The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.pm October 28, 2013 - 3B The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Ochoher 28, 2013 - 3B HOCKEY From Page 1B only answered any lingering doubts about their program, but demonstrated how it's stronger than it has been in the better span of a decade. With a little less than 17 minutes remaining, the build- ing groaned when an apparent Michigan goal was disallowed. But it didn't really matter in the end. Five minutes later, freshman forward Tyler Motte tied the game with a one-timer, and the team's reaction was as much a sigh of relief it was as a celebra- tion. Last year, the Wolverines might not have found an equal- izer. But the freshman was in the right place at the right time - as he has been all season - to net his fourth career goal. "You go out in practice every day, and this is the reason you come here, to play games like these," Motte said. The Boston University net- minder responded later in the period by punching senior for- ward Luke Moffatt in the head, a play that went unpunished by the referees. But Michigan didn't need to fight back, not like that. Halfway through the final period, Guptill was upended ona reakaway and awarded a penalty shot. It was a dubious call, but after equally suspect calls at New Hampshire, it was a fortuitous break a week in the making. Guptill made the Terriers pay, going five-hole on the goaltender to put Michigan ahead for good, and Yost's 90-year-old structure shook in response. "It'll get louder,"Berenson said. "If our team plays well, we'll hear about it." That the Wolverines lost to Massachusetts-Lowell, 2-1, on Saturday night was little more than a minor inconvenience. The River Hawks were the top- ranked team-in the preseason polls and projected to win Hock- ey East, and "it was anyone's game, right down to the very end," according to Berenson. "You can't win them all," said senior defenseman Mac Bennett. They won't, but they've come pretty close so far.,Michigan faced five ranked opponents in its first six games - perhaps the toughest stretch it'll encounter in the regular season - and fin- ished 4-1-1. So come back to Yost, because this year, the Wolverines are for real. They've proven as much through the first three weekends of the season, erasing lingering doubts and establishingthem- selves as the team to beat in the Big Ten. As the final moments of Fri- day's win ticked away, freshman forward JT Compher and Ter- rier defenseman Doyle Somerby tussled behind the Boston University net. Somerby gave a shove as the final horn sounded, hut by then Compher had began to skate towards center ice with his stick raised. There were no questions left to answer; that fight was already won. - Zdtiga can he reached at azs@umich.edu or on Twitter @thezuniga. JAMES COLLER/Daily Freshman forward Yamann Sahlool provided instant offense off the bench for Michigan. He scored the Wolverines' first goal of the game in the 69th minute. n win over Hoosiers another second-half flurry for Michigan By MIKE PISCIO TTA For the Daily For the second straight game, the Michigan men's soccer team found itself tied 1-1, heading into the final five minutes of the match against Indiana on Satur- day. And for the second straight game, the Wolverines managed to seal a 2-1 victory against a Big Ten foe thanks to a late game winner. Junior midfielder TJ VanSlooten's 87th-minute goal propelled Michigan to a victory over the Hoosiers for the surg- ing Wolverines' third consecu- tive win. With three minutes remain- ing and overtime looming, freshman defender Rylee Woods sprinted down the left flank and whipped in a hopeful cross into the Indiana box. Hoosier 'goal- keeper Michael-Soderlund came out to claim the ball, but instead of catching it, he fumbled the ball into the path of freshman defender Lars Eckenrode. Eck- enrode instinctively poked the ball toward the path of the oncoming VanSlooten, who slot- ted the ball into the back of the net to give Michigan the lead. "We are coming out (in the FIVE From Page lB season. Michigan advanced to the National Championship that year. 2. Michigan's offense won't be potent until it buries its chances. The Wolverines tallied 83 shots in two games. They scored on just three of them. For what has been deemed one the deepest units he's ever seen, Berenson has reason to be upset with a .036 shot percentage. It's clear Michigan can create chances, which should theoreti- cally mean more goals, but that hasn't been the case. . "We have to score more than one goal at home," Berenson said Saturday. "We've got to take advantage of our chances better than we did tonight." Freshman forward Tyler Motte had one of those scoring chances late against