this one under did, too. I'm really excited for
elt. And you can learn a lot next year."

Non
ing in t
NCAA:
"We
sonnel
the pa:
in ther
park,":
of peo
this m
didn't
"We
things.
They'v
their b

Sims reaches milestone, but Blue struggles rebounding

By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Editor
On a night where senior for-
ward DeShawn Sims celebrated
his 500th career rebound, it makes
sense that the teams focused on
the boards.
But not in the way the Michigan
men's basketball
team would have NOTEBOOK
liked.
During Friday's win over Hous-
ton Baptist, the Wolverines were
outrebounded by the Huskies
52-39.
That 13-rebound difference
jumps off the stat sheet - and
should be a concern - but Michi-
gan felt that it wasn't exactly a
perfect representation of its play.
In fact, players and coach John
Beilein attributed the disparity to
Houston Baptist power forward
Mario Flaherty, who leads his
team in rebounding.
Flaherty alone accounted for
13 boards, nine offensive and four
defensive.
"We were going in aggressive-
ly to rebound," Sims said. "Balls
didn't tip our way, and (Flaherty)
and some of the other guys got in
there, and they did a great job of
crashing offensive boards.
"Credit to them, but we had our

hands on a lot of those rebounds.
It wasn't a lot of clear offensive
rebounds."
Even though they weren't easy
rebounds, they still showed up on
the scoreboard. The Huskies took
advantage of the glass throughout
Friday's game, particularly in the
first 13 minutes, when they built
and maintained a lead over the
Wolverines.
"They're more athletic than
they look, and they did a number
on us a few times on the boards,"
Beilein said.
Beilein said it's good for his
players to face a team that features
a scrappy scorer like Flaherty.
Beilein seemed almost excited
to watch film and find the areas
his team needs to improve - in
rebounding, of course, but also
transition defense.
"We'll see more when I see the
tape," Beilein said after Friday's
game. "They're really good at
learning from the film when they
see it."
COLD STREAK: Michigan start-
ed Friday's game just about as
ice-cold as a team could be - espe-
cially from an area of the court it
normally counts on.
Through the first 14 minutes of
the contest, the Wolverines shot
a measly 1-of-11 from behind the

looked too easy. Performances like
freshman Matt Vogrich's 5-of-
5 from beyond the arc against
Northern Michigan felt far differ-
ent than that miserable start.
Though the players tried to
articulate what led to their cold
stretch, it was difficult to pinpoint
the problem.
Junior Manny Harris simply
called it "frustrating."
"We just were a little shaky on
offense," sophomore Zack Novak
said. "We weren't exactly execut-
ing like we know how to. We just
took shots out of rhythm."
CRONIN UPDATE: With 2:11
remaining in regulation, redshirt
freshman Ben Cronin entered the
game.
With Michigan nursing a
22-point lead at the time, it wasn't
a crucial point in the game.
But it's part of an important
step in Cronin's recovery from last
year's hip surgery.
Last week, Beilein hinted that
Cronin wouldn't see playing time
for a while.
After the season opener, 'he
sported a taped-up wrist.
"I was ready if he put me in, but
I don't 'really have any expecta-
tions right now except to work and
get healthier, start moving a little
better," Cronin said.

SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Senior DeShawn Sims pulled in his 500th career rebound against Houston Baptist in Michigan's win Friday night.
3-point line. sometimes are looking for a great at "great" plays in its exhibition
"Sometimes we over-penetrated play. What's a greater play? There's game or season opener against
and didn't hit the obvious- play," an easier one right in front of you." Northern Michigan. In fact, the
Beilein said. "It happens. People Michigan didn't force attempts Wolverines made plays that almost

A

A A