Sports
8 — Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Senior Night key for team on bubble

After multiple close 

losses, Michigan 

looks to get back on 

winning track

By KELLY HALL 

Daily Sports Writer

Considering 
the 
Michigan 

women’s basketball team’s recent 
string of last-
second defeats, 
it 
would 

make sense to 
suspect 
that 

the Wolverines 
are 
feeling 

downtrodden.

After senior 

forward Nicole 
Elmblad’s 
buzzer-beating 
putback 
propelled 

Michigan (7-9 Big Ten, 15-12 
overall) to overtime against 
Minnesota, it appeared that a 
contest would finally fall in favor 
of the Wolverines. After three 
close February losses that were 
decided in the final minute of 
play, Michigan’s turn to steal 
a victory away seemed within 
reach.

Saturday’s game in Minnesota 

didn’t 
end 
any 
differently, 

though, as the Wolverines lost in 
double overtime.

“We’re getting better, we just 

haven’t gotten a victory in one of 
these yet,” said Michigan coach 
Kim Barnes Arico. “But let’s just 
keep slugging away. I was proud 
of our effort and how we were 
down, and we didn’t quit, and 
we fought back and persevered. I 
think our team is really growing 
and continuing to improve.”

Tuesday, 
Purdue 
(3-13, 

10-17) will attempt to ruin the 
Wolverines’ Senior Night, when 

four-year starter Elmblad, two-
year starting forward Cyesha 
Goree and two-year starting 
transfer guard Shannon Smith 
will be honored prior to the 
game.

The 

Wolverines did 
show marked 
improvements 
against 
Minnesota. 
Goree 
stayed 

out 
of 
foul 

trouble while 
battling center 
Amanda 
Zahui 
B. 
— 

the 2014 Big 
Ten Freshman of the Year — 
and freshman guard Katelynn 
Flaherty scored a career-high 27 
points.

Flaherty, who has started 

the last two games, is looking 
more and more comfortable in 
pressure situations. After being 

named a starter, Flaherty put an 
enormous amount of pressure on 
Indiana and Minnesota, scoring 
48 points in total.

Goree was also able to tack on 

26 points and 20 boards against 

Indiana 
despite 
being 

double-
teamed 
all 

game. Against 
Purdue, she’ll 
look to emulate 
Saturday’s 
results 
while 

also remaining 
disciplined.

“For 

(Goree), 
she 

has to realize that it’s not all 
about her scoring all the time,” 
Barnes Arico said. “If people are 
really focused on her that much, 
and sending two and three 
people to her, it’s good for our 
team.”

“It’s going to open things up 

for her teammates, and it might 
not result in her numbers in the 
stat sheet being 20 points, but 
it’s resulting in Katelynn having 
20 
points, 
and 
(sophomore 

guard Siera Thompson) having 
open looks and Nicole Elmblad 
cutting to the basket.”

Goree, Flaherty, Thompson 

and Smith are all averaging 
double figures in scoring, so if 
Goree fouls out or is covered too 
heavily, the other three will be 
relied on offensively.

A 
loss 
would 
completely 

wipe out Michigan’s chances 
of making an at-large bid to the 
NCAA Tournament, barring an 
incredible Big Ten Tournament 
performance, 
which 
would 

likely have to include beating No. 
5 Maryland.

There 
are 
two 
games 

remaining on the Wolverines’ 
schedule before the conference 
tournament in Hoffman Estates, 
Illinois. After losing four games 
in February, they will have to 
win the final two.

Doing so might give a jolt 

of morale to a team that needs 
to 
overcome 
its 
late-season 

struggles to have any chance 
of 
an 
NCAA 
tournament 

appearance.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

“We just 

haven’t gotten a 
victory in one of 

those yet.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Shortage of time
issue for Michigan

By DANIEL FELDMAN

Daily Sports Editor

Time is running out for the 

Michigan men’s basketball team.

Despite an upset win over 

Ohio State on Sunday, Michigan’s 
chances for a postseason bid 
remain up in the air. And while 
the 
NCAA 
Tournament 
or 

NIT remains the goal for the 
Wolverines, 
Michigan 
coach 

John Beilein has other concerns 
for a season approaching its 
conclusion.

Specifically, Beilein wants to 

teach his young team as much 
as it can learn before summer 
approaches and practice time is 
limited.

“While some might be dialing 

back in their practice right now, 
we’re actually practicing more 
with those guys, cause they need 
this fundamental work,” Beilein 
said. “When the season’s over, we 
get two hours a week for a couple 
weeks, and then it’s the summer. 
So we’re trying to use every 
valuable minute.”

For the majority of Michigan’s 

team, the learning process has 
been rushed. After primarily 
playing an eight-man rotation 
that relied heavily on junior 
guards Spike Albrecht and Caris 
LeVert, sophomore guard Derrick 
Walton 
Jr. 
and 
sophomore 

forward Zak Irvin earlier in the 
season, the Wolverines were 
forced to readjust their lineup.

