The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Michigan beats
three conference
foes in Indiana
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March 8, 2010 - 3B
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After a tiring west-coast trip
ugh "Elite Eight" the previous weekend dropped
Michigan three places in the polls,
By JAMES BLUM the Wolverines were desperate for
For the Daily a dramatic rebound in conference
play.
Michigan water polo team Michigan beat the hometown
ced to play without senior Hoosiers in final-period, come-
Leah Robertson this back fashion. Trailing 6-4 to
d, as an undisclosed injury start the final stanza, sophomore
Wolverines' star our. But Megan Cobb scored two goals in
being short-handed, the under two and a half minutes to
nes remained undefeated tie the game. With just 35 seconds
rence play. left, junior Lauren Orth rocketed
igan took to the pools of in a five-meter penalty shot to
's Otuncilman Billingsley solidify the comeback victory.
Center this weekend as "It's always an exciting and
PA's eight best teams com- close game against Indiana,"
The Wolverines looked to Cobb said. "Our team was playing
e their CWPA dominance, well the whole game. My team-
n rival Indiana, Hartwick mates worked to get me open and
I ended up gettingthe shots."
Only junior Alison Mantel
matched Cobb's inspired play.
'wanted to Mantel had a hat trick and a
playmaker (three assists) in both
rove to the opening-day games, leading
Michigan over Bucknell 13-7 and
im that they the Hoosiers 7-6.
"I had a talk with 'Magic', that's
ald step up" what we call (Mantel), she's our
other All-American," Anderson
said. "I told her she has got to be
a leader out there. With Leah out,
knell. she has got to take control and
even without All-Amer- start dictating the pace of our
bertson, who Michigan offense. She really blossomed this
tatt Anderson said needed weekend in terms of beinga vocal
of rest, Michigan defeated leader in the water."
e opponents at the Elite The excitement of the first day
roviding the team with a made for an anticipated matchup
ice boost. with Hartwick. But Michigan
tted to prove to the team didn't have a problem, beating
y could step up without its rivals for the second time this
he water," Anderson said. season. Cobb followed up her Sat-
ey did, so it's only going urday heroics with four pivotal
us stronger for the rest of goals against rival Hartwick as
." Michigan took first in the Elite
Roberston out, the Michi- Eight with a dominant 11-8'vic-
-twick final looked to be a tory.
tch.Michigan(7-0CWPA, "I think that us beating Indi-
erall) and Hartwick (6-2, ana and Hartwick as a team
nnually find themselves proved that we are a team to be
the conference in compe- reckoned with in the East," Man-
r a tournament bid. The tel said. "We know we can play
ools' traditions of excel- with everyone and comeback
ve sparked a rivalry so it from tough situations and I think
ng that the eighth-ranked we trust ourselves more now."
I
ARICL BOND/Daily
Junior Shawn Hunwick has registered two shutouts in four games of action (his first major action of his career) since starting goalie Bryan Hogan injured his groin.
Hunwick earns a new nickname
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3erenson gives. doing his job.
"I've worked hard for my oppor-
or goalie name of tunity," he said. "Some people
might have said when I was com-
idy" after sweep ing in, that I didn't deserve to be
here, so it was definitely some-
By MARK BURNS thing to work for."
Daily Sports Editor Coming into this weekend's
best-of-three first-round series,
the postgame press con- the Sterling Heights native had a
e after the Michigan 1-1 record on the year, including a
team's CCHA playoff shutout 10 days ago against Notre
clinching win against Lake Dame. Prior to that contest against
or State on Saturday, coach the Fighting Irish, Hunwick had
erenson compared Shawn seen just 18 minutes of action all
ick, the Wolverines' backup season, so to say he was an inex-
rider, to 'Rudy.' perienced goaltender stepping
vas a clear NOTEBOOK into the limelight was an under-
ent from statement. To the casual hockey
on about observer, he was a baby still learn-
ick's performance in relief ing to walk.
lie Bryan Hogan, who has Just don't tell that to senior
ut with a groin injury since defenseman Chris Summers, who
5. has watched Hunwick mature and
when 'addressed by report- develop into a solid netminder
er the Wolverines' 6-0 drub- during the last three years in Ann
of the Lakers, Hunwick's Arbor.
demeanor hinted that he "It's not a surprise to us that he
't care less about the new has been playing this well," Sum-
.me - he's out there just mers said, after Michigan's 5-2
victory against the Lake Superior
State on Friday.