the River Hawks on Saturday, when he received the puck nearthe crease with an open net but sent it wide left. Senior forward Derek DeB- lois also failed to finish with an open net, pushing his shot just wide. It doesn't help when both of the opposing goalies' play is out- standing, but missed opportuni- ties like Motte's and DeBlois's have become costly. The offense has shown its potential against RIT when it second half) fi, result," said se: Fabio Pereira.' ways to win gam Heading into t for halftime, Mi Ten, 7-4-3 over uphill battle, do reigning. NCAAc ana (1-3, 5-9-1). Wolverines' mi shirt junior goalkeeper Adam Grinwis was forced to leave the game with an injury. Although Michigan had a tough task ahead, the team's perse- ghting for the and higher up the pitch. nior midfielder Sahlool, who has provided "We're finding instant offense off the bench es." for Michigan, seemed poised to the locker room score after creating a few qual- chigan (3-2 Big ity chances upon entering the rall), faced an game. In the 69th minute, he did wn 1-0 against just that. champion Indi- Following a corner, the ball To add to the was played out to Pereira on the sfortunes, red- left flank. With plenty of space, Pereira deliv- ered a cross into the box "We're finding that found the head ways to win the of Sahlool. , Unmarked at game. the back post, he directed the ball into the net to tie the Indiana front line. The Hoo- siers were very intent on play- ing balls in the air to their tall, strong strikers. The runs made by the other Indiana attackers off the ball caused trouble for the Michigan defense as it had trouble winning the ball in the air. This led to a couple quality chances for Indiana in the first half, and eventually, a goal from Andrew Oliver in the 43rd min- ute. "We had a much better per- formance in the second half," Pereira said. "Our resiliency is what changed the game." With freshman goalkeeper Grant Mattia in net, the Wol- verines' defense needed to be at its best for the final 45 minutes, and it stepped up to the chal- lenge. Michigan completely shut down the Indiana attack, allow- ing only one shot on goal, which came in the final minute of the game, and preventing any other chances to preserve the victory. "Beating the national champs from last year certainly helps us from a mentality standpoint," Daley said. "It helps build the legacy we're trying to create with the Michigan soccer pro- gram." verance and intensity changed the game after the intermission. "They believe that they're a second-half team," said Michi- gan coach Chaka Daley. "Their energy gets better as the game goes on." With the introduction of VanSlooten and freshman for- ward Yamann Sahlool, the Wol- verines transitioned into a more attack-oriented formation with Pereira playing in the middle the score at one. The Wolverines' attack was relentless in the second half. They outshot the Hoosiers, 11-2, and kept the majority ofthe pos- session in their opponents' half. Along with the stellar play by the attack, the Michigan defense improved after struggling in the first half. Throughout the first half, the Wolverine back line had trouble with the physicality of SOCCER From Page 1B freshman defender Rylee Woods's attempt was palmed by Soderlund into the crossbar and ultimately cleared out of bounds by an Indiana defender to set up a corner. Senior defender Ezekiel Harris's header off the ensuing corner kick sailed high over the bar, as Michigan's succession of shots could not producea goal. With just three minutes to play in the half, after Michigan's flurry of shot opportunities was stymied by Indiana in the 39th minute, the Hoosiers scored off a counter attack to take the lead. Indiana's Patrick Doody crossed the ball from the left side over Michigan sophomore. defender Jack Brown. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Adam Grinwis came out to try and clear the ball, but Indiana's Andrew Oliver beat him and headed the ball into the open net, giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead. Despite being outplayed in the first half, the Hoosiers sur- prisingly led at the break. Due to an injury, Grinwis was replaced by freshman goalkeep- er Grant Mattia at the half. He played valiantly in the first game action of his career, blanking Indiana the rest of the way and allowing Michigan to get back in the game. The breakthrough came in the 70th minute, as Pereira crossed the ball from the right corner to freshman forward Yamann Sahlool. The substitute beat the Hoosiers' back line and grace- fully headed the ball into the top left corner for the second goal of his career, to finally tying the game at 1-1. "Yamann scored a great goal tonight, just put himself in the right