Ig The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 7


* The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 7

Goal
up for
grabs
Four months into
season, Berenson
still undecided on
starting goalie
By GREG GARNO
Daily Sports Writer
Flashback to 1994, when goal-
tender Marty Turco arrived at
Michigan as a promising pros-
pect, recently drafted by the Dal-
las Stars in the fifth round of the
NHL Entry Draft.
Turco, arguably one of Michi-
gan's greatest netminders,
started nearly every game for
Michigan coach Red Berenson
in his four years in Ann Arbor,
regardless of whether he had a
rough showing the night before.
The only exception was injury or
sickness, of course, in which case
the future NHL All-Star sat out.
The same is true of his succes-
sor, Al Montoya, for the next four
years. And once Shawn Hunwick
took over as starter in 2011 after
The Big Chill, he started just
about every night, too.
Berenson has always been a
one-goalie coach. However, this
year he hasn't had an opportuni-
ty to start one goaltender consis-
tently. And he still doesn't have a
plan to stick with one goaltender
after being swept by No. 9 West-
ern Michigan.
"It's still to be determined,"
Berenson said. "That starting job
is wide open."
After junior goaltender Adam
Janecyk allowed eight goals in
two games - Friday's 3-2 loss and
Saturday's 5-1 defeat - the Wol-
verines are once again searching
for someone to step up when the
offense doesn't.
Janecyk has started five con-
secutive games, yet he has failed
to benefit from the consistent
playing time.
It's difficult to pinpoint where
goaltending has fallen short
this year. It's possible that the
defense, which has never been
healthy all at once, has not done

Stand-up Carmody
set for serious battle

By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
The Northwestern basketball
team that will walk into Crisler
Center on Wednesday to take
on No. 1 Michigan BEHIND
looks completely E
different than it ENEMY
did in October, and LINES
it's all because of
one player..
The player is the Wildcats'
best, senior forward Drew
Crawford, who was expected
to be their big contributor this
year. But in December, Crawford
was forced to get season-ending
surgery on a torn labrum in his
right shoulder, throwing North-
western's early season plans in
a completely different direction.
The Wildcats have had an
inconsistent season, but with a
matchup against No. 3 Indiana
on Saturday looming for the
Wolverines, the potential for a
trap game and another North-
western upset exists.
At Big Ten Media Day in Chi-
cago, Northwestern coach Bill
Carmody sat down with the
Daily to discuss the upcoming
season.
The Michigan Daily: Is there
something about this year in
particular that makes the con-
ference so strong?
Bill Carmody: It just seems

deferred to Jon at times. Then
we have four freshman, two
transfers, and two guys who
redshirted last year - we~have
to play a little differently, but I
think we have some guys who
can score in different ways. We
have to figure that out as a staff,
how we are going to go about
that, but I like the fact we have
gotten bigger.
TMD: Last .year, you guys
played at Michigan and suffered
a tough loss in overtime. Was
that one of those games where
you looked back on it at the end
of the year and said, "If we had
won that game ... ?"
BC: I think we had to win a
couple more to make the NCAA
Tournament, to tell you the
truth. I think we would have had
to win at least two in the Big Ten
Tournament. We had the 19th-
best strength of schedule in the
country, but you can't be 8-10 in
the conference. We needed to
be 10-8. Only then does the 19th
rank help you.
TMD: I have to ask, how
annoying is it to have to keep
answering questions about
Northwestern never making the
NCAA Tournament? Does it get
old?
BC: Yeah, it gets old.'But the
program is right at that point -
we are at a much better point
than we have ever been. The

PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Freshman goaltender Jared Rutledge is still in the mix to see action in goal despite a less than stellar start to his career.

its share of clearing the puck or
picking up the open man.
But even in the years of Turco,
Montoya and even Hunwick,
the defense still had its lapses,
yet. each one managed to find a
way to succeed. Turco - who,
granted, is a rarity in the posi-
tion - holds an NCAA record for
career wins and Montoya holds
the Michigan record for shutouts
in a season.
While Saturday gave freshman
goaltender Jared Rutledge - who
Berenson adamantly said would
be the frontrunner for the job at
the end of last
season - his-
first regular- «
season action It Sst.
of 2013, it has
made little dif- deer
ference. In just That st
eight games
this season, is wide
five of which
he started in,
Rutledge has
a 4.33 goals-
against average and a .849 save
percentage.
"For every goal scored there
are two or three defensive break-
downs," Berenson said. "Look
what we do when Western scored
... these are stoppable plays - our
goalie, our defensemen, our for-
wards.
"There are just too many
unearned goals against, and that
means the goalie and the defen-
semen both."
In Kalamazoo, the Wolverines
were caught chasing Bronco for-

wards on breakaways multiple
times, leaving Janecyk to make
the save, but no one to clear the
puck.
"I think we did a good job for
the most part," said senior defen-
seman Lee Moffie of the week-
end's performance. "We didn't let
up that many scoring opportuni-
ties, but when we did they were
just grade-A.
"It's something we have to
work on. Breakaways, defensive-
zone coverage, leaving guys
open."
Freshman goaltender Stave
Racine has also
seen his fair
*11 be share of action
rill to b e this season.
- ButBeesn
mlined. admitted Mon-
rtin ob day that his
fourth-string
open." goalie, redshirt
*sophomore
- Luke Dwyer,
had he been
healthy, would
have been considered for playing
time this year.
Dwyer has now been cleared
for contact, but it's still unlikely
he'll see action.
"We don't really think it's a
safe spot," Janecyk said of the
starting position. "You just have
tq try and do your best in practice
and see what happens."
But Berenson and the Michi-
gan coaching staff had their No. 1
goalie - their prodigious replace-
ment to Hunwick - all lined up
before last season. John Gibson,