Hunwick backstopped the Wol-
verines to a two-game sweep of
Lake Spperior State and a date
with Michigan State in the CCHA
quarterfinals next Friday. And
while he wasn't really that tested
against the Lakers - except for a
big kick save midway through the
first period with the score tied at
zero - he looked comfortable in
net and stayed in the game mental-
ly, despite the long lapses without
any action at the Wolverine end.
BURNIN' HOLES IN THE NET:
"Keeping it simple" - it's a small
phrase that junior Louie Caporus-
so has reiterated over the past few
weeks to describe his recent offen-
sive resurgence.
And while Caporusso isn'treally
saying a lot with his explanation,
the three words depict the whole
story and the former Hobey Baker
finalist's rise to the spot of second-
leading scorer, behind junior Carl
Hagelin.
Caporusso has 15 points in his
last 13 games, scoring his first hat
trick of the season this past week-
end against Lake Superior State.
Earlier in the season, accord-
ing to Caporusso, he was try-
ing to do too much with the puck
and thinking too much on the ice.
The Woodbridge, Ontario native
has minimized his over-thinking
and has, instead, reverted more
to reacting to the play at hand.
The change in his approach to the
game has certainly paid off.
"There's always a little pres-
sure, that comes with hockey, that
comes with life," Caporusso said.
"But tm not going to worry about
it too much. I'm going to play. At
the end of the day, you got to keep
it simple."
NOTES: Freshman Jeff
Rohrkemper scored his first career
goal Saturday against the Lakers,
shooting a wrist shot over Lake
Superior State netminder Brian
Mahoney-Wilson's glove ... Senior
captain Chris Summers left Sat-
urday'se,-. ne midway through
the first period with a lower-body
injury, The extent of his injury is
still unknown.
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AUERBACH
rrom Page I B
that we know for sure at this
point is that the Wolverines will
play in the Big Ten Tournament
on Thursday afternoon against
Iowa.
"You've got to put it all togeth-
er and just take it one game at
time," Michigan coach John
Beilein said. "One game at a time
is the old clichd, but there's Iowa,
and then there's somebody else."
There are some Michigan fans
out there holding out hope that
the Wolverines can earn four
straight victories, win the tour-
nament and receive an automatic
bid to the NCAA Tournament.
And I suppose it's fair to say,
never count a Beilein-coached
team out of its conference tour-
nament. When he coached at
Canisius and Richmond - and
even West Virginia - he used
conference tournament runs to
pave the way for national tourna-
ment bids.
"That's the way I've been
coaching for most of my time,"
'Beilein said. "It's the Way it's
always been - you got to win
LAKE STATE
From Page lB
'ines around the ice to salute the
fans one final time. But that group
was without senior captain Chris
Summers, who went knee-to-knee
with Lake Superior's Dan Barczuk
midway through the first period
and left the ice, never to return.
Berenson said that Summers had
sustained a "lower-body injury,"
and that he did no know when Sum-
mers would return.
If Summers can't go against No. 2
seed Michigan State next weekend,
the seventh-seeded Wolverines
could be without their captain and
their starting goalie junior Bryan
Hogan, who has been out with a
groin injury since Feb. 25.
The injuries obviously weren't
factored into the season the Wol-
verines were supposed to have, so
after two games where everything
came together, Michigan's two sea-
sons will diverge when they take
the ice Friday, win or lose.
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AREL BOND/Daily Sf
Michigan coach John Beitein now
prepares his team to f ace Iowa in the a]
Big Ten Tournament on Friday. C
that tournament." tl
That mentality seems to have w
infiltrated the locker room, tc
too. The players know that the t
postseason is its own beast, and a
it gives them confidence. That, f
coupled with a bit of hope, is
enough to maintain a glimmer ofr
optimism. a
"It's a completely new season,"_
sophomore Zack Novak said.
