The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, February 11, 2010 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, February 11, 2010 - 5A Michigan's success hinges on solving Spartans' defense Wolverines will look to their offensive versatility to help out in the post By AMY SCARANO Daily Sports Writer In order to prepare for Michi- gan State, the Wolverines closely watched the film of their last MAX COLLINS/Dal Senior Chris Summers has been a key part of the Wolverines defensive resurgence in the second half of the season. De ensive turnaro un bodeswell for Blue as season winsdown matchup with the Spartans, a team that beat Michigan by 15 points at the Breslin Center in December. The team isn't unfamiliar with watching film before Big Ten competition. After all, it's commonplace for weekly prep- aration. But this week is different. Michigan State at Michigan Matchup: MSU 15-8; Michigan 14-9 When: Satur- day at 4 p.m. Where: Crisler Arena Live Blog: michigandaily. comn By MICHAEL FLOREK Daily Sports Writer For the Michigan hockey team's defensive unit, this season has entailed a lot of climbing. After the team dug themselves a hole early in the season, losing seven of their first eleven games, the 19th-ranked Wolverines have tried to climb out of it ever since. The defense, starting with junior goalie Bryan Hogan and extending out- ward, has the led the effort. But a large part of the early sea- son digging was due to defensive woes. Soft goals, puck handling mis- takes and miscommunication between Hogan and the defense- men cost them games against Bos- ton University, Miami (Ohio) and Michigan State (multiple times), all teams under consideration for the NCAA Tournament. The most telling example came near the halfway point of the season against Ohio State. Despite giving up just 20 shots, defensive lapses led to a 5-3 loss and dropped them to 10th place in the conference. "It's a game of mistakes," Michi- gan coach Red Berenson said after the December 4thloss. "If you make mistakes in your own zone, you're going to pay for them." Tuesday night against Bowling Green, it was a different unit than the one that let up five goals to the Buckeyes. On the first shot of the game, Hogan kicked it out to a wait- ing Falcon. This time, junior Chad Langlais was there and cleared the puck away. The Wolverines turned away all ensuing shots, giving them their third shutout in nine games. After that game, Berenson was singing a different tune than he had two months before. "We were able to not give up the blue line as easy," he said. The transformation isn't com- plete and it doesn't even look appar- ent. Michigan still hasn't found its lineup. It continues to rotate freshman Lee Moffie, sophomore Greg Pateryn, and junior Tristin Llewellyn in and out of the lineup. Berenson has specifically pointed to penalties as the reason Llewellyn and, to a lesser extent, Moffie have been sitting out games, giving Pateryn an opportunity for play- ing time. Pateryn has played just 19 games this season, but in recent weeks has established a presence in the lineup. "There's always going to be guys in and out," assistant coach Billy Powers said. "It hasn't been week- to-week, so guys have gotten a chance to play with each other and I think that's why it's been fairly seamless." The one place conversion is vis- ible is on the stat sheet. After not being ranked for the first time in twelve years and limpingto an 8-8-0 start, Michigan has cut down their goals against average by almost a half of a goal in their last 15 games. Cumulatively they are now fifth in the country. "It's been a concerted effort by everyone," Powers said. "Our defense have done a nice job of standing up, helping each other, but they're able to do that because the forwards are coming back." The stat sheet has been kind to the defensemen on the other end of the ice as well. After tallying just three goals in the first half, the her- alded offensive power finally sur- faced. In three of the last four series, a defenseman has netted a goal, eight total in the last month. "Whether it's high-end assists plays or getting shots through or scoring goals, we're asking our defense to be the fourth guy, getting up in the rush. Powers said. "Being smart, but being ready if we can get over the blueline to contribute. Then of course when we cycle the puck and get it back to you, you have to make aplay." all depends on the defense State decides to play. "We have several man-to-man zone offenses," Phillips said. "So we could go either way. I could go inside or outside, it just depends on the flow of the game and who is contributing from where." The Spartans' tallest weapon, Alyssa DeHaan, stands at 6-foot- 9, and Michigan will have to find a way around her. If Michigan State plays a zone defense, the Wolver- ines will stay on the perimeter but if the Spartans play man-to-man they hope to get around DeHaan. "We are focusing on getting around the rim and trying to find a way to get around her and just making sure we capitalize when she is outside of the lane and knock down perimeter shots," junior guard Veronica Hicks said. Beyond a presence in the paint, the Wolverines could look for suc- cess from the 3-point line. Michi- gan averages 35 percent from downtown this season, but sopho- more forward Carmen Reynolds shoots 44 percent from beyond the arc and could be a major weapon for the Wolverines tonight if the Spartans force them out of the paint. But as for stopping the Spar- tans' attack in the middle and on the perimeter, Michigan will need to play tight man-to-man defense to prevent a sweep for the second- straight year at the hands of its intrastate rival. "That's going to be our key," Phillips said. "You're responsible for your person and that's your job, and if you get your job done and all of the five players get their jobs done, then we will get a job done." As long as the Wolverines stay on the ball, adapt when necessary and prevent Michigan State from gaining momentum, they could avoid being swept by a Big Ten team for the third time this season. The Spartans aren't known for playing zone defense, but the Wol- verines watched as the defensive strategy worked last time against them. So, the preparation was even more necessary, as it would be no surprise if the Spartans do it again tonight. To break that zone, the Wolver- ines (6-7 Big Ten, 14-9) are going to have to be versatile on offense. Whatever style of defense Michigan State (6-6, 15-8) decides to impose, Michigan will have to adapt. . The key to that may be scoring in the middle. At 6-foot-6, senior center KristaPhillips is Michigan's tallest player, and her position as a post player or sharpshooter r "". F HPV Fact : It is estimated that each mini US, there is a new case of ger HPV Fact-: Guys can t screened for So there's no way to know if a the virus or is passing it on. Visit your C MERCK Copyright© 2010Merck & Co., inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.