The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, February 19, 2014- 7A
Michigan seeks elusive second win
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finish a season ( "We don't play a lot of these
midweek games," said Michigan
vith imore than coach John Paul on WTKA Radio
one victory Tuesday morning. "It's a busy
week and we'll catch up on sleep
another week."
By MINH DOAN Michigan will take on the
Daily Sports Writer Titans at the Ultimate Soccer
Arena in Pontiac, Mich. after
its first two seasons, the thrashing Mercer, 20-7, Friday in
gan men's lacrosse team its home opener.
found The scoring output was a
y to earn M programhigh,andtheWolverines
cond win, Michign (1-1) will try to replicate that total
ing both at Detroit against the only other Division I
with a lone Matchup: team in the state.
y. Detroit 10- "This is a state championship,"
w, four Michigan 1- Paul said. "Both teams have
fter taking When: been looking forward to this
first game Wednesday opportunity to win the state."
program's 7 P.M. Freshman attacker Ian
season, King leads the team with four
Wolverines Ultiate goals this season. Additionally,
o for their Soccer Arena Michigan has received scoring
d-setting (Pontiac, from 11 other players, including
d win Mich.) a hat trick by junior attacker
Andrew Portnoy against Mercer.
"Porty does what Porty does,"
Paul said. "We don't have a lot of
guys who can create their own
shot. Porty's the one guy down
there that consistently creates."
Freshman goaltender Robbie
Zonino will be in goal for the
Wolverines as he and the defense
will look to duplicate their
surprisingly
solid
performance
against Mercer. "This i
Zonino,
with the help champi
of steady
defensive play,
tallied 13 saves
against Mercer. The defense also
kept the Bears' top two scorers to
just three goals.
"Robbie's one of those goalies
that if he makes a couple of
saves early, he's in good shape,"
Paul said. "He was a big part
of our success on Friday, no
question. We just need him to
be consistent."
Detroit also beat Mercer, 11-10,
in its only game of the year.
The Titans went down late to
the Bears before making a late
run to notch their first win.
After making its first-ever
appearance in the NCAA
Tournament lastseason by virtue
of winning the Metro Atlantic
Athletic
Conference,
Detroit comes
s a state into the new
season with
onship." most of its
offensive
core intact.
Midfielder
Mike Birney and attacker Alex
Maini, the Titans'leadingscorers
from last season, returned to the
squad. Attacker Shayne Adams,
Detroit's all-time leading scorer,
also returned after a shoulder
injury sidelined him for all but
four games last season.
Despite the offensive success,
Detroit's defense is rebuilding
after goaltender AJ Lewell,
the program's saves leader,
graduated. Lewell is now on the
sidelines as an assistant coach
for the Titans, which will turn to
goaltender Connor Flynn to keep
the ball out of the net.
The teams last met in 2013 at
Michigan Stadium. The Titans
led 4-3 midway through the
second quarter, but a severe
thunderstorm hit and postponed
the rest of the game. The match
was never finished.
The only result between the
teams came two years ago at
the Ultimate Soccer Arena in
Michigan's first Division I game.
The Titans were victorious, 13-9,
behind a combined seven goals
from Adams and Maini.
After a first win early in their
schedule, the Wolverines need
to continue to assert themselves
as Division I contenders. A win
against Detroit would go a long
way in doing just that.
By MATTHEW KIPNIS
Daily Sports Writer
The offseason is a time
when most coaches take it a
little easier, especially during
Christmas break. The coaches
could spend time with their
families exchanging gifts and
holiday cheer, but that wasn't
the case for assistant volleyball
coach Erin Virtue.
Rather than sitting around
the fire with her family and
friends, she was standing on the
volleyball court with some of the
best coaches and teenage players
in the country.
Virtue was busy this holiday
breakcoachingthe USAVolleyball
High Performance Girl's Holiday
Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.
A total of 48 top players in various
age groups across the nation were
given the opportunity to train in
the five-day camp.
When Virtue graduated from
Illinois in 2005, she started
training with the national team.
Virtue was a standout volleyball
player and helped led the
Fighting Illini to a spot in the
Sweet Sixteen in 2003, earning
All-Big Ten and All-American
Honorable Mention accolades.