"Regular season, we went up
and down, up and down. Usu-
ally when we'd have big downs,
KARTJE
From Page 1B
looks like it will sideline him the
rest of the season - I can't say I
had much hope for a Hunwick
leading a Michigan playoff run.
But "Rudy" has so far proved
me wrong and made it increas-
ingly clear that the Wolverines'
defense, which fell way short of its
sky-high expectations this year,
holds the team's fragile postsea-
son hopes in its hands.
Before the season, Summers'
compared this year's corps to
a star-studded cast from his
freshman year - a comparison
he might take back if you asked
him today. That defense had
future NHLers Jack Johnson and
Shawn's brother, Matt Hunwick,
two of the best defensemen in
Michigan hockey history.
Clearly, the comparison has
looked a little unfounded thus far.
All season long, the Wolverines
have been prone to turning the
e'd try to follow with an up.
Hopefully we keep following that
rend. Anything can happen at
his point. We just need to put
together a good week, and we're
hopeful."
Still, I have a hard time believ-
ing that the Wolverines will
uddenly arrive in Indianapolis
or the Big Ten Tournament a
ifferent squad than they've been
ll season. Beilein admitted a
our-game tournament is diffi-
ult. More so, this year. His team
hasn't won three games in a row
gainst Division-I opponents allw
season.
Hope is a tricky thing. It isn't
lways grounded in the past.
onsidering all that's happened
his rollercoaster season, why
could the Wolverines be able
o reel off four impressive wins
his weekend, against teams that
re clearly better? It's hard to
athom.
I'd love to see Michigan prove
me wrong. I'll be there Thursday
fternoon waiting patiently.
- Auerbach hopes nobody
actually throws a kitchen sink
at her. She can be reached
at naauer@umich.edu
SPARTANS
From Page 1B
"The first four minutes of the
second half we knew were going
to be crucial and the lead got
pushed to 30 real quick," Novak
said. "And you can't recover from
something like that in a place like
this."
It's true it's extremely difficult
- especially at the Breslin Center,
home to one of the rowdiest stu-
dent sections in the country - and
the Wolverines didn't. Michigan
State kept piling on with little
resistance and easily claimed a
share of the Big Ten title with the
victory.
This loss leaves Michigan about
as flat as a team can be heading
into the Big Ten Tournament, the
team's only hope for a postseason.
The Wolverines will have to make
some serious noise in the tour-
nament to even think about the
NIT, and they need to win it for an
automatic bid to the NCAA Tour-
nament.
Ultimately, this loss means that
even now, at the end of the season,
when teams are supposed to have
resolved most of their questions,
Michigan is still without answers.
A-rn",
puck over in the neutral zone or against Miami (Ohio): Five goals
givingup multiple odd-man rush- allowed in two games against
es, consequently hanging their Ferris State. And in those eight
goalie out to dry. games, Michigan came away with
With Shawn Hunwick in net, only two wins.
an inexperienced goaltender fac- The Wolverines will play the
Spartans in the next round of the
CCHA Tournament and will likely
play some combination of the
The defense... other two, should they advance.
And without a defensive perfor-
holds the team's mance similar to the one they had
this past weekend against Lake
fragile postseason Superior State - allowing justtwo
h in its hands. goal in two games - those top
opes -scorers will expose this Michigan
defense for what they've been all
year:
ing the CCHA's best scorers in the Overrated.
next few weeks, those mistakes It's no longer Hunwick's job to
could mean the end of Michigan's prove me and the rest of the critics
season. wrong. He's done all he can to do
Although the Wolverines' scor- just that.
ing defense is eighth in the nation, Now, it's time for Summers and
losing records against the confer- the defense to prove that they are
ence's top competition say enough. deserving of being called the best.
Thirteen goals allowed in four
games against Michigan State. Kartje can be reached
Eight goals allowed in two games at rkartje@umich.edu
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