The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 -7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, November13, 2012 - 7
S
First-year captain Treais
leads nation in goals scored
Michigan earns first-
round home matchup,
hosts Purple Eagles
By MICHAEL LAURILA
Daily Sports Writer
In the first game of the Michi-
gan hockey team's series with
Northern Michigan two weeks
ago, senior forward A.J. Treais
was the hero when he notched a
goal with six-tenths of a second
left, sending the game into over-
time.
And after the overtime period
turned into a shootout, Treais
was the only player for either
team to score on his penalty
shot. The lone goal completed an
improbable comeback, after the
Wolverines scored three third-
period goals to send the game to
overtime.
Though they left Marquette
with just two points, Treais' two
goals and one assist on the week-
end were critical to the little
success they found in the Upper
Peninsula.
"You can tell when A.J. shoots
the puck, he shoots to score,"
said Michigan coach Red Beren-
son after Michigan's 4-3 loss to
Northern Michigan. "We're not
getting shots like that from any-
one else."
This past weekend, Treais'
hot streak continued during the
Wolverines home-and-home
series with. Michigan State. In
Michigan's 5-1 victory on Friday
night in Ann Arbor, he tallied
two assists, for a total of five on
the year. A day later, when the
Wolverines were throttled 7-2
by the Spartans, the Bloomfield
Hills, Mich. native notched his
eighth goal of the season.
Treais' high numbers aren't
a big surprise either. Last sea-
son he finished with 42 points,
putting him tied for second, just
one point shy of then-freshman
forward Alex Guptill. His cur-
rent pace sets him on target to
finish the regular season with
52 points.,
"He's been a stud," said
senior defenseman Lee Moffie.
"I've been in his class and seen
his skill set and his talent in the
past three years and it's always
Wolverines make
NCAA Tourney
in Daley's debut
season at the helm
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's soccer
team may have missed out on
a Big Ten Tournament title on
Sunday, but Monday was a new
day and surely a better one for
the Wolverines.
The NCAA selection commit-
tee announced Monday evening
that Michigan (3-2-1 Big Ten,
10-9-1 overall) would receive an
at-large bid to the NCAA Tour-
nament, ensuring that all was
not lost following the bitter 2-1
overtime defeat to Michigan
State in Evanston. Better yet, the
Wolverines are slated to host the
first-round tournament match
against Niagara (6-1-1 MAAC,
13-1-4) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at
the U-M Soccer Complex..
A home game is crucial for the
Wolverines, as they will havethe
rabid Michigan Ultras at their
backs, starving for a victory
after making the trip from Ann
Arbor to Evanston for the disap-
pointing Big Ten final.
"The Ultras are the best," said
Michigan coach Chaka Daley.
"Hopefully we can get them in
full force for the first match and
then see if we can get going (in
the tournament)."
The Wolverines and the
Purple Eagles have never met.
Michigan is in the NCAA Tour-
nament for the first time since its
prolific run to the College Cup
semifinals in 2010, where they
lost 2-1 to to eventual champion
Akron, and are delighted to have
a shot at the postseason. The
Zips await the Wolverines in the
second round should Michigan
advance.
The Wolverines hold a 7-4
all-time record in the tourna-
ment, having yet to lose a first-
round match in progtam history.
Michigan will look to continue
that trend as the squad begins
to prepare this week for a highly
anticipated postseason:
PAUL SHEPMAN/Daily
Senior forward and team captain A.J. Treais leads the nation with eight goals early in the 20t2-t3 season.
been there. You've seen flashes
of it in the past when he gets
hot. It just seems like right now
he's putting it all together and
he's leading this team by exam-
ple and it's been pretty special
to watch."
As of Monday, Treais is tied
for second in points in the
CCHA, behind only Miami
(Ohio) freshman standout Riley
Barber. However, his average of
.89 goals per game is .29' more
than anybody else in the con-
ference. He has averaged 1.44
points per game, which is also
good enough for the conference
lead.
And he attributes his success
this season to a new mindset.
"I guess just putting pucks on
net and not being too unselfish,"
he said. "In years past, I always
made the extra pass and this
year I'm trying to put pucks on
net. I figure if I put five shots
on net a game, hopefully one of
them will go in."
