8 - Friday, February 26, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8- Friday, February 26, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Hunwick shines in relief
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
In Yost Ice Arena on the third
deck, behind the net closest to
Michigan's locker room, is the
scout holding pen. Scouts from
around the
country lean NOTRE DAME 0
on the rail- MICHIGAN 4
ing and try
to fill out their future rosters.
As the Michigan hockey team
took the ice yesterday against
Notre Dame, not only was the
holding pen filled to capacity, but
scouts lined the upper row of the
arena as well. Throw the added
emotions of Senior Night for the
Wolverines into the mix and this
didn't feel like a game between the
seventh and 10th-place teams in
the conference.
And the player who possibly had
the biggest impact in Michigan's
4-0 win, amongst 19 NHL draft
picks, was the one who no scouts
had come to watch: junior goalie
Shawn Hunwick.
Eleven minutes into the first
period, starting junior goalie
Bryan Hogan stretched out to stop
a backhand shot on a two-on-one.
The shot clanged off the post and
was cleared out of the zone, but the
Wolverines' troubles weren't over.
Hogan-remained on the ice, face
down and still. After 15 seconds of
silence, Hogan was helped off the
ice with the help of trainer Rick
Bancroft and junior forward Carl
Hagelin, not putting any pressure
on his injured leg. After the game,
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said it was a groin injury, making
him doubtful for Saturday's game
in South Bend.
Hunwick entered and was put to
the test with the firstshothe faced.
Michigan took two penalties to
force Hunwick and the Wolver-
ines to kill a five-on-three power
play. The Fighting Irish worked
the puck around and had a clear
shot from the point. Screened,
Hunwick stretched and nabbed
the puck with his glove, making
his first save since December, and
Hollins nets 27 to
lead Wolverines'
rally at Minnesota
'M' grabs first behind the arc, finishing at 50 per-
cent for the evening.
season-series sweep "We weren't going into the
game like, 'Hey were going to
of Golden Gophers shoot threes,' " sophomore for-
ward Carmen Reynolds said. "We
since 2000-01 wanted to penetrate by passes and
by not putting the ball onto the
By ZAK PYZIK floor. That in and of itself opens
Daily Sports Writer the three."
But it wasn't just the shooting
There were 18 minutes left in that energized Michigan's late
the Michigan women's basketball resurgence.
team's contest against Minnesota Rebounding gave the Wolver-
last night, and Dayeesha Hollins ines additional opportunities
already had 18 points. on the offensive end of the floor.
The freshman guard finished Michigan collected 36 boards, 11
with a total of of which were on the offensive
27 to help push MICHIGAN 65 glass, compared to 12 for Minne-
the Wolver- MINN 54 sota (6-11,13-15).
ines to a 65-54 And with about seven minutes
win at Williams Arena. remaining, junior guard Veronica
Hollins's 18th point brought the Hicks had a breakaway. Hicks
Wolverines to within two of the missed the layup but freshnian
Golden Gophers, after rallying guard Jenny Ryan was there to
back from a 15-point deficit. clean up the missed shot to put
"I was just able to make quick Michigan ahead for the first time
decisions," Hollins said. "It was in the contest, 49-48.
easy for me to get into the groove. "Jenny has a nose for the ball,"
We were just able to work together Hicks said. "This game I was like,
and do what we need to do. Coach 'We can't get out boarded.' It takes
just told me to hunt shots and all five people rebounding on the
that's what I did." defensive end. But then we can
Hollins was then fouled on a chase the perimeter shots down
drive and drained two free throws on offense. And then it's just a foot
as Michigan (7-10 Big Ten, 15-12 race. And we were able to get our
overall) tied the game at 33. hustle on."
The Wolverines went six-for-six As the lead began to widen in
from the foul line in yesterday's the final minutes of the game,
game. Golden Gopher fans started to exit
"Tonight, (Dayeesha) came out the arena, and Michigan secured
and she performed." Michigan its first win after a three-game
coach Kevin Borseth said. "First slide.
halfshekeptusinitsinglehandedly. "Better night, great win,"' ors-
"We haven't shot well from the eth said. "That was amazing. We
free-throw line all season." started really slow like we had
And it was its perimeter pres- cement in our boots.
ence that gave Michigan the upper "Then we got a lot of big stops
hand when it needed it most. The and hit some key buckets, and it
Wolverines sank 13 shots from feels good."
SAM WOLSON/Daily
Junior goaltender Shawn Hunwick backstopped Michigan to a 4-0 victory over Notre Dame in his first career shutout.
inspiring the crowd into a frenzy.
He also stopped the other 13, giv-
ing him his first career shutout.
"He does it every day in prac-
tice," Berenson said of Hunwick,
who played just 18 minutes this
season before last night's contest.
"But we're still not convinced
he's a starting goalie. He's been a
backup that really hasn't had the
chance to be a backup."
The highlight-reel stop kept the
Wolverines' one-goal lead secure
and allowed Hagelin to come out
of the box. On his initial shift
after his penalty expired, Hagelin
picked up the puck at Michigan's
blueline and went in two-on-one.
Hagelin gave a quick pass to junior
Matt Rust on the back door and
Rust banged it in to put the Wol-
verines up two goals.