a member of the Kitchener Rang-
ers of the Ontario Hockey League
and U.S. junior gold-medal team,
had committed to filling the figu-
rative bigshoes left by Hunwick.
But Gibson opted to play in the
OHL and left Berenson without
a solid option for this season. So
when asked about whether he
thinks about what the Anaheim
Ducks prospect could have done
for the program, the veteran
coach was left smiling and nod-
ding.
"Oh yeah," Berenson said. "No
question."
Nonetheless, the Wolverines
must move forward with what
they have. And there are certain-
ly areas that must be improved
soon to secure a decent position
in the CCHA playoffs.
There have been signs that
Michigan can take the pressure
off of its goalie. In the first period
of both games over the week-
end, the Wolverines forecheck
performed well, keeping the
pressure away from the crease.
Going forward, Michigan looks
to continue to attack, limiting the
action in its defensive zone.
Berenson and Moffie also talk-
ed about making better passes
to limit turnovers. The-issue of
untimely turnovers has been a
trend for much longer than the
recent series, though, and contin-
ues to be an emphasis in practice
and on film.
Fast forward to Friday when
the Wolverines host in-state rival
Michigan State. There's still no
front-runner in net.

Northwestern, led by coach Bill Carmody, faces Michigan on Wednesday.

After a historic start, a small relapse

Once-hot hands
cool off, and 'M'
finds itself in a
small slump
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
As the Michigan men's basket-
ball climbed to the No. 1 ranking
in the country in the Associated
Press poll, the women's team
dropped out of the Top 25 after a
two-week appearance.
* After gaining the No. 25 rank-
ing on Jan. 14, the Wolverines
(5-2 Big Ten, 16-4 overall) moved
up to No. 23 on Jan. 21 as they
pushed their winning streak to
a program-best 10 games. But
following two losses in the past
week to No. 7 Penn State and No.
24 Iowa, they are now the first
team out, at No. 26.
While Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico and her players
have said in the past the ranking
doesn't mean much to them, two
home losses in a week do.
Playing in front of a season-
largest home crowd of 2,842
against the Lady Lions last week,
the Wolverines struggled from
the field, shooting a season-low
27.8 percent. Michigan never
put up much of a fight, as senior
forward Rachel Sheffer was the
lone player in double figures
that night with 20 points and 10
rebounds.
The Wolverines' leading scor-
er, senior forward Kate Thomp-
son, has had limited production.
Though she is still averaging
15.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per
game, Thompson's numbers have
dropped since her seven 3-point-

and Kate," Barnes Arico said.
"(It) really made us unsure of
what we were doing offensively."
While the game against the
Hawkeyes can be seen as just
an off day for Sheffer, since she
tallied a combined 39 points in
the two games prior, the recent
inconsistency of Thompson
might just be the beginning of
things to come.
"Well, I think teams are really
keying on (Kate), and they're
really setting their defense to
take her out of what she's capa-
ble of doing," Barnes Arico said.
"I think she needs to make some
adjustments. She needs to be able
to curl off screens, and she needs
to be able to do some different
things, and we have to find some
better ways to set screens."

like there are a lot of good guys
back. You have some very good
veteran players back on some
of these teams, and then you
have this influx of very talent-
ed freshman. There are some
freshmen who are All-Big Ten
caliber already. There aren't any
bad teams. We used to be one of
those teams five, six, years ago,
but we aren't now. Some other
teams who were in the same
position have gotten better and
better. Ijust think top to bottom,
the conference is tough.
TMD: You return four start-
ers, but you are losing a big fifth
starter in Jon Shurna. What's it
been like this off-season prepar-
ing for the season without him
and not having that type of play-
er return?
BC: I think guys had to start
accepting different roles. You
might get more out of Drew
Crawford, who might have

level of players that we have got-
ten here has improved, we've
got some good players here, and
good players make good coaches.
TMD: Was there something
you had to do about the culture
when you got to Northwest-
ern? Is that something you can
change right away?
BC: Anytime you have an ath-
letic program, it's a university
program.Youhavetogetsupport
from the top down, all the way
from the president to the ath-
letic director, and I think we got
that support and are getting that
support. I think that's necessary,
all the support staff that help
you with the market, put some
money into that just to raise the
consciousness of everyone in the
area. Then the Big Ten Network
comes along and people can see
you play teams like Ohio State. It
levels out to be a university-wide
decision to support us.


Senior forward Kate Thompson has slowed down from a blazing start from deep,
er game against Northwestern scoreless and Thompson w,
two weeks ago. limited to 10 points.
In Michigan's recent three- "I thought we really couldr
game stretch, Thompson has get anything going for Rachi
averaged just 11 points per con-
test while shooting 25 percent
from beyond the are. The senior j
typically shoots at a 45-percent
clip.
It's notsurprisingthatThomp-
son has cooled off a bit from her
unsustainable pace from behind
the arc, but the timing is poor for Startup W o
the Wolverines.
"We need someone to score," Investor Pr
Barnes Arico said following
Michigan's loss to Penn State.
"If Kate's open she has the green Wednesday, 1/30, 5-E
light to score. She's one of the -- -
best shooters in the country."
Statistically speaking, Thomp- Learn how to dev
son is - she ranks seventh in presentation.
country in 3-point shooting. But
when you live by the 3, you die by
it as well.
And when teams have cen-
tered their defenses around
stopping the Wolverines' leading
scorer, Michigan's offense has
stalled.
Such was the case against
Iowa, when Sheffer was held

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