4B - February, 17th 2014 ._' ' The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam 4B ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~: - erur, 7hr04ehfMcianDil t:cgnaiyo Stellar special teams unit marred by penalties taken The Wol have tal penalties verines ken 21 in their PATRICK BARRON/Daily Junior forward Andrew Sinelli scored Michigan's only goal Saturday as the Gophers completed a sweep with a 4-1 win. Gophers dominate 'M' Col MI No. t maint more a m of its powe: play ) more befor Andre pass,, to cleg Vis oppor his sti towar Att who pressu was r stared favor while straig "I t in the seconc period Red B capita thoug well a looks,' Pla: of ur period scorin the th Spenc Derek were goalte in eoa ae was perfect for more than 58 minutes of the game, stopping28 ntrol after even of 29 shots faced. "(Wilcox) played really well, first period but on our side, we need to capitalize on the chances we get," said sophomore forward By ERIN LENNON Boo Nieves. "We didn't tonight Daily Sports Writer and that resulted in the loss." Throughout the entirety of NNEAPOLIS - The the game, offensive surges were 0 Michigan hockey team short lived. ained possession for Midway through the final than frame, Gophers forward Sam inute MICHIGAN 1 Warning lay flat on his back, first MINNESOTA 4 and freshman forward Michael r Downing found himself ejected on Saturday, recovering for the second time in as many than a handful of chances games. Three minutes into e sophomore forward the five-minute major penalty, ew Copp whiffed on a Minnesota (10-2-2, 21-4-5) put the allowing No. 2 Minnesota nail in the coffin - a fourth goal ar the puck. from forward Hudson Fascing. ibly upset by the missed "I told our team, that's a tunity, Copp slammed measuring stick," Berenson ick on the ice as he skated said. "That's what we're up ds the bench. against, and they're as good as h6sound ofthe horn,Copp, anyone we've seen'all year."' said he has been putting " Though Michigan (6-5-1 Big are on himself recently, Ten, 14-9-3 overall) dominated no less frustrated as he much of the firstperiod -junior I up at a 4-1 scoreboard in forward Andrew Sinelli earned of the Golden Gophers, the Wolverines' first goal less his team dropped its third than two minutes into the game ht contest. - Warning tipped a puck in late, hought we came out good tying the game at one. first period, and in the "There's not much to brag d period, and the third about at all," Berenson said. "It I," said Michigan coach was a good goal for him and for erenson. "But you have to our team, but we've scored four lize on those chances. I goals in the last three games lht our power play played ... goals were precious this nd we had some really good weekend." but we just couldn't score." Once Minnesota found its ying with the same sense groove, Michigan was quickly gency it had in the first forced to play from behind. It , Michigan created several took the Gophers less than three g opportunities early in minutes to take the lead in the ird frame. Junior forward second frame, when forward er Hyman and senior Connor Reilly fired a shot past DeBlois came close, but sophomore goaltender Steve stopped by Minnesota Racine. Ten minutes later, nder Adam Wilcox, who Minnesota forward Nick Condon found 0twine, extending the Gophers' lead to two - a deficit the Wolverines had also found themselves in the night before. As they had Friday, the Wolverines took penalties early, but remained strong on the penalty kill. Hyman turned several clears into offensive opportunities, and Racine - who started in net for a second time after seven-straight games on the bench - stood on his head when the Golden Gophers found their offensive momentum. The unit finished 4-for-5 in the game, and is now 19 for its last 21 since Jan. 24 against Michigan State. But while the penalty kill found success for a second night, a power play that scored two goals Friday was shut down three times Saturday. Each of Michigan's last three losses featured more time on the penaltykill than the ower pla'. And at even strength on both ends, the Wolverines were no match for a Minnesota team that's proven itself time and time again this season. "Red said we kind of grew up a little bit," Nieves said. "It's definitely a little bit of a wakeup to know that a team that's tops in our conference is going to beat us twice in their building, so we definitely need to take it to them when they get into ourbuilding." Saturday marked the second time Michigan was swept this season, but the second time to a Big Ten opponent. With the loss, Michigan falls to third place in the Big Ten standings with just six games remaining in conference play. What happened Friday: The Gophers halted the Wolverines' comeback effort with a late goal, never trailing in a5-3 victory. last six games By JEREMY SUMMITT Daily Sports Editor MINNEAPOLIS - Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson set a goal for the second half of the season to improve special teams. His players have responded well to that request, posting numbers that would please any coach in the country. The Wolverines have scored on the power play three out of 10 times in the past four games. Defensively, the penalty-killing unit has been the brightest spot. Michigan has allowed just two goals in the past six games while shorthanded despite taking 21 penalties in that span, holding opponents to a 9-percent conversion rate with the man advantage. Both power play goals that Berenson's team conceded came the weekend of Feb. 14-15 at Minnesota. The "Ther second tally 0 could easily be minutes forgivable, too, as the puck time t] zipped past were all sophomore goaltender Steve Racine after Michigan had already killed 3:02 of a five-minute major penalty to freshman defenseman Michael Downing. Playing shorthanded for five minutes taxed the Wolverines' offense, and numerous penalties negated the opportunity to establish more potency on their own power play. both games over for illegal contac Both hits came period, and th misconducts e aspect of the Wo that desperately cleaned up. Losers of thr