Those two goals gave Hunwick,
who had been in the game for less
than five minutes, some breathing
room as he got used to the game-
time atmosphere.
Getting an early lead helped the
Wolverines take a more defensive
stance on the game, and Hunwick
never had to make another save
that was at the caliber of his first
stop. Michigan added two more
goals and all but assured Hun-
wick's first career win.
"I stood up on the bench and
looked at the defensemen and said,
'Listen boys, let's commit to 'D,' "
senior captain Chris Summerssaid.
"That means just get pucks deep
when you have to, not really tak-
ing too many chances on offense.
Smart, simple plays and making
sure we're supporting him."
After the game, during the
Senior Night ceremony but before
the seniors came out of the tun-
nel to be honored, it was Hun-
wick who garnered the attention.
Chants of "Hun-wick, Hunwick"
and "Se-xy Goal-ie" rang through
the student section.
"It was nice to hear a little feed-
back from the fans," Hunwick
said. "Obviously this is the first
time I've been a true contributor
to the team. I don't want to take
anything away from the seniors.
This is their night. So I'm glad they
were upstairs when they started
those chants."
Thirteen stops, a shutout and a
win over a bitter rival in his first
action in almost two months?
Maybe next time the scouts will
know Hunwick's name.
For Michigan men's
hoops, a trio of tough
atchups over break
By Gjon Juncaj 11 Daily Sports Editor
:T he Mchigat men's basketball team (6-9 Big Ten, 13-14 overall) enters its final three
games of the 2009-10 campaign resigned to the role of playing spoiler. It's a bitter pill
to swallow - as recent losses to Penn State and Illinois made even a consolation trip to next
month's National Invitation Tournament appear. improbable.4
ut a nl as Michigan coach John Beilein has looked tryingto explain whythis season
has fallen short of everyone's expectations, there will be something for the players to prove
- at the very least to themselves - in the next nine days. The Wolverines face three teams,
two jockeying for the Big Ten regular-season title, the other trying to lock down an NCAA
Tournament berth. Here's an overview of what lies ahead.
What happened last time What's happened since What's in NI' higan's favor
What's not
Minnesota
at Michigan
Matchup: Min-
nesota 16-11;
Michigan 13-14
When: March
2, 7 p.m.
Where: Crisler
Arena
TV/Radio: BTN
T he Wolverines surprised a lot of people
with their 71-63 win at Minnesota on
Feb. 11. Sims and Harris again paced the team
with 47 points between them. Sims especially
shined through on national television, abus-
ing the Golden Gophers' imposing frontcourt
(then the top shot-blocking team in the con-
ference) to go 12-of-18 from the field and haul
in four offensive rebounds. Michigan practi-
cally threw a giant wet blanket on the Wil-
liams Arena floor, deflating the home
crowd and throwing a stom-
ach-punch into Minnesota's
NCAA Tournament hopes.
" T he Buckeyes have taken 12 of their past
i15 games dating back to that Jan. 3 loss at
Crisler - all those games with Turner run-
ning the show. The junior has been on fire
as of late, even by his standards. Turner has
tallied at least 20 points, seven rebounds and
five assists in five of his past seven games.
Ohio State has played as well as almost any
team in the country in the past eight weeks,
earning wins at Purdue, versus Wisconsin
and most recently at Michigan State.
The Golden Gophers are just 2-2 since the
Wolverines left town, but they've
clearly woken up. Losses at North-
western and to third-ranked Purdue
- each by a basket - have sand-
wichedblowout wins at home versus
Wisconsin and Indiana. Senior
guard Lawrence Westbrook and
sophomore center Ralph Samp-
son III haven't had simultane-
ous great games in weeks. That
must change if Minnesota's to
make a statement in its final
three contests.
Lucas sprainedhis ankletwogameslater,
which sent Michigan State on a three-
game losing streak that took the Spartans
out of contention for a top seed inthe NCAA
Tournament. Michigan State (11-4 Big Ten,
21-7) also dropped a seven-point decision to
Ohio State on Sunday. Although the trio of
Lucas, Morgan and junior Durrell Summers
have been shaky in its past five games (the
three have combined for just 31 points per
game on 43 percent), junior Chris Allen
has picked up a lot of slack, averag-
s ing 14 points at a 52 percent clip
during that same stretch.
The Wolverines may have caught
the Golden Gophers napping two
weeks ago, but they still looked like
the better team. Although Michi-
gan's two consecutive home loss-
es won't bode well for a win next
Tuesday, don't expect Minnesota
coach Tubby Smith to cook up
any wildly successful gameday
adjustments for the rematch.
If Westbrook and Sampson III
are held relatively in check
(14 points combined Feb. 11),
Michigan will be in good
shape.
S hould the Golden Gophers (7-8,
16-11) steal a win at Illinois on
Saturday, they'll be riding a tidal
wave of momentum into Ann Arbor.
Winning its final three games would
put Minnesota in sixth place and over
.500 in the conference, likely taking them
off the NCAA Tournament Bubble. Though
the Golden Gophers have been playing
"must-win" games for the past couple weeks,
every sports cliche applies to them from here
on out.
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