4B March 10, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4B - March 10, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

'M' blows
By ALEJANDRO ZUlNIGA
ally Sports Editor
The Michigan hockey team
only hosts Michigan State at Yost
Ice Arena for
one game HOCKEY FRIDAY
this season, MICHIGAN 7
but Friday, MICHIGAN ST. 1
it scored
enough for an entire series.
Behind three second-period
goals and a hat trick from junior
defenseman Andrew Sinelli, the
11th-ranked Wolverines trounced
the Spartans, 7-1, for their third
straightwin over the rivals.
It took Michigan just 56
seconds and only one shot to get
on the scoreboard. Making the
most of a turnover and confusion
behind Michigan State's net,
junior forward Alex Guptill slid
a pass into the slot through two
defenders, where senior forward
Derek DeBlois found twine.
By the end of the second frame,
the Wolverines were scoring
with such ease that each goal
was little cause for celebration.
When Sinelli's innocuous wrister
caromed in off a Spartan player
for Michigan's fifth tally of
the evening, the junior simply
shrugged.

out MSU
"My first two goals were
garbage," Sinelli said.
Michigan's offense took just
17 shots through 40 minutes
but tallied in nearly every way
imaginable.
And in the second period, the
Wolverines scored more goals (3)
than Michigan State had shots (1).
"That's the most dominant
period I think we've had all
year," said sophomore netminder
Steve Racine. "We just really
took it to them."
Less than six minutes into
that second period, Michigan's
suddenly potent power play
struck on its first opportunity of
the night. Guptill again played
his part with an assist, taking a
hard wrister that junior forward
Zach Hyman redirected to make
it 3-1.
Even Spartan defenseman
RJ Boyd played his part with
an inadvertent deflection of
a centering pass from junior
forward Phil Di Giuseppe into
his own net to bury his team in a
three-goal hole.
Sinelli added his first before
the intermission.
"College hockey is a game
of momentum," said Michigan
coach Red Berenson.

Michigan's two-headed monster

EAST LANSING -
Michigan hockey, how
do you know which
version of your team will show
up on a given night?
How do you know when the
12th-ranked Wolverines that
won 7-1 against the fifth-place
team in the Big Ten, or the ones
that lost 4-3 to the same team
the next day,
will come to
play?
At what
point did
you forget
Michigan
State would
bounce GREG
back from GARNO
the loss
on Friday
night? Did you not focus on
staying even-keeled after you
won? Or was there a point
when you thought the Spartans
would go away without a fight?
Was something said to the
same 21 players on Saturday
night that was different than
Friday night? Was it an attitude
change, fast-spreading virus
or breakup that caused you
to drop off from the 3-1 lead
you held at the end of the first
period? Or the 3-2 lead you held
at the end of the second frame?
Did you miss your captain,
senior defenseman Mac
Bennett, that much on
Saturday? Did you struggle to
pick up the intensity late in the
game without him?
After the third goal was
allowed in the third period, did
you notice how the rest of the
team responded without saying
anything or hanging its heads?
Or did you notice after the
fourth goal was let in minutes
later and your goaltender,
sophomore Steve Racine,
shook his head? Weren't you
uncomfortable as Munn Ice
Arena erupted for the loudest
its been all year?
Isn't Saturday's bewildering
team infuriating after you
surrendered only one shot in

PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Senior forward Luke Moffatt had a goal and an assist Saturday against the Spartans, but the Wolverines were still upset.

Wolverines falter
late, fall to Sparty

By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily SportsEditor
EAST LANSING - A
frustrating,
eye- HOCKEY SATU
opening MICHIGAN 3
loss to MICHIGAN ST.4
Michigan
State in late December seemed
like a distant memory for the
Michigan hockey team. That is,
until Saturday night.
The 11th-ranked Wolverines
failed to cap off their fourth
consecutive victory over the
Spartans (4-8-6-4 Big Ten,
10-16-7 overall), eventually
stumbling to a 4-3 loss at Munn
Ice Arena.
The Wolverines' (9-7-2-1,
17-11-4) third line anchored a
high-flying offense that scored
10 goals over the weekend. Both
sophomore forward Boo Nieves
and junior forward Phil Di
Giuseppe tallied a goal and two
assists Saturday, while senior
forward Luke Moffatt had one
of each.
"They got off to a good
start," said Michigan coach Red
Berenson. "They played well all
weekend, and I think they're all
getting confidence. The puck was
going in for them."
"Our mistakes were costly."
But those three goals weren't
enough to stave off a hungry
Michigan State squad that scored
two goals just 73 seconds apart in
the final period.
Spartan forward Mike
Ferrantino jammed home a
rebound midway through the
frame to tie the game at three.
Moments later, Mackenzie
MacEachern skated untouched
into the offensive zone and
sored offawwrist shot from

