4B - February 21, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.c*
4B - February 21, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycorn
Lynch ends scoring drought with Unlikely source
three goals in sweep of Broncos Pateryn helps
By STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Editor
Ninety days.
Sophomore forward Kevin
Lynch entered Yost Ice Arena for
a weekend series against West-
ern Michigan riding the worst
streak of any skater on the No.
11 Michigan hockey team - an
18-game pointless streak span-
ning nearly three months.
Lynch wasn't just snake-bit
- the monkey on his back had
evolved well beyond its infancy
stage.
But midway through the first
period of the Wolverines' 6-3
victory against the Broncos,
Lynch found a rebound off to the
side of Bronco goaltender Jerry
Kuhn and shoveled it into the
net. Streak snapped.
For the Grosse Pointe, Mich.
native, it was a sigh of relief
months in the making.
"A little while? It's been a long
time," Lynch said with a laugh
after the game. "It felt good to
give something to the team. I
thought I'd been playing well,
but it hasn't been going in for me.
"It was a really good feeling to
get the monkey off my back."
The goal - Lynch's seventh
of the season - brought confi-
dence. To ensure that the streak
was gone, Lynch knocked in his
second goal at the 11:15 mark of
the third period.
"We've explained to him, it's
not about scoring, it's about play-
ing well and playing hard and
playing good defense," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said Friday.
"When you're not scoring, you'd
better notget scored against. For
the most part Lynch has kept
himself in the lineup by work-
ing hard, and tonight he was
rewarded."
Lynch was on a tear, and he
left Broncos strewn in his wake.
The big-bodied forward was the
sheriff on the ice at Yost, pun-
ishing Western Michigan and
letting his physicality match the
ne*wffensive outpobringl'"
"Ijust think (Lynch) is playing
with a little more grit," Berenson
said. "Sometimes when you play
more physical, good things hap-
pen. When he quits hitting, he'll
probably quit scoring."
Blue offense roll
By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan junior defenseman
Greg Pateryn is not primarily
known for his scoring ability -
he came into
this weekend's NOTEBOOK
series with just
10 points. The Wolverines ask
Pateryn to play a strong defense,
and anything he nets is a bonus.
But in Friday's 6-3 win over
Western Michigan, Pateryn had
the scoring touch from the get-
go. He scored his third goal of the
seasonand addedthree helpersto
get the Wolverine offense off to a
quick start - Pateryn couldn't
remember ever accounting for
four points in agame before.
"I don't think ever in my
hockey career," Pateryn said. "I
think the last time was maybe
high school when we beat a team
like 9-0 or something. Guys were
putting the puck in. (Senior for-
ward Scooter Vaughan has) been
scoring on every chance he's had
basically. (Sophomore forward
Kevin Lynch) put one in there for
me. (Sophomore forward Chris
Brown), good deflection, and
(senior forward Matt Rust) made
an unbelievable pass. You got to
give everyone else credit, notjust
myself."
Pateryn notched just six total
points last season - one goal and
five assists - but his increased
offensive production this year is
a good sign for a Michigan team
that looks to a different guy to
play hero each night. Pateryn's
offensive contributions on Fri-
day helped propelthe Wolverines
from the first goal onward. Just
seconds after Vaughan finished
servinghis penalty for elbowing,
Pateryn dished the puck to
Vaughanoutofthebox,who skat-
ed down theTight side and placed
the puck iiitheback ofthe net
"(Pateryn's) keeping the game
simple," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said. "We're asking our
(defensemen) to move the puck,
quick up the puck. He made that
play to Scooter coming out of
the penalty box. That was a little
bit of luck there, the timing and
everything, (but) that was a nice
play."
POWERPLAY PERKS UP: After
22 consecutive unsuccessful
power play attempts, on Satur-
day, the Wolverines showed that
all they needed was one more
chance.
On Friday, Western Michigan
didn't take any penalties, so the
Michigan man-advantage didn't
have an opportunity to see the
ice.
But on Saturday, when West-
ern Michigan defenseman
Dennis Brown went to the box
for tripping with 10 minutes
remaining in the first period,
the Wolverines didn't miss their
23rd opportunity. Junior defen-
seman Brandon Burlon ripped a
shot from the point that sopho-
more forward Kevin Lynch
deflected before the puck went
wide right of the net, hitting the
backboards.
Junior forward David Wohl-
berg picked the puck up on the
rebound and netted his 12th goal
of the season.
"It was a great finish, little bit
of luck, nice to see the power play
capitalize," Berenson said. "It
was nice to get a power play, and
good for our team."
Wohlberg's power-play tally
moves the junior into second on
the team in goals this season 4
but the Wolverine who leads the
team in goals, senior forward
Carl Hagelin, was also involved
in getting the man-advantage
unit going on Saturday.
Hagelin's game-winner with
just three seconds remaining in
overtime came onthe powerplay,
as Michigan went 2-for-4 with
seven shots on net with that unit
on Saturday.
"NOTES: With'thlg weekend's
sweep of the i'onil&i, Michig4.t
is all but guaranteed a top-two
finish in the CCHA. It needs
only one more point to do so...
