4B — February 23, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPLIT DECISION
Michigan splits
with Ohio State,
moves into first
place in Big Ten
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Editor
It’s been the Hyman and
Larkin show for quite a while
now, and the show will go on.
Senior forward Zach Hyman
and freshman forward Dylan
Larkin each netted a goal and
recorded three assists in Sunday’s
5-2 victory over Ohio State as the
No. 15 Michigan hockey team
moved into a first-place tie with
Minnesota atop the Big Ten
standings.
“We’ve been together since the
start of the year, so every game
we’ve gotten better,” Hyman said.
“We’re good friends off the ice,
so there’s chemistry there, and it
just carries over onto the ice.”
The win comes two days after
the Wolverines’ 10-game unbeaten
streak over the Buckeyes, dating
back to 2011, was snapped in
Columbus.
Michigan
coach
Red Berenson cited a lackluster
defensive effort as the root of his
team’s
mediocre
performance
Friday, but all that was cleaned
up for the final meeting of the
season between the Wolverines
(9-5 Big Ten, 17-11 overall) and the
Buckeyes (4-10, 9-17-2).
“We had a meeting Saturday,
and a lot of guys bought in, and
you could see it on the ice,” Larkin
said. “We had some good chances
come from hard work back, and it
was a good team effort.”
Midway through the second
period, the Wolverines killed a
five-minute penalty committed
by
sophomore
defenseman
Michael Downing for contact
to the head, helping them ride a
wave of momentum built by two
second-period goals.
“That was a lot of hard work,
and I think our team really
knuckled down when we got
that five-minute major and that
really
helped
us,”
Berenson
said. “Sometimes that can be a
motivator for your team to really
even play harder and be more
desperate.”
The first of those two goals
came off the stick of Larkin at the
5:15 mark thanks to a feed across
the slot from junior forward Boo
Nieves. Just over three minute
later, freshman defenseman Zach
Werenski netted his sixth goal of
the season off a slapshot from the
blue line.
His tally was set up by Larkin
and Hyman, who swung the puck
around the zone and created space
for Werenski just as a Michigan
power
play
was
expiring.
Werenski would add his second
goal of the night at the 14:34 mark
of the third period for the second
multi-goal game of his career.
Werenski’s
second
goal
provided a resounding answer to
Ohio State’s first tally of the game.
Forward Tanner Fritz corralled
a pass in the slot and beat junior
goaltender Steve Racine over his
left shoulder with 7:35 left in the
game.
And it was forward Tyler
Lundey who netted the Buckeyes
second goal of the night that came
in the final minute of regulation.
The two late goals left a minor
blemish on an otherwise stout
night for Racine and Michigan’s
defensive unit.
“I think we paid more attention
to
playing
better
defense,”
Berenson said. “Sometimes when
you’re a good player, all you do the
whole game is you’re hoping to get
the puck and then you get it and
then you hope to get it. During
that hope time, we’ve been giving
up too many scoring chances and
too many goals.
“We’re trying to get that hope
out of our game and know when
we’re defending and when we’re
attacking.”
The
Wolverines’
defensive
effort crept into its special-teams
play. They were perfect on the
penalty kill, stymying all five
of the Buckeyes’ opportunities
with the man-advantage. On its
own power play, Michigan took
advantage of Ohio State’s abysmal
penalty-killing unit — one that
has just a 73-percent success
rate — converting on one of three
chances with the extra attacker.
Most impressively, Michigan’s
top-ranked offense got going
again,
particularly
at
even
strength. Larkin’s nifty behind-
the-back pass to Hyman with 6:43
remaining in the first period got
the ball rolling on the Wolverines’
dire effort to split the weekend
series.
“Playing on our chemistry,
I just threw it, I knew he was
going to be there and it was going
in,” Larkin said. “We had a good
night, and, more importantly we
weren’t out for many goals.”