They have been going in,
and not only does he lead the
CCHA in both points per game
and goals per game, but he leads
the entire NCAA in goals scored
and goals per game. His offen-
sive production has foreshad-
owed the success of the entire
offense, as the team's 3.50 goals
per game in conference play are
tied with Notre Dame for first.
"I think (he) gives our offense
a leader," said Michigan coach
Red Berenson. "Our offense
has been pretty good and that's
important. But look where we
are. We're a .500 team. ...A.J.
is doing what he can do, but we
have to be better defensively."
Berenson has stressed the
defensive issues - especially
during the Wolverines last four
games where they have allowed
20 goals - are not just a result
of poor play from the defen-
semen, but also the forwards
keeping track of their men and
maintaining a strong forecheck.
Despite the forward corps
defensive struggles, Treais'
flurry of early season points
might be due to his new found
duty of running the point on
the power play. After junior
defenseman Jon Merrill was
sidelined Oct. 9 with an injured
vertebrae during the Wolver-
ines' exhibition with Windsor,
Treais has had to fill in on the
point. His two power play goals
are a direct result of his new job
and success he's had.
Prior to this season, Treais
had always been a quiet con-
tributor for a Michigan team
that was never short of strong
leadership - forward Luke
Glendening wore the captain'
s 'C' the previous two seasons
during his junior and senior
campaigns. When Treais was
named team captain this off-
season, he was thrust into a
leadership role that had been
unfamiliar to him.
"He's .been unbelievable this
year, and he's the most valuable
player on the team for us right
now," Moffie said.
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Wolverines ease past Xavier in first road contest
By GLENN MILLER JR.
Daily Sports Writer
After getting off to a slow start,
the Michigan women's basketball.
team came out firing in the sec-
ond half Monday to defeat host
Xavier, 62-53. In first-year coach
Kim Barnes Arico's second game,
the Wolverines shot 41.8 percent.
from the field but gave up 13 turn-
overs in their first game away
from the Crisler Center.
"I think
we came MICHIGAN 62
out with a XAVIER 53
lot of ener-
gy," said senior forward Rachel
Sheffer. "At times we were a little
quiet, but once we got comfort-
able and focused on ourselves is
when we really started playing
well."
Sheffer led Michigan on
offense with 18 points and four
assists, making 7-of-14 from the
field and 2-of-3 from 3-point
range. Senior guard Kate Thomp-
son followed suit with 14 points
while making 4-of-7 3-point-
ers. Thompson was especially
dominant in the post, where
she grabbed six rebounds and
blocked four shots. Sophomore
guard Brenae Harris led the team
with seven rebounds while con-
tributing nine points.
"(Kate) did a really great job
of affecting their shots and get-
ting some blocks, and (she) really
helped us inside," Barnes Arico
said. "She has great length."
The Musketeers took advan-
tage of Michigan's missed
attempts earlyinthe game, build-
ing a 7-3 lead to open the game.
The Wolverines countered with a
13-8 run, led by three of Thomp-
son's four shots from beyond the
arc. Xavier junior guard Shatyra
Hawkes' 3-pointer at the end of
the half brought the Musketeers
within five going into halftime.
"I thought we really shot the
ball well in the first half," Barnes
Arico said. "I thought we really
played well and we were only up
by five. That was actually a little
concerning for me at halftime."
Michigan enlarged its lead in
the second half with a boost from
Harris' 3-point play, followed by
a fourth ttiple from Thompson.
Harris' lay-up with 8:43 remain-
ing put the Wolverines ahead by
a game-high 15 points, but Xavier
continued to fire back. The Mus-
keteers were able to cut the lead
to within seven with less than
two minutes to play, but senior
guard Jenny Ryan knocked down
two clutch free throws to seal the
victory.
"I think we stick together
as a team really well," Thomp-
son said. "They kept it close the
whole game and we were able to
make it out with a nice win."
While Michigan was persis-
tent in refusing to let Xavier back
into the game, the Wolverines
gave away seven of their 13 turn-
overs in the first half.
To add to its first half woes,
Michigan was outrebounded
18-13 in the first 20 minutes of
play.
"There were times that they
definitely out-muscled us on the
boards, and there were some that
we had in our hands and we just
didn't finish the play," Sheffer
said. "But I think overall we came
out with a win, so that's really all
that matters at this point."
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Senior forward Rachel Sheffer had 18 points and four assists against Xavier in Cincinnati on Monday night.
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