Sports The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Wednesday, October 28, 2015 — 7A Wolverines fall in ITA quarterfinals Michigan finishes on Sunday with no semifinal berths By RILEY NELSON For the Daily The Michigan men’s tennis team made its way to South Bend, Ind., on Thursday to compete in the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. And while the Wolverines ended their run on Sunday, failing to make it past the quarterfinals, Michigan coach Adam Steinberg saw his team play some of its best tennis since he took over the program in June 2014. It was the first full team event of the fall, with six Michigan players in the singles main draw. “There were some good moments,” Steinberg said, “and then some moments in singles that I feel we really have to work on. I was really happy with the freshmen — I thought they competed great.” Sophomore Carter Lin fell to No. 2 seed Chris Diaz of Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the singles main draw after playing very competitive matches in the earlier rounds. He was the highlight of the Wolverines’ singles competition, but it was the doubles efforts that really stood out in Steinberg’s mind. “The best moment I’ve had in coaching here at Michigan was the other night … when (the) doubles teams were playing on the courts at Notre Dame,” Steinberg said. “It was awesome. They were pushing each other, playing with amazing energy. That’s what we do in practice every day, and we took it to the tournament, so I was really pleased with the doubles overall.” The two teams — redshirt sophomore Alex Knight with sophomore Runhao Hua and junior Kevin Wong with freshman Gabe Tishman — each made it to the quarterfinals before falling to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. Despite not making it to the final day of competition, Steinberg was happy with his doubles teams’ level of competition. “I thought it was the best I’ve ever seen us play doubles since I’ve been here,” Steinberg said. “We competed really well. Even the matches we lost, we played great — it didn’t feel like we even lost them because of how well we played, competed, and our attitude.” In the fall tennis season there are no team results, because all athletes compete as individuals or in pairs. It’s an opportune time for players to fine-tune their skills and perfect their game. “Our doubles has really improved, but as singles players I think everyone needs to really commit to their game styles, so by the end of the fall that’s set in stone,” Steinberg said. “It’s not there yet, but it’s definitely getting better. Way better.” MEN’S TENNIS “It’s not there yet, but it’s definitely getting better.” Michigan battles to draw with Western Michigan By BETELHEM ASHAME Daily Sports Writer Tempers flared throughout the Michigan men’s soccer team’s hotly contested affair against Western Michigan on Tuesday, adding even more tension to an already- tough encounter between two evenly matched teams. Through physical possession battles in the midfield and hard tackles to break up the other team’s attack, the two sides fought to a scoreless draw in double overtime. While the Wolverines (2-2-2 Big Ten, 7-4-4 overall) — second in the Big Ten in goals per game — initially struggled to find their feet offensively, their defense stepped up to neutralize the Broncos’ effort to start fast and draw blood in the early stages. “How organized we were (at the back) took them out of the game,” said Michigan junior defender Rylee Woods. “Our confidence rose after we broke the first 20 minutes, and we did well the rest of the game.” The Broncos (1-1-1 MAC, 8-3-4 overall) kept the ball in their attacking third for much of the first half, dominating the run of play and creating the majority of the chances. An endless foray of crosses into the box and shots on goal forced a response from Michigan’s defensive unit, which put together a strong defensive stand to keep the offense at bay. Aware that Western Michigan would prove to be a handful, Michigan coach Chaka Daley stuck to his game plan, believing his players would be able to handle the onslaught. The Wolverines’ defense had allowed only one goal over the previous three matches and continued its run of recent success by producing another shutout against the Broncos. “We knew they had some good pieces to the puzzle,” Daley said. “They have a lot of busy, active attacking players, and we thought those guys were definitely factors in the game. They were kind of neutralized tonight and didn’t really show their faces too much, which is good for us. Our guys on defense gave everything and did outstanding.” The dynamic of the game changed dramatically in the 60th minute. After two previous breakaway runs down the pitch came up empty, Michigan freshman forward Francis Atuahene sprinted toward a long ball played forward by the defense. Western Michigan’s goalkeeper charged toward the top of the box in the hope of catching the ball before Atuahene could reach it. The goalie jumped in the air and clutched the ball in his grasp, but Atuahene crashed into him with questionable intent, sending them both to the turf. With the goalie writhing on the ground, the referee had no choice but to issue Atuahene a red card, disqualifying him from the match. With just 10 men, Michigan played stifling defense despite several dangerous near-misses by the Broncos, managing to hold out for the rest of the half and all of overtime to earn a hard-fought tie. “From the standpoint of going down to 10 players in a tough game against a Western Michigan side that is a very senior-laden team whereas a lot of our guys are freshmen and sophomores, it’s really outstanding to see the commitment and physicality of our guys to grind it out,” Daley said. Considering the circumstances, Michigan’s resiliency and determination to still come away with a point will prove to be a real asset for the team with the biggest games of the season coming up next. Murphy makes return Rather than take medical redshirt, senior returns for final games By KATIE CONKLIN Daily Sports Writer It was Sept. 6, the second game of the Michigan men’s soccer season against Niagara, and the crowd was tense. Entering overtime, the score was tied at one. Stepping toward a rebounded ball in the 99th minute, senior midfielder James Murphy buried the ball in the back of the net. The Wolverine faithful erupted in celebration, only to be silenced by the blow of the referee’s offside whistle. The game went to double overtime. Just two minutes into the second period, a foul on top of the 18-yard box led to a perfectly placed set-piece opportunity. Murphy, as he did a few minutes prior, found twine with a powerful header