2B - October 20, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
26 - October 20, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
It's time to relax, at least
we have the bye week
A fter another rough BigTen
loss, anocher game thac
saw Denard Robinson fin-
ish on che sidelines and another
performance that felt oh so much
like 2009, one thing is for sure.
The bye
week could
not come any
sooner.
Don't let any-
one fool you;
the Wolverines
are definitely_
reeling. Denard RYAN
Robinson looks KARTJE
more human,
acting anxious
in the pocket on more than a few
occasions in the last two weeks.
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
says he can't fix a defense that even
Vince Lombardi couldn't fix. And
Greg Robinson is still Greg Rob-
inson.
So what now?
First, it's time to take a few
breaths. Inhale. Exhale.
Don't you feel better? Now let's
takea step back and be honest.
I have no idea what's going
to happen after the bye week. I
was on the same bandwagon that
thought Denard Robinson was
a mutant sent from Sector 9 to
destroy all defenses that stood in
his path. I thought Rich Rodriguez
was a lock to keep his job after the
season when he registered five
wins to start the year. I thought
Greg Robinson ... well ... maybe I
didn't have many expectations for
him.
But tm just as shocked and
appalled as any of the 5-0 opti-
mists. The glass is probably half
empty for most of you now, and
you're entitled to that.
There's no reason to give up on
this season just yet, though.
Take Michigan's two losses.
Michigan State is actually a really
good team and in all honesty, the
Spartans will probably win the
Big Ten if they beat Iowa on Oct.
30. The Hawkeyes are no slouches
either; doubters are quick to forget
that the Wolverines scored 18 more
points than Iowa had given up on
average over the first six games.
The problems with Denard are
real, though. After the Michigan
Wolverines win*
to take lead in
the conference
Freshman Mack second half. Her scrappy play put
records hat trick, her around the ball again, this
time with a goal off a penalty
overtime winner corner. She set her teammates up,
securing four points on the day,
By STEVEN KELLNER two for the goal and one on each
For the Daily assist. The goal was Laytos's first
of the season.
Last Friday, the No. 12 Michi- Senior forward Marnie Rob-
gan field hockey team took the bins scored her third goal of the
pitch day for Northwestern to tie the
against NORTHWESTERN 3 game 3-3 early in the second half.
North- MICHIGAN 4 Michigan had multiple oppor-
western tunities in overtime. These
for a battle that would put the included two breakaways, one by
winner in prime position to win senior Alicia Mayer that rolled
the Big Ten regular season. right of the goal, another by
The Wolverines entered the junior Hannah Dawson, which
home contest the Wildcat goal-
having won nine ie kicked away.
of their previous a Ten minutes
10 games, with "We had a three and 20 seconds
the lone loss com- into overtime,
ing in a heart- versus one on the Wolver-
breaking 4-3 loss ine tandem of
to No. 1 Mary- the goalie, we Mack, Laytos
land. The Michi- and Mayer led
gan team (4-0 Big had to score." a charge down
Ten, 10-5 over- the field that the
all) knew how Wildcats could
important this not contain.
game was; with only two remain- Mayer passed to a streaking
ing conference games left in the Mack, who netted her third goal
season, Michigan could hardly of the day, in the back left corner
afford to drop one at home. of the cage.
And it didn't, beatingthe Wild- "We had a three versus one
cats (2-1, 10-5) in a 4-3 game. on the goalie, we had to score,"
The game started with a flur- Mack said. "We lost the ball, got
ry of offense from both squads. it back and attacked hard."
Northwestern scored in the Mayer found an open Mack,
fourth minute of the game, but who closed outa hat-trick perfor-
freshman forward Rachel Mack mance with a pile of Wolverines
took a rebound from senior Paige on top of her.
Laytos for a goal one minute later. "The coaches were telling me
Laytos and Mack did not ease all game to go around her, to the
up on the Wildcats, as the two outside, soI did," Mayer said.
paired up for another goal with Despite giving up a hat trick,
eight minutes left in the first goalie Haley Jones came up with
half, on a rebound from Laytos to two crucial saves in overtime,
Mack. improving to 9-1 as a starter this
The goal was Mack's 10th on season.
the season and it would not be Teammates Mack and Mayer
her last of the day. Michigan out- acknowledged their friendly
shot the Wildcats 10-5 and 6-1 on competition.
penalty corners in the first half, "Me and Rachel are compet-
though Northwestern tied it up ing for goals on the team," Mayer
at two going into the half. said. "I figured I would help her
Laytos stepped up again in the out today, give her a head start."