Due mostly to injuries to 

LeVert and Walton, Michigan 
had to adjust on the fly and do 
what Beilein was so hesitant to do 
before: throw his inexperienced 
youngsters into the fire.

“There’s 
a 
reason 
that 

(freshman guard Muhammad-Ali 
Abdur-Rahkman) and (freshman 
guard Aubrey Dawkins) were 
not playing early,” Beilein said. 
“Their timing was bad. They 
were just figuring it out, like 
freshmen should be. And so all 
of a sudden they had to play a lot 
of minutes — they weren’t very 
efficient offensively. So we’ve 

gotten better offensively. We’ve 
been tweaking like crazy.”

Such changes were evident 

Sunday, as freshman forward 
Ricky 
Doyle 
and 
redshirt 

freshman forward Mark Donnal 
combined for 10 points in 23 
minutes 
of 
action. 
Playing 

aggressively and with two feet 
planted in the paint, like Beilein 
has preached recently, the duo 
didn’t back down against the 
Buckeyes’ 
senior 
frontcourt 

of Sam Thompson and Amir 
Williams.

“For Ricky, who’s 18, playing 

against these 22-year-olds, it’s 
a challenge,” Beilein said. “And 
Mark is 19. It’s a big challenge.”

While practice helps with 

the development of Michigan’s 
budding young core, watching the 
play of older, more experienced 
players like Albrecht and senior 
forward Max Bielfeldt is also 
impactful.

Bielfeldt’s 
seven 
rebounds, 

including three on the offensive 
glass, and his dive on the floor to 
gain possession late in the second 
half showed the type of effort and 
resolve Beilein expects from his 
players.

“Our young guys are learning 

about a sense of urgency,” Beilein 
said. “Max’s clock is running out. 
He wants to go and get that ball, 
whereas typical young guys will 
be, ‘I’ll get it next time.’ Max, I 
think, has realized there isn’t a 
next time and I’m going to get 
that ball.”

Whereas Bielfeldt took a leaf 

out of Albrecht’s playbook by 
diving on the ground, Albrecht 
mimicked former Wolverine Trey 
Burke with his game-sealing 
steal of D’Angelo Russell in the 
final minute and his multiple 
step-back jumpers throughout 
the contest.

It’s that type of play that 

represents 
what 
college 

basketball should be, according 
to Beilein.

And if Michigan wants to 

make a run, it’ll need plenty more 
of it.

Purdue at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Purdue 10-17; 
Michigan 15-12

When: Tues-
day 7 P.M.

Where: 
Crisler Arena

TV/Radio: 
BTN

‘Children’ support Red, make the opponents blue

By ZACH SHAW

Daily Sports Writer

The 
applause 
and 
name 

chanting 
poured 
down 
to 

the ice at Adam Wilcox. The 
Minnesota 
netminder 
had 

heard it all before, but unlike his 
standout performances in net in 
Minneapolis, the junior wasn’t 
used to this kind of applause.

That’s because Wilcox had 

just surrendered his fifth goal in 
16 shots in an eventual 7-5 loss 
at Michigan on Jan. 10, and was 
being pulled for the first time in 
his career. As the reigning Big 
Ten Player of the Year skated 
off the ice, the cheers from the 
student section only grew louder.

The 
section, 
commonly 

referred to as the “Children of 
Yost,” has developed a reputation 
as the nation’s rowdiest, smartest 
and — most importantly — 
effective fans in college hockey.

After dropping four of five 

games on the road and falling 
out of the NCAA Tournament 
picture, the No. 17 Michigan 
hockey team needed all of the 
above from its fans on Sunday 
against Ohio State. The team got 
its wish, returning home for the 
first time in over six weeks and 
cruising to a 5-2 win.

Leading the charge from the 

stands in both games was Marcus 
Brown, a senior in an off-yellow 
mesh jersey in the third row. 
Brown fondly remembers sending 
Wilcox off, saying it was a prime 
example of what the student 
section was all about.

“We knew he was one of the 

best goalies out there,” Brown 
said. “We knew he had had one of 
his worst games, and we felt like 
we were a part of that. So we kept 
it going even after play resumed.”

After the win over Minnesota, 

the Wolverines embarked on an 
eight-game road trip. Michigan 
went 4-4 in the stretch, bringing 
its record away from Yost to 7-9. 
Needless to say, the team was 

happy to return to the arena in 
which it is 10-2 and averaging 
nearly 4.5 goals per game.

“I think it impacted our 

record,” said Michigan coach Red 
Berenson of the road trip. “It was 
so good to be back (Sunday). It 
was wall-to-wall, fans were all in, 
you never know what you’re going 
to get at five o’clock on a Sunday, 
but our fans really showed up.