games, they're ta penalties. During the fi Friday's match spent six of the f on the penalty outshot, 16-5. "The three p help," Berenson s six minutes of D they were all ov little more mome a tough start." In the two-g Minnesota alon compiled a whop minutes. Those slightly skewed picking up 30 oft game misconduc shorthanded on occasions Friday Saturday didn'tI an offensive un e are six of D-zone Fhat they over us." slow down the G dynamic forwar occasions, Michi clean and heavy through the sec Saturday's game, Derek DeBlois l Justin Holl into bench, visibly ig teammates. r the weekend physicality did just the opposite. ct to the head. Junior defenseman Andrew in the third Sinelli cross checked the throat e two game of a Gophers' player after the pitomized an whistle to squander any chance 'verines' game of a late comeback. needs to be Sinelli's time in the penalty box allowed him to mull over ee consecutive how much playing shorthanded king too many stalled his team. "It's definitely tough," Sinelli irst period of said. "It kind of ruins the flow up, Michigan of the game a little bit and ruins inal 10 minutes our flow." kill and was Frustration might be inevitable when you're on the enalties didn't verge of losing three straight aid. "There are games and minutes from being -zone time that swept by an old-time rival for er us, getting a the first time in over 25 years. ntum. So it was But for a team that emphasizes making no excuses, they'll need sie series at to excuse themselves from ne, Michigan mental lapses that have often ping 48 penalty killed waves of momentum. numbers are "The penalty kill was really with Downing good," said sophomore forward those with two Boo Nieves. "Copp, (freshman cts, but being forward JT Compher), wDerek, seven separate you know, guys like that were and five more going every other shift and bode well for putting their bodies on the nit that's still line for us just to get those two struggling to minutes over with." finish scoring The Wolverines spent too chances. much of their weekend trying to Being kill the clock in their own zone. physical is one Practice makes perfect, and thing, and the perhaps the reason Michigan has Wolverines been so successful on the penalty were plenty kill is because it spends an of that this impractical amount of time there. weekend.They needed to be BY THE NUMBERS in order to Michigan's special teams ophers' speedy, ds. On several gan poured on hits. Midway Penalty minutes per game for'the ond period of Wolverines. Downing had 30 against senior forward Minnesota alone. eveled forward the Michigan niting Deblois' 18 Power-play goals conceded by Michigan ALLISOFFARRAND/Daily Freshman defenseman Michael Downing was ejected tram btlkoa Michigan's games this weekend tar illegal hits. Wleries snap losing streak with road win over Illini By SHANNON LYNCH Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's basketball team had lost four of its last six games, but on Sunday, Cyesha Goree took thingsinto her own hands. Led by the junior forward, the Michigan women's ILLINOIS 63 basketball MICHIGAN 70 team picked up its ninth road win, this time against Illinois, 70-63. Thanks to 19 first-half points on 7-for-9 shooting and eight rebounds, Goree was well on her way to her 10th double- double of the year. She didn't slow after halftime, finishing with 30 points and 19 boards - Goree set new career highs in both categories. "I didn't think we were going to get away with playing (senior forward Val Driscoll) and Cyesha at the sametime, but we pretty much did it for the entire second half and that was a better lineup for us," said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. "It really gave us a chance to take advantage of our size inside." Junior forward Nicole Elmbad also had a solid day on the glass. She picked up 10 rebounds to go with six points but the rebounding prowess of and six assists, helping the Goree and Elmblad and their Wolverines outrebound the ability to draw fouls kept the Fighting Illini, 47-19. Wolverines on top. One Illinois Michigan (7-6 Big Ten, 16-10 player fouled out, and three were overall) held a 12-point lead with in trouble throughout the game. 17 minutes left in the second half, "When it came down to the its biggest lead of the game. It end of the stretch, we were able looked as though the Wolverines to really stick together and not had all the momentum, but the get too flustered, even though defense faltered late. we had a few turnovers that we With just over 12 minutes could've controlled," Elmblad left in the contest, Michigan said. "We just kind of took a relinquished its lead quickly, a deep breath, and relaxed, and scenario that's plagued it all year. really looked to find good, open Illinois (2-11, shots." 9-17) went on Goree made an 11-0 run to "We took a deep history as just take the lead the second for the first breath and relaxed." Wolverine time in the to go for 30 half. points and 19 Freshman guard Siera rebounds in a game. She came Thompson put the Wolverines close to making it the second back on top with a triple, and game in program history in then the team went on a 7-0 run which a Michigan player scored of its own, responding much 20 points and 20 rebounds. better under pressure than it "I wasn't really being boxed has of late. Goree followed it up out because of the zone, and I with a jumper - which broke her was able to find the ball and then career high of 21 points - and get good offensive rebounds to then a layup to give Michigan put back," Goree said. "It felt a 59-53 lead with just under six really good, especially since we minutes left. were able to get the win." Though Michigan was able to NOTES: Thompson's lone counter the Fighting Illini run, 3-pointer extended her streak to, it never pulled away completely, 26 games with a triple. JAMES COLLER/Daily Junior forward Cyesha Goree tallied 19 first-half points and picked up a double-double in the second half against Illinois. She finished with 30 points and 19 boards, shattering her previous career highs as Michigan won the rebounding battle.