Larkin recorded his third assist
of the night on junior forward
Justin Selman’s goal nine minutes
into the third period. A cross-
zone pass to the left circle was
all Selman needed, as he caught
goaltender Christian Frey off his
angle to net his seventh goal of
the year.
In the final month of the
season, the wins and the points
start to mean a little more than
they
did
in
November
and
December. Berenson and his
players agreed that this win was
huge in propelling them toward a
late-season push.
Sunday’s game marked the
first time Michigan played at
Yost Ice Arena in 43 days, and
Hyman didn’t hold back about the
importance of protecting home
ice.
“The season is winding down,
and the last place you want to play
is away,” he said. “Being at Yost is
awesome, and we love playing
here.”
JAMES COLLER (top) and SAM MOUSIGIAN (bottom)/Daily
The Michigan hockey team fell at Ohio State on Friday (top) before bouncing back with a home win Sunday (bottom).
Wolverines rout
Pittsburgh, Duke
Michigan closes
dual-meet season
with 28-9, 33-7
non-league wins
By MICHAEL GRIFFIN
For the Daily
In the final weekend of dual
meets this season, the Michigan
wrestling team made a point to
assert itself against strong out-
of-conference competition.
The Wolverines dominated
No. 24 Pittsburgh in a 28-9 win
Friday night before beating Duke
on Saturday, 33-7.
Michigan
looked
strong
over the course of both meets
and
received
important
and
sometimes
unexpected
contributions
from
several
wrestlers.
The
most
surprising
performance of the weekend
came
from
Garrett
Sutton,
a freshman wrestling at 165
pounds. After losing his first
two matches of the season, he
helped carry the Wolverines to
victory all weekend, winning 4-1
and 10-3 on Friday and Saturday,
respectively.
Michigan
coach
Joe McFarland was pleased with
Sutton’s improvement.
“Garrett was lean and light a
couple of weeks ago,” McFarland
said. “He’s got his body back up,
he’s feeling good now, he’s feeling
like he’s got more zip and energy
out there. You can see it. His body
just looks better.”
Associate head coach Sean
Bormet emphasized the technical
aspect of Sutton’s wins.
“He’s
making
good
adjustments,
getting
more
relaxed and comfortable out
there,” Bormet said. “He really
focused on riding tough. In the
other matches (in weekends
past) he was overthinking and
letting guys go a little too easy.
He’s really tough on top, and he’s
got to use that to his advantage.
He did that this weekend.”
While the wins gave the
team confidence as the dual
season wraps up, the meets also
highlighted
concerns
about
depth on the squad, a recurring
problem all season.
The Wolverines returned two
wrestlers who had been out for
extended periods in junior Rossi
Bruno and redshirt sophomore
Taylor Massa. But only one,
Bruno,
enjoyed
success
this
weekend. Massa sat out Saturday
after dropping his match on
Friday, and his replacement,
fifth-year senior Jake Salazar,
lost
a
heartbreaker
against
Duke’s Trey Adamson, 4-3, in the
final seconds.
The Wolverines were also
without freshman standout Alec
Pantaleo, who both coaches said
was taking the weekend off to
deal with a few small injuries.
Replacing Pantaleo was redshirt
sophomore Angelo Latora, who
lost both of his matches at the
149-pound weight class. The
losses in the two events wrestled
by replacements were the only
ones Michigan dropped, and
they were also the only truly
close matches of the weekend,
highlighting the need for depth
in an otherwise strong team.
The strongest performances,
though, came from the team
captains, fifth-year senior Max
Huntley and sophomore Adam
Coon. Huntley, wrestling for the
last time at Cliff Keen Arena, had
two successful matches, scoring
a technical fall against Duke
on Saturday and winning 17-6,
while scoring a 5-1 victory over
Pittsburgh’s
Nick
Bonaccorsi
on Friday. Coon, coming off a
victory at Iowa last weekend,
contributed two wins, including
a major decision Saturday.