Conference-leading Notre Dame
is currently one point ahead of
Michigan.
CHRIwDZ
Sophomore forward Kevin Lynch (11) snapped his 18-game scoring drought in Friday's 6-3 win with two goals.
The next night, Lynch proved
that Friday was no fluke.
In Saturday's 5-4 barnburner,
Lynch assisted on sophomore
forward David Wohlberg's pow-
er-play goal in the first period -
the team's first man-advantage
goal since a Jan. 22 matchup
against Alaska. In the following
period, Lynch scored the Wol-
verines' biggest goal of the first
59 minutes of the game - over-
shadowed only by senior for-
ward Carl Hagelin's late-game
heroics.
Just over two minutes into the
second frame, with Hagelin in
the penalty box for high-stick-
ing, Lynch showcased his scbr
ing finesse on a short-handed
attack. After picking up a loose
puck in his own end, Lynch
dashed the length of the ice on
a two-on-two with Wohlberg.
With Wohlberg covered and two
men converging on him, Lynch
split the defensemen with a nifty
toe-drag and wristed a shot past
Kuhn to tie the game at three
goals each.
"The short-handed goal was
huge - that got us back in the
game," Berenson said on Satur-
day. "Great play by Lynch. We've
had those go against us, as you
saw, and it was good to get that
one back."
This wasn't the same Lynch
whose inability to produce on
the offensive end had befuddled
both he and the coaching staff
for months.
Before last weekend's match-
up against Ohio State, Beren-
son shifted Lynch over from
right wing to center, his natural
position. The change didn't pay
dividends against the Buckeyes,
but it may have sparked Lynch
against the Broncos.
With time winding down
in the third period on Satur-
day, Lynch had four points on
the weekend, but the Wolver-
ines still trailed, 4-3. Berenson
called a timeout with 90 sec-
onds remaining to set up a final
stab at sending the game into
overtime.
When Michigan took the ice
coming out of the timeout, senior
goaltender Shawn Hunwick was
on the bench and Berenson sent
Lynch as the extra attacker.
After three months of disap-
pointment, he'd earned the trust
of his coach.
A. minute later, Lynch Was
skating alongside Hagelin whe'n
the Swede deadlocked the game
with 40 seconds remaining.
The barn was ablaze, and
nobody more so than Kevin
Lynch - the weekend's most
unlikely hero.
BASEBALL
Wolverines swept in Big
East-Big Ten Challenge
SOFTBALL
'M' remains perfect on season
By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
DailySports Writer
Their opponents' big innings
were too big and the Wolverines'
big innings
weren't big LOUISVILLE 6
enough in MICHIGAN 3
the opening
weekend of S.CHN 6S 1
the Michi-M
gan baseball UCONN 16
team's sea- MICHIGAN 9
son.
Michigan dropped all three
games of the Big Ten-Big East
Challenge in St. Petersburg, Fla.
after being outscored by a com-
bined 17 runs in the losses.
Pinpointing exactly where
the Michigan baseball team fell
short this weekend might be a
useless task, as the Wolverines'
inconsistent pitching, scattered
hitting and porous defense all
contributed to their fate against
Louisville, St. John's and Con-
necticut.
The crooked number wasn't
kind to Michigan (0-3) - high-
scoring innings hurt the Wolver-
ines in all three games.
"The number one thing we
preach is staying out of the big
inning," Michigan coach Rich
Maloney said. "And the big
inning occurs from walks, hit
batsmen or errors. That just
can't happen, but it did."
On Friday, No. 22 Louisville's
four-run second inning put the
Cardinals ahead, 5-0 - a deficit
Michigan chipped away at, but
couldn't overcome en route to a
6-3 loss.
Two four-run innings on Sat-
urday helped No. 31 St. John's
make easy work of the Wolver-
ines in the Red Storm's 13-6
victory. Michigan sophomore
starting pitcher Ben Ballantine
was chased in the fourth inning
after surrendering six runs on
nine hits, capped by a three-run
double from sophomore outfield-
er Jeremy Baltz.
"There were several times
where we could have stopped the
bleeding if we would have been
able to make one more pitch in a
pressure situation," Maloney said,
pointing to Baltz's base-clearing
double. "That one pitch set the
momentum on fire for them. Had
we made that pitch and got out
of the situation, the whole game
could have been different."
And Sunday, it was shoddy
defense that led to No. 17 Con-
necticut's big innings - a six-
run second inning and a five-run
third. With two outs and only
one run across in the second
inning, sophomore shortstop
Derek Dennis committed an
error on a fielder's choice that
would have ended the inning.
Five runs later, the blowout
was on. Michigan tallied four
errors on the day, which led to
six unearned runs.
But despite the weekend's
deflating results, Michigan did
receive promising performances
from a handful of players. Sopho-
more first baseman Garrett Ste-
phens went 4-for-12 and knocked
in eight of the Wolverines' 18
runs in the Challenge.
Meanwhile, freshman right-
fielder Michael O'Neill"- neph-
ew of former major leaguer
Paul O'Neill - earned his way
into the third spot in the lineup
against Connecticut to finish
5-for-11 in the series.
