!4D The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
December 7, 2009 - 3B
* The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom December 7, 2DD9 - 3B
D' locks down Buckeyes in
Saturday's one-goal victory
Hogan was eight
seconds away from
a shutout win in
Columbus
By NICK SPAR
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - Midwaythrough
the third period of Friday night's
game against Ohio State, the Mich-
igan hockey team was in complete
control.
Ithad alreadypoured 34shotson
Ohio State goalie Cal Heeter, a sta-
tistic countered by just 14 Buckeye
shots. The Wolverines had knotted
the game at 2-2, coming back from
a two-goal deficit. And the way
they were buzzing in the Buckeyes'
zone, it seemed that scoring the
winning goal was only a matter of
time.
But in the blink of an eye, all of
that momentum was erased. Ohio
State struck withtwogoals inaspan
of 2:18 and held on for a 5-3 victory.
While Michigan's inability to capi-
talize on scoring chances kept the
Buckeyes in the game, what hurt
most was the Wolverines' lack of
consistency in the defensive zone.
"It's a game of mistakes," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said after
the loss. "If you make mistakes in
your own zone, you're going to pay
for them."
Despite being outshot 45-20
for the game, the Buckeyes made
the most of their chances each
time Michigan had a defensive
lapse.
Buckeye forwards were wide
open in the slot for two of the goals
on Friday, one of which resulted
from a turnover behind the net.
Another goal occurred on the rush,
and only one Michigan blue liner
was back to defend the pass.
None of that could be said about
BUCKEYES
From page lB
combined in the two games. To
climb out of the CCHA cellar,
the team looked to their senior
captain Chris Summers to pull
them out of the hole on Satur-
day. And he responded.
Halfway through Saturday's
first period, Michigan won a
faceoff in the offensive zone and
set the faceoff play in motion.
Two passes later, Summers
took the puck and wristed it
into the left corner of the net.
"Any time you get the first
goal of the game, especially in
the first period, the momentum
is going your way," Summers
said. "That's what we've talked
about all year ... make sure we
go out and get that first goal
that changes the entire game."
Summers' goal was the only
marker until junior Matt Rust
put in the eventual game-win-
ner on a power play goal early in
the third. The win pulled Mich-
igan up to tenth of 12 teams in
the conference.
Third to last in the CCHA
isn't where the talented Wolver-
ines (4-6-0- CCHA,8-8-0 over-
all), who have 11 players on the
GOLDEN LIONS
From page lB
than to continue encouraging his
players.
"I still don't know how we're
going to get out of this deal where
we have some pretty good shoot-
ers who have lost so much confi-
dence," Beilein said. "But when
that happens, you have to play
great defense, and that's the only
thing that saved us in this second
half."
Once Harris blewthe game open
after halftime, Michigan's defense
seemed much looser on the floor.
VOLLEYBALL
From page B
Ohio (27-7) had time to set up its
block and prevent the Wolverine
offense from grabbing momentum.
After the break, Michigan ran
out of the locker room with the
game plan necessary to fuel a
comeback.
The Wolverines (26-9) got back
into their rhythm due in large part
to junior setter Lexi Zimmerman's
play.
Zimmerman found the senior
hot hitters, who shot through
holes in Ohio's blockers en route to
a five-set win. Michigan will play.
in the Sweet 16 for the third con-
secutive year.
"When our backs were against
the wall and our your season looks
to be over and how (our play-
teamdrafted by the NHL, want
to be. But it is one spot higher
than they were coming into the
weekend.
"(The standings are) a
reminder," Berenson said. "We
found ourselves in last place
(Saturday) morning in the con-
ference. ... Our team has high
expectations. We're trying to
get better every game, and today
was the day and tonight was the
game."
Getting better every game
doesn't always mean wins.
Michigan still stands 16 points
behind CCHA leader Miami and
was swept by the RedHawks in
the teams' only series this sea-
son.
If the Wolverines want to
find themselves in more famil-
iar territory at the top of the
standings, continuing to split
with teams like the Buckeyes
(5-6-1-1, 7-10-1) will make it
impossible for the Wolverines
to catch up.
"As far as the standings are
concerned, I think that's kind of
in the back of our mind," Sum-
mers said. "Some guys might use
that as motivation, but I think
as a team, we're going to work
to improve for every game."
After the Golden Lions shot 14-of-
26 in the first half, the Wolverines
held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to just 27
percent shooting after the break.
Part of that percentage can also
be explained by the Golden Lion
offense averaging out.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff was shoot-
ing just 41.5 percent entering Sat-
urday, and their Jekyll-and-Hyde
performance before and after the
break combined for a 41.7 percent
clip on the afternoon.
"We were just flat in the first
half," Harris said. "Second half,
we picked it up, were more active
with our hands and just talking (to
each other on defense)."
ers) fought back - I couldn't be
more proud of them," Rosen said.
"That's just heart and players who-
didn't want to be done."
