The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com I November 30, 2009 MICHIGAN 3 Junior Louie Caporusso celebrates a goal in the Wolverines' 3-2 win over Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase. After its worst start in more than 20 years, Michigan swept the tournament. SAID ALSALAH/Daily SHOWING UP Blue'D' finally shines Team is playing during Showcase sweep |Michigan hockey'again BY MARK BURNS Daily Sports Writer Through the first two months of its season, the Michigan hockey team lacked a signature characteristic of most Red Beren- son-coached teams: sound defen- sive hockey. But according to sophomore alternate captain Luke Glenden- ing, the Wolverines in their sweep of the 17th-annual College Hock- ey Showcase might have finally found that missing component this weekend. "That has been our goal all year but we haven't really done it yet," Glendening said of playing strong defense. "This weekend, we start- ed to do it, and it showed up on the scoreboard." It showed with a 3-2 victory over Wisconsin and a 6-0 drub- bing of Minnesota, which sealed Michigan's sixth Showcase sweep in program history. On Saturday night, Michi- gan (7-7) slipped past an under- achieving Wisconsin team, that Berenson said may have been the Wolverines' toughest opponent all year. With the score tied at one late in the second period, Glendening corralled the puck off a face-off in the Badger zone. He lifted a nifty wrist shot underneath the crossbar to give Michigan the lead heading into the final stanza. The Wolverines got the game- winning tally midway through the third period from junior center Louie Caporusso, who received a pass from freshman A.J. Treais at the right side of the crease and deposited the puck in the net. Michigan held on down the stretch by minimizing Wiscon- sin's (8-5-1) odd-man rushes and playing strong man-to-man cover- age in the defensive zone. "They were really good, and we were on our heels on and off during the game," Berenson said. "The fact that if we keep our goals against down, we will be in these games. ... But that was a grinding game tonight. "That was a man's game. It was in-the-trenches type of hockey, and we survived it." The previous night's 6-0 victory against the Golden Gophers wasn't as much of a fight for survival. Five different players scored, and junior left wing Carl Hagelin notched two goals. Hagelin scored his second goal off a small but significant play that See SHOWCASE, Page 4B here's no sugarcoating Michigan hockey's near- disastrous start. Two straight sweeps at the hands of two bitter rivals. A series split two weeks ago against peren- nial basement-dweller Bowling Green. And the worst start in 23 RYAN years. KARTJE "It doesn't sit well," junior On ice hockey Louie Capo- russo said after the win against Bowling Green. - "it doesn't feel good to belong to a team that is not playing Michigan hockey-caliber." And then, the nation began to notice. Despite salvaging a win against the Falcons, the Wolverines were out of the top 25 for the first time in 12 years - and that's back when the polls only counted the top 10 teams. Then, with Michigan already limping, sophomore forward Rob- bie Czarnik quit the team to sign with the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers. And on the same day that highly touted goal- tending recruit Jack Campbell decommited. Last week was the lowest of lows for the Wolverines, who hadn't been below.500 through 12 games since the 1986-87 season. But sweeping this weekend's College Hockey Showcase has righted the path for now. The wins against Minnesota and Wisconsin show that in the hardest of times, Michigan coach Red Berenson's teams have always proven his abil- ity to stay the course. And that's a testament to his ability as one of the best coaches in the game. In the 1998-99 season - a year removed from their second national championship in three seasons - the Wolverines went on an eight-game conference winless streak, just three weeks before the CCHA Tournamentbegan. With high hopes and even higher national expectations, Michigan's college hockey dynasty looked threatened after doubling their season loss total in just eight games. But the Wolverines domi- nated the CCHA Tournament, scoring 20 goals in four games to get the conference's automatic NCAA Tournamentbid. And last season, after losing captain and standout defense- man Mark Mitera to injury, the Wolverines started 9-7. They knew they had to rebound. So Michigan responded with three See HOCKEY, Page 4B Michigan falls off in last two tourney games BY JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - In the opening game of this weekend's Old Spice Classic, the Michigan men's basketball team edged a good Creighton squad in overtime for its first win of the tournament. The closeness of the game was a little surprising, given Michigan's No. 15 ranking and Creighton's relative anonymity, but it seemed to be merely a hiccup for the team expected to win the tournament. Looking back, that game was an ominous sign for the games yet to come. Marquette soundly beat the Wolverines in their next game. And yesterday when Michigan battled for third place in the tour- nament against unranked Ala- bama, the Wolverines lost their second straight game, 68-66. "It let us know that we still got a long way to go," senior DeShawn Sims said. "And we probably aren't the 15th team in the country." While not placing in a tourna- ment it was expected to win was tough for Michigan, what was even tougher was the way it lost. With Sunday's game tied and five seconds left, Alabama junior Senario Hillman missed a layup, but sophomore JaMychal Green came flying in with a furious put- back slam. Freshman Darius Morris took the ball cross-court into the lane and put up a floater, only to have it thrown into the stands by Green to seal the Alabama win. "That was the best play for the team," junior Manny Harris said. "No one helped on me, no one helped on nobody. It was a good play. It just didn't go our way." Harris, of all people, could have used that help not only in Sunday's game but in the whole tourna- ment. Harris averaged nearly 23 points per game in the Classic, which earned him a spot on the All-Tournament team. Michigan's next-leading scorer, Sims, averaged 13, and the rest of the team was largely nonexistent on offense. "I'm not looking at that," Harris said. "We came out with two loss- es, so none of that really matters." Harris was consistently the one powering the Wolverines' offense against Alabama, particularly in the early minutes, when Michigan took a 12-point lead with about six minutes remaining in the first See OLD SPICE CLASSIC, Page 3B M-NOTE Wolverines notch fourth straight at-large NCAA Tournament bid BY MARK BURNS Daily Sports Writer The No. 12 Michigan volley- ball team has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Wolverines (24-9) garnered the 13th overall seed in the 64-team field and will play in the Stan- ford Regional. Ann Arbor will be one of 16 host sites for the first two rounds. "Getting a top-16 seed in the tournament was a goal of ours since the spring season," Michi- gan coach Mark Rosen said. "But we know it doesn't guarantee us anything. ... At this point in the season, you can throw seeds and all of that out the window, because it's single elimination." On Friday, Michigan will square off against Niagara (23-8) in the Purple Eagles' first-ever tournament appearance. If the Wolverines win that game, they will face the winner of Ohio and Notre Dame Satur- day. Michigan finished the regu- lar season tied for fourth in the Big Ten and is looking to make it to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season. In the last two years, the Wol- verines exited the third round at the hands of Penn State and Nebraska, respectively. For volleyball coverage from this weekend's games, see PAGE 3B AP PHOTO Senior DeShawn Sims averaged just 13 points in three games this weekend. ROUGH WEEKEND U The young Michigan wrestling team grabbed a win against Penn after dropping two meets over the weekend. Page 3B. ROAD WARRIORS * After a fast start, the Michigan women's basketball team is in the midst of a brutal road game stretch. Page 2B.