ARIEL BOND/Daily1
Sophomore Denard Robinson hurt his throwing shoulder in the third quarter of Michitan's loss to Iowa last Saturday.
State game, Robinson apologized
to his teammates for his mistakes
on the field, saying he'd put the
team on his back to lead it to vic-
tory.
But that might be the problem.
Everyone overlooks the fact that
Robinson has seven total starts.
And when the pressure became
more intense, Robinson has taken
on an exponentially larger burden,
especially in the last two games.
Robinson is too humble, too
strong-willed and too much of
a leader to ever admit to having
too much of the burden, but it's
unfolding in front of our eyes. He
overthrew balls, he threw a few
downright terrible passes. He just
can't do it all himself - no matter
what he tells his teammates after
a loss.
It's becoming increasingly clear
that Rodriguez has put all of his
eggs into the Shoelace basket, and
it may be hurting the team. The
running game, outside of Robin-
son, hasn't taken over any games
like they have in Michigan football
years past, accounting for 76 yards
and 83 yards against Michigan
State and Iowa, respectively.
Robinson tried at the beginning
of the game Saturday to put the
ball in his running backs' hands,
but it didn't work out the way
Rodriguez or Robinson may have
hoped. These backs just either
aren't game-changers at all or don't
function as well with Robinson as
former West Virginia ballcarrier
Steve Slaton functioned with Pat
White - not even close.
It's safe to say we all had sky
high expectations after the first
five weeks. Denard Robinson was
on his way to the Heisman. Rich
Rodriguez was comeback coach
of the year. And Michigan was
ready to turn a corner back toward
national prominence.
So on our journey back to reality,
let's take another deep breath. In
fact, spend the bye week remem-
bering the good 'ol times: the
final-drive win at Notre Dame,
the demolition of Connecticut, the
Heisman hopes.
Maybe they're all in the rear-
view for now. But this season is
far from over. This team will go
to a bowl game, even if that's the
smallest marked improvement
that it can make from 2009. And
Rich Rodriguez still has his job,
even if the heat under his seat was
cranked up a few notches.
For now, just take a breath and
thank God for bye weeks.
Kartje can be reached at
rkartje@umich.edu
Hunwick sets career high in
saves in first true road test
Senior Scooter Vaughan, shown here ina previous game, has twogoals in four games for Michigan this season.
Vaughan's versatili provides
a boost for Wolverine offense
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily SportsEditor
DURHAM, N.H. - Senior
goaltender Shawn Hunwick
is used to saving goals for the
Michigan hockey team. But just
over a minute into overtime
against New Hampshire, Hun-
wick had to save something else
- the game.
Saturday, the Wolverines were
deadlocked at three with then-
No. 9 New Hampshire after three
periods. In the extra period,
junior forward David Wohlberg
skated across the Wildcat goal-
mouth and shoved a backhand
on net. After a stop and a quick
outlet pass, the New Hampshire's
Dalton Speelman had a step on
Michigan's defense. Junior defen-
seman Greg Pateryn got back into
the play enough to disrupt Speel-
man, but the Wildcat cut hard to
the left and fired the shot. Hun-
wick kicked out his right pad to
make the stop and preserve the
tie.
"At that point, you're not really
thinking," Hunwick said. "Break-
away in OT, you're just trying to
react. Greg did a good job forcing
him to his backhand, and I just
tried to take away as much net as
I could."
The ston was one of Hunwick's
eight in overtime. His counter-
part, New Hampshire's Matt
DiGiorlamo, had to make just one
stop in overtime.
After coming in late last season
due to an injury, replacing start-
er Bryan Hogan, Hunwick was
charged with making the routine
saves to keep the Wolverines in
the game. Saturday, while locked
in a battle for the starting goalie
spot, Hunwick made the spec-
tacular stops to carry the team.
Michigan (2-0-0 CCHA, 2-0-2
overall) was outshot by 18, but
Hunwick responded by making
a career-high 45 saves. All in his
first true road test.
Before playing in the Whit-
temore Center Arena, Hunwick
had only played one other away
game on a campus site - last year
at Notre Dame. But Notre Dame
didn't have the rabid student sec-
tion singing, "Won't you be my
sieve?" directly behind Hunwick
for two periods that New Hamp-
shire (1-1-1) did.
"We're lucky we had Hunwick
out there today - he really saved
us - I don't know how many stops
he had, but it was enough to keep
us in the game," senior captain
Carl Hagelin said.