Virtue trained with the national
team for a year before she coached.
She has worked her way up from
an assistant to an associate head
coach and finally earned the
opportunity to coach one of the
highest programs over break -the
seventh- and eighth-grade team.
"The high-performance
program is a pipeline for young
athletes to make their way from
ages 12 up until they get to the
senior USAnational team,"Virtue
said. "It's a good introductory
course for them. If they were,
10 years from now, to be on the
national team ... it is good for
them to know what that takes."
Each day was busy with three
two-hour practice sessions
teaching the fundamentals of
volleyball, and two classroom
sessions dedicated to scouting
videos and nutritional
information.
The camp was held at an
Olympic training center complex,
much like a college campus.
Various Olympic athletes train
there year-round or temporarily.
Virtue's athletes ate lunch,
walked through halls and lived in
the dorms with the professionals.
The group Virtue coached
were the best seventh- and
eighth-grade players in the
country, but also the youngest in
the program - a clear difference
from college athletes.
"We were more elementary at
that camp than we would be here
at Michigan," Virtue said. "As
far as the basic techniques and
breakdowns of the skills, those
are things that players from 12 to
32 can be focused on."
Working with the USA
program put Virtue in a place
where she was not only teaching,
but also learning. Virtue worked
alongside experienced coaches
from across the country.
Each athlete knew that Virtue
coached at Michigan. When she
was in the gym, she wore 'USA'
on her back and represented her
country, but she also represented
Michigan and used the
opportunity to scout potential
future recruits.
"I would imagine there was
an Olympian in that bunch
somewhere," Virtue said "I think
it was a pretty special group
and, a lot of those girls, if not all
of them, have a chance to play
somewhere in college."
Virtue 's vacation
with Team USA
PATRICK BARRON/Daly
Freshman Ian King picked Lp his first career goal in the second quarter of Michigan's loss to Penn State on Feb. 8.
Glendening returns to Yost
By ALEJANDRO ZUNIGA
Daily Sports Editor
The man wore a maroon
Michigan hockey practice jersey
but also donned clashing bright-
red gloves and breezers.
He participated in the team's
speed drills Tuesday, effortlessly
reaching the other end of the
ice first as his competitors' best
efforts left them several feet
behind. And when most of the
others had skated back into the
locker room, lie took a moment
to challenge the goaltender
crouched in the crease, finding
twine easily and celebrating with
little more than a smile.
The man was Luke Glendeninrg,
who from 2008-12 scored 31 goals
in his 165-game tenure for the
Wolverines.
After graduating, he signed
a one-year contract swith the
American Ilockey League's
Grand Rapids Griffins, helping
them win the AHL championship
and take the Calder Cup in 2012-
13. By the following season, the
Detroit Red Wings had noticed
his success and called him up to
the National Hockey League.
And on New Year's Day this
year, he took the opening faceoff
for the Red Wings against the
Toronto Maple Leafs at the
Winter Classic at Michigan
Stadium in front of a crowd of
more than 100,000.
"It's been a whirlwind,"
Glendening said of his time in
the pros. "It's been a dream come
true, and it's been everything that
I could ever ask for."
The NHL is currently on
sabbatical for the Winter
Olympics, and many of the Red
Wings are in Sochi representing
their respective countries. Those
who aren't receive a much-
deserved break, but they also
try to avoid rust by training
elsewhere during the time off.
So when the Michigan coaching
staff contacted Glendening, he
jumped at the opportunity.
"He just needs ice," said
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
"He just wanted to skate for a
day or two."
Yost Ice Arena looks different
than it did when the forward
played there. Large windows
interrupt the brick of the north
and south ends of the building,
and some of the bleacher seats
have been moved further away
from the ice. But to Glendening, it
still felt like home.
"It looks a lot different than
when I played here, but it's still a
special place to me," he said. "So
many great memories, and it's
fun to be back."
The Wolverines were
different, too. Glendening only
recognized the upperclassmen,
but he took advantage of the
reunion, laughing with senior
defenseman Mac Bennett near
the end of practice.