the left circle to complete the
comeback.
Even a few shining moments
in the offensive zone couldn't
will Berenson's squad to victory.
Nieves earned his highlight-reel
goal with a move that pushed
the puck between his legs and to
his backhand before he roofed
a shot over goaltender Jake
Hildebrand at the 4:43 mark of
the first period.
Moffatt's tally came just 1:15
into the game, when he fired a
wrister from the slot for his 11th
goal of the season. And it was
Moffatt who pushed a cross-ice
pass to Di Giuseppe, who scored
his third goal in as many games
off a wicked slapshot from the
right point.
But the frustrating collapse
was looming for much of the
game. After Michigan's two
early goals, the Spartans had an
answer every time their backs
were against the wall.
"It's really tough," Nieves
said. "It's hard to pick the
positive things out after giving
up a lead like that."
With four minutes to play
in the second period, forward
Lee Reimer cut Michigan's lead
to one with a power-play goal
from the point, and that came
after forward Greg Wolfe was
credited with a much-needed
goal at 11:58 of the first period.
As Wolfe pushed the puck
toward the slot, it took a
deflection off freshman forward
Tyler Motte and trickled past
sophomore goaltender Steve
Racine to cut the Wolverines'
deficit in half.
What had been a locker room
full of smiles the previous night
was replaced by a sea of scowls
as the team sauntered off the ice.

the second peri
and allowed onl
the first time sin
Can you exple
frustrating it
is that you've
finished the
past three
weekends
with a split
against the
bottom three
teams in
the Big Ten
standings?
Was this loss
to Michigan
State as "embari
many of you sai
the loss to Penn
weekends ago?
Have you not
played like twot
the entire seaso
remember game
beginning of the
Were you not

in Boston
College?
Which version Against the
Rochester
of your team Institute of
Technology,
will show up on did you
, , recognize the
a given night? two different
teams after
surrendering a
four-goal lead?
rassing," as Can you remember
d following beginning the year 10-2-1
State two against some of the best teams
in the nation? Do you realize
iced that you've you're 3-5-1 in your last nine
different teams games, where the tie counts as
n? Can you a loss in the Big Ten standings?
s from the What about your last-place
e season? finish in the Great Lakes
aware of the Invitational didn't insoire you

od on Friday'
y one goal for
ice January?
ain how

type of team you were after
losing to lowly Canadian
college Waterloo and then
beating a top-five team in
the country

to find an identity? Being swept
in Wisconsin? Nearly sweeping
the Badgers
two weeks Big Ten Standings
later?
At this Withtwogames
point, does it remaining
feel like the
flip of a coin 1. Minnesota
determines 2. Wisconsin
which team 3. Michigan
shows up, 4. Ohio St.
or would a 5. Michigan St.
coin flip be a 6. Penn St.
more reliable
indicator?
What will it take to play
with consistency and figure out
which team shows up? When
you do figure it out, how will
everyone know?
Do you understand what
the magnitude of a loss to a
team like Michigan State has
on your chances of making the
NCAA Tournament? If you
don't, do you know you need a.
win this weekend for any shot
at returning to the postseason?
Were you already feeling the
pressure to win, or did it take
this weekend to sink in?
Did you feel the panic
consume you when you
remembered the No. 1 team
in the country, Minnesota,
arrives next weekend? Were
you already thinking about
that looming matchup during
Saturday's game?
Do you have what it takes to
put together a run like you did
at the end of last season? If so,
when do you plan to make that
run? Are you aware that time is
running out?
After you qualified for 22
consecutive years until last
season, will you rally in your
last series of the year to prove
you belong in the postseason?
Or will you be on the wrong
side of history? Again?
Are you tired of asking these
questions every week?
I know I sure am.
Garno can be reached
at ggarno@mich.edu or
on Twitter: @GGarno
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PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson called his team's mistakes Saturday "costly," as the Wolverines fell to MSU, 4-3.