Despite the game-saving
breakaway stop in overtime,
Hunwick made his biggest contri-
By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
DURHAM, N.H. - The No. 3
Michigan ice hockey team features
a number of distinct offensive
weapons on all
four of its lines. NOTEBOOK
But with
minor team injuries, the need to
get young players into game action
and experimentation with line
chemistry, coach Red Berenson
has had to shake up his lines on
occasion this season.
With the recent changes, Beren-
son has has challenged senior right
wing Scooter Vaughan to take on
various roles for the Wolverines
(2-0-0 CCHA, 2-0-2 overall). And
line adjustments haven't affected
Vaughan's ability to perform in
games.
The senior has two goals to his
name this season, including one
in Saturday's contest against New
Hampshire (0-0-0 Hockey East,
1-1-1 overall), matching his goal
total from last year in only four
games.
"He's been really good for us
since the start of the season,"
senior left wing Carl Hagelin said.
"He's working hard, he's a great
skater, and he's been scoring for
us too, so that's key for us. He's an
impact player and he is just trying
to move up in the lineup. He's been
doing a good job showing coach
every day in practice and in games
that he belongs up there."
Vaughan's goal on Saturday
it
came on Michigan's first power
play of the game and gave the Wol-
verines the 1-0 lead on the road.
Junior right wing Luke Glenden-
ing backhanded a pass to Vaughn
at the bottom of the right circle
and Vaughan netted it for the first
score of the game.
"(Vaughan) had a good game,
(it was) good for him," Beren-
son said. "He played well, scored
the first goal. He's a good skater,
and I think a big rink like this
lends itself to akid that can really
skate."
NO RUST FOR RUST: After
going down with a lower body
injury one week ago against Bowl-
ing Green, senior center Matt Rust
missed Tuesday's contest against
the U.S. National Team Develop-
ment Program and didn't skate in
practice until late in the week. But
after some rest, Rust returned to
his regular spot in the Wolverines'
lineup on Saturday.
Rust, Hagelin and sophomore
right wing Chris Brown make up
one of Michigan's most danger-
ous lines. The trio has netted four
goals and seven assists in the Wol-
verines' four games.
Hagelin said he didn't feel like
he played well against USNTDP,
and while he couldn't attribute his
performance completely to Rust's
absence, there is no denying the
line is more prolific when Rust is
in his usual spot.
Having Rust back on the ice
benefitted the Wolverines on
Saturday, as the whole line was
involved in Brown's first goal of
the season in the second period.
Rust's pass from behind the goal
set up Hagelin's feed to Brown for
the goal.
"(Rust's line) played pretty
well," Berenson said. "They played
a lot against (New Hampshire's)
top line - DeSimone's line - so
you're playing against one of the
top lines in college hockey."
FRESHMEN GETTING THEIR
SHOT: Berenson made it a prior-
ity to get the younger Wolverines
some significant ice time in Tues-
day's game against the USNTDP,
and freshmen Derek DeBlois,
Jacob Fallon and Kevin Clare all
earned line spots in Saturday's
game as well.
DeBlois and Fallon took the
wing spots on Michigan's fourth
line with senior Ben Winnett at
center, while Clare, a defenseman,
played with junior Greg Pateryn.
While these freshmen were
kept off the stat sheet on Satur-
day, they now have two consecu-
tive experiences in live games
- and Berenson knows the depth
that the younger icers give the
Wolverines will be crucial down
the stretch.
"(The freshmen) got an expe-
rience (at New Hampshire),"
Berenson said. "Another good
experience, especially on the
road, when you come and play
in a place like this, this is a good
team. You've got to be at your best.
I hope they got something out of
that game."
bution in the second period. Fac-
ing back-to-back 'five-on-threes,
Hunwick jumped into a higher
echelon of goaltenders. He was a
goalie who could steal a point on
the road.
Midway through the two
straight minutes of the then-
third-ranked Wolverines being
down two men, the Wildcats stick
handled around a defenseman out
of the corner and tried to stuff a
backhand through Hunwick's
five-hole.
But Hunwick got his stick
down to make the stop. A half-
minute later Hunwick was forced
to make a point blank stop from
the top of the circles after a New
Hampshire defenseman walked
around a diving senior forward
Scooter Vaughan.
Hunwick made nine stops on
Michigan's four shorthanded
stretches in the second, leading
the Wolverines into the locker
room up by a goal.
"That's when you really rely on
your goalie, and he was as good
as it gets," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said.
As the goaltending battle con-
tinues later into the season, per-
formances like this leads* to a
higher chance of Hunwick hav-
ing more opportunities to save
games.
.w
Senior Shawn Hunwick, pictured here at Yost, made nine stops while the Wolverines were shorthanded in the second period.