With their two final matches
and home schedule complete,
the Wolverines head into the Big
Ten Championships on March
7 in Columbus two wins richer
and boasting quite a bit more
confidence.
WRESTLING
Home ice, blocked shots help
Michigan to bounce-back win
Yost crowd lifts
Wolverines to
major penalty kill,
Sunday win
By ERIN LENNON
Daily Sports Editor
Midway through the second
period
Sunday,
sophomore
defenseman Michael Downing
stonewalled
an
Ohio
State
skater in front of the bench,
drawing a major penalty and a
game ejection as a packed Yost
Ice Arena booed in disapproval.
But with each pad save and
cleared puck, all 5,800 fans —
back to watch the Michigan
hockey team skate on home
ice for the first time since Jan.
11 — cheered louder, and the
Wolverines
killed
the
five-
minute power play opportunity.
“That’s huge,” said senior
forward Zach Hyman. “We
were up 3-0 at that point, so the
next goal was really big from
that standpoint.
“That’s what your PK needs to
do, is kill those kind of penalties,
and we did that today.”
Following a road loss Friday
in Columbus, the Wolverines’
defense
looked
similarly
reenergized in their regular-
season series finale with the
Buckeyes,
helping
junior
goaltender Steve Racine to a 5-1
victory.
A second period featuring five
penalties — two against Ohio
State, three against Michigan
— may have otherwise hurt the
Wolverines, who have struggled
both to find twine on the power
play and to kill penalties of late.
The offense had been frustrated
by Ohio State’s shot blocking
Friday and had many of its best
chances shooed away.
Instead, Michigan capitalized
on both of its chances against
the nation’s worst penalty kill.
After having his shot blocked
in the first period, freshman
defenseman
Zach
Werenski
scored from the blue line just
moments
after
the
second
power play expired.
Perhaps more importantly,
the Wolverines closed the gap in
shots blocked,
blocking nine
attempts
to
Ohio State’s 11.
The Buckeyes
out-blocked
Michigan
in
the
first
period, 7-3.
Werenski
— who took a
penalty in the
first
period
— got a second goal from the
left circle late in the third
period. And on his final shift,
Werenski blocked two shots
from a desperate Ohio State
forecheck.
Despite being outshot in the
game, 30-23, the Wolverines
won the shot-blocking battle
and
ultimately
the
game.
Michigan blocked 18 shots to
the Buckeyes’ 16.
“We were better,” Berenson
said. “We had some good shot
blocks on our end, and we
didn’t allow them to block as
many
shots.
… They’re a
good team in
shot-blocking
— as good as
anybody
we
play.”
The
long-
awaited
return
to
Yost was also
highlighted
by
guest
appearances
from
football
coach Jim Harbaugh and former
quarterback Denard Robinson.
After the final buzzer, “The
Victors” echoed for the first
time in seven weeks.
“The
season
is
winding
down, and the last place you
want to play is away,” Hyman
said. “Being at Yost is awesome,
and we love playing here.”
Friday, on the other hand,
the Wolverines struggled to
slow down Ohio State. Though
Racine — who allowed six
goals in his last start at Value
City Arena — was far from
outstanding, the defense in
front of him wasn’t much
better.
The loss was in large part a
consequence of blocked shots.
Michigan outshot the Buckeyes
39-32 and won the faceoff battle
handily, but blocked fewer than
10 shots in the game.
“Look at the blocked shots
for Ohio State,” Berenson said
Friday. “They did a great job,
and we didn’t. I don’t know if
that was the difference in the
game, but that shows up.”
For
comparison,
the
Wolverines blocked 17 shots in a
losing effort to Minnesota.
But the Buckeyes couldn’t
duplicate their winning recipe
Sunday at Yost, where they left
the ice without a win.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Freshman defenseman Zach Werenski scored late in the third period and blocked two shots to hold off Ohio State.
“Being at Yost is
awesome, and
we love playing
here.”