Joe Louis Arena, not Yost, is
home. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik
Zetterberg, not Bennett, are his
teammates. His colors are the
red and white of the Winged
Wheel, not the maize and blue of
the block'M.'
After the coaches and most
of the players left, Glendening
stepped off the ice alone. He
spoke briefly to reporters and
then turned away, walking in his
mismatched Michigan shirt and
Red Wings pants into the tunnel.
NOTES: Berenson confirmed
Tuesdayafternoonthatfreshman
defenseman Kevin Lohan
and junior defenseman Mike
Chiasson will play Friday against
Penn State. They'll fill in for
defensemen Michael Downing
and Andrew Sinelli, who were
suspended one game each by the
NCAA for separate incidents in
the Wolverines'loss at Minnesota
last Saturday. ... Berenson also
said junior forward Alex Guptill
"should be good to go" against
the Nittany Lions. He missed
Michigan's series against the
Golden Gophers with an upper-
body injury.
Michigan coach Erik Bakich has helped Ramsey Romano adjust mentally tothe harsh reality of winter in Michigan.
Record-breaking winter no
match for Ra-msey Romano
By JASON RUBINSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
This past weekend marked a
welcome change of scenery for
freshman Ramsey Romano.
The infielder finally got to play
baseball outdoors again, and he
showed no signs of rust, starting
all four of Michigan's games at
the Texas State Tournament in
San Marcos, Texas.
Romano finally found himself
in a similar environment to the
one in El Cajon, Calif., where he
grew up but left to play baseball
for Michigan.
At first, the transition to a
Michigan winter wasn't easy. He
had never experienced playing
indoors before, but it was always
something that intrigued him
because, for Romano, the allure
of receiving a Michigan degree
was too much to pass up.
"It's hard to adapt to (the
weather) coming from California
to here, but I wanted something
different and something new, and
Michigan seemed like the right
choice," Romano said. "Before
you know it, you're playing in
sunny Texas. But it's definitely a
good change."
Romano was right, and he
played like he had never left
the sun. Despite one error, he
registered four hits, a double, one
RBI and a stolen base.
"(Romano) is a baseball player
- he's played a lot more baseball
than most freshmen just being
from San Diego and playing a
lot," said Michigan coach Erik
Bakich. "You can see that from his
instincts and his baseball know-
how. He wasn't scared one bit."
Romano's fearless mentality
is what guided him to start this
season's first four games. A
Michigan winter might be a huge
change for any person who hasn't
experienced consistent snow, let
alone a polar vortex, but Romano
found positives takeaways.
Baseball in Michigan has
its advantages because the
Wolverines have an indoor
practice facility. In California,
many teams don't have indoor
practice facilities, which means
rain could cancel a practice. In
Ann Arbor, though, rain, sleet or
snow won't stop practice.
But even though he's content
to practice every day, he was still
plenty overjoyed to play outside.
"When I got on the field this
last weekend, it was closer to
home with the sun and just
playing and being back on the
field like I'm used to," Romano
said.
And after not being able
to practice outdoors since
November - with the only
;--r-
, __.
!
,«, -
outdoor activities * consisting
of shoveling snow as a team -
Romano showed no signs of rust
in the sun.
Romano consistently played up
to Bakich's standards and proved
he could be a steady contributor
for Michigan's offense and a
mainstay in the infield for years
come.
"I think, in his mind, he
expects to make an impact in this
program," Bakich said. "He was
impressive at the plate and was
very solid defensively."
Romano credits most of his
success to Bakich's coaching
style. The second-year coach puts
a large emphasis on a player's
mental game - something
Romano never worked on before
but was happy to learn.
Romano found Bakich's
mental pointers especially
helpful to combat the butterflies
in his stomach before making his
collegiate debut.
"As a freshman this last
weekend, everything started to
speed upa little bit, and you start
thinking too much and get into
red lights," hesaid.
Romano and the Wolverine§
were welcomed back to Ann
Arbor with three inches of snow.
But Bakich knows that weather
won't stop the Californian from
producing on the field.
If
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Forward Luke Glendening, wh currently plays with the Red Wings, practiced with the Michigan hockey team Tuesday.
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