to capture a sudden victory. The following game against Maryland, Murphy went down with a torn medial collateral ligament. He has not seen the field since. Making his return seven weeks later against in-state rival Western Michigan on Tuesday evening, Murphy entered the game with four minutes remaining in the first half, and played a large chunk of the second half and overtime period in the Wolverines’ scoreless double-overtime tie. “It’s been really tough, obviously, my senior year, and to sit out most of the season,” Murphy said. “It’s great to get back in it and just do whatever I can do to help this team out and help to finish the season strong.” Though he had the chance to take a medical redshirt this season, Murphy declined, instead opting to join his teammates for the final and most crucial part of the campaign. Murphy has made an impact on the Michigan squad ever since he crossed the pond from England and stepped on the field his freshman year, earning a spot on the 2012 Big Ten All- Freshman team. “Whatever he’s got to give this team, he wants to offer it,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “He’s a selfless young man.” Three years later, Murphy has a captain band wrapped around his arm, and he plays as selflessly on the pitch as he behaves off of it. After playing for just three short stints in his comeback game, Murphy’s goal is to play and enjoy every minute he gets on and off of the field with his teammates. “This team means a lot to me, and I want to give everything I’ve got to help these boys out,” Murphy said. “And hopefully we’ll win something this year.” And with two important Big Ten games in their future, the Wolverines still have a shot to do just that. To the excitement of both Daley and Murphy, he will be back and ready to make an impact — as he has in the past with 37 career goals. “He gives everything for the team and he’s all about the team first,” Daley said. And Murphy hopes to give what he has, whether there are two games left in the season or 10. Every game after Nov. 4 could be his last. “We’ve missed him,” Daley said. “Big time.” AMANDA ALLEN/Daily Junior defender Rylee Woods helped lead a Michigan back line that withstood Western Michigan’s attack, even while playing with 10 men for almost half the game. W. MICHIGAN MICHIGAN 0 0 The anatomy of a goalie fight By JUSTIN MEYER Daily Sports Writer The No. 10 Michigan hockey team brought in a permanent goalie coach for the 2015-16 season after struggling with consistency at the position for the past few years. Steve Shields, an ex-Wolverine netminder and a 10-year NHL veteran, is also notorious for being a bit of a brawler. One of Shields’ altercations from the 1990s will stand out to old-time fans everywhere. The Michigan Daily talked with Shields to break down the fight. The following transcript has been edited for continuity. * * * It was May 3, 1997 in Buffalo, New York. Shields was hot as the Sabres’ backup goalie, filling in competently for the injured Dominik Hasek in the NHL playoffs. Buffalo won a first-round series against the Ottawa Senators before running into the Philadelphia Flyers and goaltender Garth Snow. The Michigan Daily: Buffalo has pretty colorful jerseys back then. Steve Shields: Oh yeah. TMD: What was it like for you playing in the playoffs? SS: It was really nerve- wracking at the — a lot of pressure. Because we have the best goalie in the world — Hasek. He gets hurt, and I’m not going to be as good. So can we win without having our best goalie in there? I played well enough for us to win. It was a great experience playing playoff hockey as a goalie. With 2:55 to go in the second period, a scrum breaks out in front of the Flyers’ net. SS: I’m in the other end — it’s a five-on-five brawl. Garth Snow has been egging our team on all year, picking on Hasek. Now he’s involved, so he would outnumber our guys. I start skating down because now he’s in it and I gotta go even it up. We’re jonesing to go at each other because we’ve been at it all year, and this is the playoffs. TMD: What’s your attitude when you’re skating toward center ice? SS: Like, I hope I don’t fall. Now it’s loud and our crowd’s cheering and it’s the playoffs. I can’t fall, and I can’t go down when I get punched. Shields meets Snow in the corner and the two start jawing at each other before a teammate breaks up the escalating situation. SS: Bob Boughner is right here — he reminds me that we have no other goalies. We have a third- string goalie but nobody else. So I’m like, ‘OK, I’ll back off.’ But I know he wants to get a piece of me. Shields skates off to the side, but stays just close enough to continue the action. Before long, the two are back at each other, toppling a linesman in the process. SS: I’m standing at the blue line giving him the head nod, and now he sees me right here. He comes up to me and pulls my mask off real easy. TMD: Now it’s on. SS: Your eyes just kind of roll back into your head and it’s on. TMD: That poor linesman. SS: So if I get (Snow’s) mask off right here, I might have the best knockout in history. And I break the top of my knuckle on his mask. TMD: And you played after that with a broken knuckle? SS: Yeah, oh yeah. There’s my roommate right there, Wayne Primeau, yelling at him. TMD: What’s he yelling? SS: Every bad thing you can imagine. It lasted about a minute, the whole scene, and I was just gassed. TMD: Did you get a five- minute (major penalty) for that? SS: I thought I was done, that’s why I kind of sold out in the fight. But now I have to go back. That was a whole season in the making. Dom (Hasek) was in a scrap earlier on. And I’m friends with (Snow), but when it happens you gotta go. I’m not going to say I wasn’t excited about it. TMD: When the refs separate you at the end, what’s going through your head? Is it like, ‘Thank God this is over?’ SS: No — I was so tired. I felt my hand was hurting, and I immediately was thinking, ‘God, if his helmet had popped off earlier, it would have been an all-time great knockout.’ And I was happy I didn’t get punched really good. TMD: Who won that fight? SS: Come on, I don’t need to answer that one. There’s a couple I haven’t won, but everyone knows about that one. Shields’ Sabres lost the series in five games. Even though Shields didn’t get his knockout, the Game 1 goalie fight went down in history as an all-time great playoff moment. Michigan is 3-0-1 this season and plays its second home series against Robert Morris this weekend. JAMES COLLER/Daily Steve Shields recalled Tuesday a legendary hockey fight he had in 1997. “There’s a couple I haven’t won, but everyone knows about that one.” “Whatever he’s got to give this team, he wants to offer it.”