Seniors Paz and Veronica Rood
led the Wolverines with 18 and
13 kills, respectively. It was the
seniors who carried Michigan
against the Bobcats, and if the
team expects to have any shot at
beating fourth-seeded Stanford
this upcoming weekend, it'll take
that same type of performance and
execution.
"The skill part (of our seniors)
has been great," Rosen said. "But
it's more about their determina-
tion and their drive. ... I've said
for it for years that you go as far
as your seniors can take you. It
doesn't matter if their numbers
are the best or whatever. It's your
seniors that drive the bus. These
guys are driving it."
SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Senior Chris Summers scored Michigan's first goal in its win Saturday over Ohio State.
the Wolverines' 2-1 victory on Sat- Otherwise, the Wolverines were "I think the first goal was really
urday. The difference was smarter effective in keeping the Buckeye a big goal that held up for a long
and tighter play in the defensive forwards to the outside when they while in this game," Berenson said.
end. The costly defensive and neu- had any sustained pressure. "It put us in a good defensive mode
tral zone turnovers and odd-man Hogan saw just 13 shots through the rest of the way."
rushes abundant on Friday were the first two periods on.Saturday. The tally benefited the offense
cleared up. And even though Ohio State reg- and the defense, equally. The pres-
On Saturday, Michigan goalie istered 14 more in the third peri- sure on the offense to score first
BryanHogan was just 8.5 seconds od while it was in all-out attack and avoid falling behind early was
from earning his second shutout mode, Michigan still played sound gone, and the defense could focus
of the season, as the only Ohio defense. more on making the smart plays,
State mark was a desperation goal A major reason for the differ- especially in its zone.
in the waning seconds of the third ence in defensive play was Michi- "That (goal) changes an entire
period. gan's early offensive output. Senior game," Summers said. "Whether it
The lone defensive miscue came defenseman Chris Summers fired a be just the morale of the forwards
on the power play when sophomore wrist shot past the glove of Heeter and making sure that they're bury-
Brandon Burlon's turnover at the from the point nearly 10 minutes ing their chances, or giving the
blue line led to an Ohio State break- into the game to give his team a defense confidence to stay up and
away, which was denied by Hogan. one-goal lead. play a tight gap."
Tankers cruise in EMU tourney
BY MICHAEL LAURILA
Daily Sports Writer
YPSILANTI - Winning more
than half of the 20 events, the
Michigan women's swimming and
diving team easily left Ypsilanti
this weekend with its seventh
straight EMU invitational title.
The 19th-ranked Wolverines
scored 1123 points, 307 points
more than the second-place team,
in a meet where the competition
was not as strong as in past con-
tests.
"I don't worry so much as
whether it's a big meet or not a big
meet," Michigan coach Jim Rich-
ardson said. "It's 25 yards, and
there is water. You've got a chance
to work on something and try to
improve something, and that's
what we're always trying to do."
Leading the way for the Wol-
verines was senior Margaret
Kelly, who, over the two-day peri-
od, won the 200-yard butterfly,
200-yard individual medley and
so-yard freestyle. She was also a
member of all of the Wolverines'
winning freestyle relays.
Senior Emily Brunemann, the
2008 NCAA champion in the
1,650-yard freestyle, did not swim
the event. But senior Emily Han-
son stepped up and won the event
for Michigan, capturing a NCAA
consideration time of 16:38.28.
"It feels really good," Hanson
said through the Michigan Ath-
letic Department. "Bruno (Emily
Brunemann) wasn't there, and she
always pushes me. Friday gave me
an opportunity to see where I was
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SAIDALSALAH/Daily
The Michigan women's swimming and diving team took an easy victory in the EMU Invitational this weekend.
at. I've been training real well all
season and gotten pretty consis-
tent results."
About eight Wolverines were
half tapered for this meet, mean-
ing they were somewhat rested.
The rest of the team is continuing
a strenuous training regimen.
"It's not a full taper," Richard-
son said. "We don't believe that
we need to rest a whole lot at
this point in the season because
of the nature of the training that
we're doing. It's enough to get
a good glimpse of where people
are right now and what their
potential can be at the end of the
season."
At the beginning of the year,
Richardson and his staff decid-
ed to increase the Wolverines'
weightlifting load, hoping that
it would make the team stronger
and ultimately faster.
"It was a conscious decision we
made this year to try and make
improvements, and that was one
area we felt we could improve,"
Richardson said. "We felt like
we could be stronger, and if we
do a good job of transferring that
strength into power, then we have
a better than average chance of
swimming faster by the end of the
year."
The strength that they have
built and are still building was
evident, considering how easily
the Wolverines dominated their
opponents.
Michigan's chemistry and
camaraderie was also apparent
during the meet. The swimmers
were constantly slapping hands,
laughing and just generally hav-
ing a good time on the deck.
"I am having an absolute blast,"
Hanson said. "Our team is such a
tight-knit group. There's still a lot
left to the season, but I am having
a lot of fun."
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