8A - Wednesday, September 18, 2013

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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com


Racine enters year
as No.1 goaltender

ByGREGGARNO
Daily Sports Writer
Featured on sophomore goal-
tender Stave Racine's biography
on the Athletic Department's
website is his list of accomplish-
ments. Included are his career
achievements, highlights from
last season and game-by-game
statistics.
But one category - the shut-
outs - reads different than the
others. Instead
of the number NOTEBOOK
zero, it reads,
"To come."
The phrase, though com-
mon for future milestones on
MGoBlue.com, says a great deal
about the confidence the Michi-
gan hockey team and its coach-
ing staff have in Racine this
season. In the team's first week
of practice, Michigan coach Red
Berenson declared Racine the
Wolverines' starter for their Oct.
9 season opener against Boston
College.
"Now, I think it's a whole dif-
ferent ballgame," Berenson said.
"He's been through a year of the
routine. Of school, and hockey,
and off-ice training and he's had
the ups and downs. Fortunately,
he finished on a high.
"If 90 or 100 percent of the
game is mental, then he's got alot
more confidence going forward."
Last year, it took the Wolver-
ines nearly three quarters of the
season to decide on a starting
netminder, but the way Racine
played at the end of the season
was enough to set him apart.
Racine started the final 10
games of the season, in which
he allowed 2.1 goals per game
and posted an 8-1-1 record. He
also made three saves to assure
Michigan a shootout win in the
regular-season finale against Fer-
ris State.
At the beginning of last year,
Racine was slowed due to a sum-
mer hip surgery that kept him
off the ice for six months. In his
first nine games, he posted a
2-5-2 record, leading Berenson to
rotate goalies for the duration of
the season.
"This is definitely the hard-
est I've worked in the summer,"
Racine said. "Fitness-wise, I'm
much stronger than I was at the
end of last year and especially at
the beginning oflast year."
But Racine's improved season
doesn't guarantee that his spot
is secure for the remainder of
the season, according to Beren-
son. Freshman goaltender Zach
Nagelvoort, a late commit from
the United States Hockey League,

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has beer
backup.
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more c
starting
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neededo
the sixth
up for gr
"If ev
d
be
puck ove
net, pre
ing the
"I mean
mistakes
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together
"It's a
whole te
dence in
did a yea
GUPT
Berensor
forward.
leading
skating;
specify a
removed
thing

n declared the primary fall."
Berenson didn't say how long
Wolverines already feel Guptill would be off the ice, but
onfident with Racine said he would be back at some
in net after his success point. Guptill was also one of
. That confidence will be three players Berenson listed as
after Berenson said that needing a breakout year, along
defenseman spot is still with senior forward Luke Mof-
abs. fatt and junior forward Phil Di
ery time he turned the Giueseppe. Last year, Guptill led
the team with 16 goals and fin-
ished second with 20 assists.
It mHe is expected tobe one of the
It means I top forwards, should he con-
on htinue his form from last year.
WILY VETERAN: RedBeren-
1p c son has been coaching so long
that he has impressed himself.
g That, or he needs something
' else to do.
When the season begins on
Oct. 9, Berenson will begin his
30th year at the helm of the
r and it ends up in your program, by far the longest-ten-
tty soon you're fight- ured coach in program history.
puck," Berenson said. "It means I don't have a better
if I make two or three place to go," Berenson said.
, then maybe I can get Berenson said that the late-
ind me and get my game season stretch in which the Wol-
verines climbed four spots in the
team thing. I think our CCHA standings over the final
am has a lot more confi- weeks was rejuvenating.
Steve Racine than they Berenson's 789-389-82 record
r ago." makes him the fifth-winningest
ILL SITS OUT: Tuesday, coach in Division I history and
n announced that junior No. 2 among active coaches.
Alex Guptill - last year's "The plan wasn't to come
scorer - hasn't been and stay necessarily, it was to
so far. Berenson didn't come and be at Michigan again,"
is to why, but said that he Berenson said. "To try and resur-
him "because of some- rect the program and help players
that happened this live the dream."

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Without King, 'M'
looks to freshmen

0

By JASON RUBINSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
Prior to the end of last season,
the Michigan men's tennis team
knew it was losing a one-of-a-
kind player in Big Ten Athlete of
the Year Evan King. When it was
all said and done, the wily vet-
eran became the program's all-
time win leader and arguably the
greatest player it has ever had.
How do you replace that?
Coach Bruce Berque will be
the first to tell you: it starts with
recruiting. And he took a bigstep
toward finding the next King
when he announced the com-
mitments of Tyler Gardiner and
Kevin Wong in January.
Gardiner and Wong certainly
won't be expected to completely
replace King, but Berque hopes
that they bring competiveness
to bolster a deep, senior-heavy
team.
The freshmen feature strik-
ingly different backgrounds.
Gardiner hails from Novi, Mich.,
while Wong grew up in Hong
Kong.
Despite learning the game
thousands of miles apart, Ber-
que sees similar traits in the two
freshmen.
"They are both good athletes
and neither of them are very big
physically," Berque said. "They

are both all-court players and
have hands at the net, allowing
for good doubles skills."
Getting the freshmen to Ann
Arbor, though, was a completely
contrasting process.
Tennisrecruiting.net, an
American tennis recruiting ser-
vice, rated Gardiner as a four-
star recruit after he won the
Michigan state championship his
junior year and placed second his
senior year, amassing a 63-2 high-
school record in the process.
But not even King held his
own during his freshman year
campaign facing the stiff Big Ten
competition.
"In high school, (Gardiner)
was just that much better than
people, but it's a whole new level
he's about to dive into," Berque
said. "For him to continue his
success at the college level, he
will have to outwork his compe-
tition and get more competitive
and not just for the team, but for
himself."
Wong took a different path.
Growing up in Hong Kong, expo-
sure to the U.S.' collegiate system
can be difficult.
However, Wong played several
International Tennis Federation
tournaments, including some in
the United States.
Michigan has had a player
from Hong Kong before. Brian

Hung, a 2006 graduate, is one
of the greatest doubles players
in school history and holds the
record for most doubles wins ina
season. Wongknew about Hung's
success in Ann Arbor before the
recruiting process began, so he
always had an eye on Michigan.
Wong ranked as high as No. 93
in the ITF and has two victories
against blue-chip recruits.
But despite the prior successes,
the freshmen shouldn't expect to
see King's result right away.
"My expectations for them
are to have high expectations
for themselves and to really
push themselves to put them in
a position to help the team in the
lineup," Berque said. "I think it's
a stretch for both and a good goal
for both. We will be constantly
re-evaluating and resetting new
goals as we go along."
King's void inherently leaves
the No. 1 singles and doubles
spots open for competition.
Is it a spot a freshman can
jump into? Probably not, but Ber-
que wouldn't rule it out. After all,
Gardiner and Wong each have
elite doubles skills, while Wong
has three ITF doubles champion-
ships on his resume.
"They are the dark horses,"
Berque said. "I think it's realis-
tic they see the lineup, but also a
stretch."


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