position at the right time," Daley said. "His header into the back of the net got our momen- tum going." The game winner came in the 88th minute as a run.by Woods down the left sideline ulti- mately led to junior midfielder TJ VanSlooten's clutch goal. Woods served the ball into the box, which was then fumbled by Soderlund. Freshman defender Lars Eck- enrode managed to control the ball and found VanSlooten who knocked it past the goalie from just a few yards out to complete the come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Hoosiers. Michigan is proving to be a strong second-half team, with this trend continuing against Indiana. "Earlier in the year, I think we lacked confidence late in games, but now (the players) are saying that we're a second half team and that their energy gets better as the game goes on," Daley said. "They were late goals, but they were really good goals at the end of the day." Indiana's only shot on goal in the second half came in the 90th minute. Mattia saved Harrison Petts's last-second shot as the clock wound down to seal the victory for Michigan. scored seven times, but its play in the past two weeks has not lived up to its reputation. Big Ten teams will play comparable, if not better, offense to recent Hockey East opponents, which means the Wolverines won't be able to constantly rely on their goaltenders. Meanwhile, Compher continues to create scoring chances when he brings the puck down. "We're all the same age, and we've all been together for a few years," Allen said. "Me and Tyler have been together before that, so I think we have a lot in com- mon on the ice and off the ice." 3. The all-freshmen line is play- 4. Penalties will be costlier than ing like it's a veteran line. usual. At the end of Friday's contest against Boston University, with a slim 2-1 lead in the waning sec- onds, Berenson sent out the third line of freshmen Motte, JT Com- pher and Evan Allen. The 11th-ranked Terriers pulled their netminder in the final minutes in attempt to tie the game and fired more shots in the third period than the previ- ous two, but the young line held on for the win. The move was bold of Beren- son, who said prior to the sea- son that he had planned to put younger players with experi- enced ones. It demonstrates his early trust in unproven players at the collegiate level. "I justhad agood feel for these three," Berenson said. "They're competing hard. They're always making good decisions on the ice." All three were members of the U.S. NationalTeamDevelopment Program last year and show solid chemistry on the ice. Saturday's game was the first in the past five games that Motte did not score. The Wolverines have allowed five power-play goals thus far, good for 27th fewest in the nation. The middle-of-the-pack num- bers don't tell the whole story. Michigan takes 13.2 penalty minutes per game, which both players and coaches alike have said disrupts the team's rhythm and flow. The Wolverines have strug- gled the most during games in which they have sat in the penal- ty box the longest. Against RIT, Michigantook seven penalties in the second period and allowed four goals in the same frame. Tied at one midway through the third period of Saturday's contest, junior forward Phil Di Giuseppe again proved why the penalties are costly. He was called for checking from behind and subsequently given a game misconduct. The five-minute major that ensued strained Michigan's defense and kept the Wolverines out of the offensive zone. The penalty ultimately result- ed in a goal allowed, which stood as the game winner. "Killing a five-minute pen- alty is tough," Bennett said. "I thought we almost had it, but it was too little, too late. They capi- talized, and we couldn't come back from that." When the Wolverines play their best hockey, they stay out of the box and hold onto the puck longer. Michigan will have to stay disciplined against rivals like Michigan State and Ohio State later in the season if it wants any shot at keeping games close. 5. Bold Prediction: Michigan won't lose again in 2013. The Wolverines played three top-20 teams with an untested defense and were without their starting goaltender for half of their games to the start the sea- son and finished 4-1-1. Michigan won't face another top-20 team this year if the rank- ings remain similar to where they are now, which looks good for the Wolverines on paper. Their next two opponents - Michigan Tech and Nebraska- Omaha - have combined for three wins this season, and the competition afterward, teams like Niagara and Ferris State, doesn't appear much better. As the defense gains experi- ence and with Racine eventually back to full health, the season looks promising to end the calen- dar year.