“This is such a special place, 

and it’s such a home-ice feeling 
that we haven’t had in a long 
time.”

Every team has fans and an 

arena to call home, so what makes 
Yost special? To the team, it’s an 
unnerving passion for not just the 
team, but the game itself.

“They’re not just a bunch 

of rowdy students,” Berenson 
said. “They know the game and 
what’s going on, and they’re huge 
supporters of what we do.”

Added junior forward Justin 

Selman: “It can be one o’clock on a 
Wednesday afternoon or Sunday 

night, the Children of Yost show 
up no matter what. Playing at a 
bunch of rinks across the country 
now, it’s by far the best student 
section. The cheers they have 
and the way they get up for every 
game is just really special.”

For Brown, that has always 

been the easy part. Growing up 
around hockey and still sporting 
the same off-maize mesh jersey 
from a Michigan hockey camp 
10 years ago, Brown had no 
hesitation getting hockey season 
tickets his freshman year. When 
he arrived to his first game, he 
learned he wasn’t alone.

“The big difference between 

Yost and other sections is the 
legacy here,” he said. “A lot of us 
grew up around the program or 
grew up loving hockey, and those 
who don’t catch on quickly to be 
a part of it.

“It’s not the popular sport to go 

to, but people really, really want 
to be there.”

For 
the 
students, 
passion 

was the easy part. The hard 
part was utilizing that passion 
without making the experience 
detrimental to others. Though 
this year has been incident-free, 
that hasn’t always been the case.

“There 
have 
been 
times 

when (Berenson) came out at 
intermission and asked us if our 
parents knew the things we were 
saying,” Brown said. “There’s 
a line, but we walk that line 
proudly.”

The line forces Brown and 

company to get creative. Online 
forums and groups encourage 
suggestions and new ideas, and 
sometimes they stick.

Since 
November, 
opposing 

hockey players have been greeted 
to large printouts of their Tinder 
bios, adding a more personal 
touch to the welcome. What 
began as an accidental finding on 
the popular phone dating app by a 
few fans quickly opened doors to 
a whole new realm of trash talk.

“The Tinder tradition was 

totally 
unexpected,” 
said 

sophomore Anna Moshkovych, 
one of the original sources of the 
idea. “After posting screenshots 
in the Facebook page, the whole 
thing took on a life of its own. One 
alumni offered to get the pictures 
blown up on a poster in Kinkos, 
but it was only a few hours prior 
to puck drop and I didn’t think 
they’d actually follow through. 
Once I showed up to the game 
and saw the physical posters in 
all their glory, I was practically 
crying from laughing so hard.

“The pick-up lines those guys 

put on their profiles gave us a 
whole new level of debauchery. 
We made sure to make the 
experience completely mortifying 
— calling out parents and waving 
the posters up against the glass. 
The game was one for the books.”

With fans cracking up, players 

peeking to see themselves and 
visiting parents lowering their 
heads in shame, the idea was a hit. 
The Tinder posters were alive and 

well Sunday against Ohio State, 
as were a number of cheers both 
new and old. Some made sense. 
Some — like chanting for an adult 
fan to hold a baby up to replicate 
the Lion King scene — did not.

However, 
the 
fun-loving 

nature of the section, according 
to Brown, allows the group to 
continue to keep things fresh.

“Most of the stuff we do in the 

student section is directly for 
supporting the team and heckling 
away players,” Brown said. “But 
occasionally we’ll do things that 
are more for our entertainment, 
not worrying if the other team 
can hear us, but just to crack a 
joke.

“The funny thing is that 

sometimes it catches on, and 
suddenly we have a new cheer.”

With the team no longer in 

the driver’s seat en route to 
the NCAA Tournament, the 
Wolverines will need to play their 
best hockey in the final six games 
to stay in contention. Similarly, 
the Children of Yost are feeling 
the pressure.

“We know we have to bring 

it for the big games,” Brown 
said. “They don’t lose at home 
very much, and we think we’re 
a big part of that, so we feel the 
urgency just like the team does.”

There’s no real way to prove 

just how important the student 
section is to the team’s success. 
But after playing and coaching all 
over the continent, Berenson feels 
that together, special things are 
always on the horizon.

“It’s the sound, the students, 

the band, the sightlines, the other 
team can get that uneasy feeling,” 
he said. “Our team gets this 
confidence that’s really special, 
and all of a sudden, you’re better 
than you were last week because 
you’re at home.

“I can tell you, we wouldn’t 

be the same team or program 
without our student section.”

Neither 
would 
opposing 

goaltenders.

ZACH MOORE/Daily

The Children ofYost have played an integral role in the Michigan hockey team’s season. The Wolverines are 10-2 at Yost Ice Arena this year.