He also starred in the field,
gunning down two runners with
outfield assists and registering a
running catch. Maloney said it
was just the second time he has
batted a freshman third in the
lineup.
"It's a big confidence boost
that Coach has confidence in
me to hit me third - that's big,"
O'Neill said. "I think guys on the
team know that (I'm) for real."
Michigan also had to deal
with some of its players getting
their first starts collegiate starts.
Stephens, O'Neill, redshirt soph-
omore infielder Kevin Krantz
and freshman third baseman
Alex Lakatos all started their
first games this weekend.
"We're going
to be going
through some
growing pains."
"We've got a lot of guys who
don't have experience that we
have a lot of confidence in and
that we think over time are
going to be really good players,"
Maloney said. "We're going to
be going through some grow-
ing pains and we have a very
difficult schedule to go through
those growing pains."
In order to make sure that
the Wolverines' come out with
their first win of the season next
weekend, Maloneysaid improve-
ment on pitching and defense
would be emphasized this week
in practice.
"We just have to get better so
that at some point we can learn
from all these experiences,"
Maloney said.
Wolverines defeat
Massachusetts
to capture FAU
Kickoff Classic title
By EMILY BONCHI
DailySports Writer
After three shutouts, nine
home runs and five wins, the
No. 11 Michigan softball team
clinched top honors at the Flor-
ida Atlantic University Kickoff
Classic
this past UMASS 1
weekend MICHIGAN 5
and kept
an unblemished record.
After going 4-0 during Fri-
day's and Saturday's matchups
in Boca Raton, Fla., the Wol-
verines earned first-seed hon-
ors, facing Massachusetts in
the bracket championship for a
weekend rematch.
"I thought today was one
of our best efforts," Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins said after
the game. "It was a very com-
petitive game against a good
UMass team and a very good
pitcher.
"We've got a lot of work to do,
we've got a lot of new-kids. We
are definitely getting better."
For the first time this sea-
son, Michigan (10-0 overall)
dropped a game's first run, after
an error allowed Minutewoman
Jordan Storro onto first base in
Sunday's championship game.
She eventually stole her way
around the diamond, scoring
the first run of the game.
Michigan quickly rebounded
in the bottom of the first, put-
ting its own tally on the board.
After two consecutive singles by
freshman outfielder Nicole Sap-
pingfield and senior first base-
man Dorian Shaw, junior third
baseman Amanda Chidester
singled up the middle to send
Sappingfield home.
Three scoreless innings
passed, with most of the work
coming off the defensive ends
of each team. Massachusetts
pitcher Sara Plourde registered
one strikeout, while Michigan
pitchers sophomore Stephanie
Speierman and senior Jordan
Taylor (who came into the game
during the fourth inning) each
sent two girls back to the dug-
out.
The Wolverine offense found
new life in the bottom of the
fifth, as junior Bree Evans
made the most of a Minute-
women error and a wild pitch
by Plourde to work her way into
scoring position.
With one out, Shaw sent a
deep sacrifice fly to left field -
giving Evans the opportunity to
score and put Michigan in the
lead.
"We all wanted to win that
last game," Evans said. "And we
knew it was a tough pitcher so
we all adjusted, and the major
difference is that we ended up
having a better outcome on this
one."
The Wolverines pulled
farther ahead after two
sixth-inning home runs by
sophomores Ashley Lane and
Amy Knapp.
Michigankept Massachusetts
off the board for the remainder
of the game, beating them for
the second time in two days, 5-1.
"We have a number of girls
that have been waiting in the
wings," Hutchins said. "You
look at Marley Powers, who's
a senior. And you look at Amy
Knapp and Ashley Lane, and
those are people who really need
to step in and help us be success-
ful throughout the course of the
season. They've all been doing
their part and contributing."
The Wolverines kicked off
the tournament last Friday with
a doubleheader against Long
Island and Classic host Florida
Atlantic.
Taylor led Michigan against
the Blackbirds, throwing her
seventh career no-hitter to give
the Wolverines the 6-0 shut-
out to start the weekend. Later
that day, Speierman followed
suit, blanking the owls in five
innings, 11-0.
Friday also included strong
offensive performances, paced
by two home runs apiece by
Shaw and Lane.
Michigan's success continued
into Saturday's double-header
with closer games against Tulsa
and Massachusetts.
Taylor continued to dominate
on the mound, tossing a one-hit-
ter and striking out 10 against
the Minutewomen, as the Wol-
verines took the first meeting of
this series, 3-0.
"It's my senior year and I
don't want to start it off poor,
Taylor said.
Michigan's closest game
of the weekend series came
against Tulsa. After Evans and
Sappingfield led off in the first
inning with back-to-band sin-
gles, Chidester broke the game
open early with a two-run dou-
ble, sending both base runners
back to the plate.
The inning was retired with
the Wolverines already leading
3-0, but an offensive surge start-
ing in the third inning by Tulsa
prompted the veteran Taylor to
come in for Speierman to earn
her second save of the season.
Michigan took the game, 4-3,
and earned the top slot for the
bracket championship.
Coming off their best start in
years, the Wolverines will con-
tinue tournament play in Flor-
ida during Michigan's spring
break trip next weekend.