The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsTuesday
January 19, 2016 — 3B

he stopped 43 Buckeye shots to 
earn his eighth win of the season.

The first line of Compher, 

Connor 
and 
Motte 
finished 

with a combined 12 points and 
accounted for six of Michigan’s 
eight goals.

“They’re playing the right 

way,” Berenson said. “They’ve got 
confidence, they’ve got chemistry, 
and they’re leading our team.”

Earlier this year, Compher 

said Michigan didn’t want to be 
known as the “comeback kids.” 
But the team’s inconsistent play 
has forced it to be just that.

And somehow, they’re getting 

by quite well.

“It’s 
old 
time 
hockey,” 

Berenson said. “We’re trying 
to play better defensively, but 
that’s what you get tonight. They 
had too many shots, too many 
chances. We had 40 shots against 
after two periods tonight. That’s 
unacceptable, but that’s the way 
the game is played.

“If it snows out, you have to 

deal with it.”

HOCKEY
From Page 1B

Top line dominant vs. Buckeyes

By KEVIN SANTO

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan hockey team 

entered Value City Arena in 
Columbus on Friday night as close 
to perfect as it had been all season.

The Wolverines were coming 

off 
back-to-back 
weekends 

that featured a Great Lakes 
Invitational title and a series 
sweep against Michigan State.

Michigan notched its two 

victories against the Spartans in 
a commanding fashion, recording 
its largest series goal differential 
of the season — finding twine 15 
times while conceding just five 
goals on the defensive end.

But the Wolverines’ two-game 

stint against Ohio State ended in 
a different fashion: with players 
from both sides trading blows at 
Yost Ice Arena in a fight that is 
rare in college hockey.

The brawl was emblematic 

of 
Michigan’s 
experience 
all 

weekend. The Buckeyes repeatedly 
put the Wolverines on the ropes, 
mercilessly landing shots that 
would reduce most teams to an 
embarrassing two-loss weekend.

Each time Ohio State had 

seemingly locked down an upset 
victory, though, Michigan was 
saved by the play of its first line.

That line — comprised of 

junior forward JT Compher, 
junior forward Tyler Motte and 
freshman forward Kyle Connor 
— combined for nine of the 13 
goals the Wolverines scored this 
weekend, leading them to a tie 
Friday and a victory Sunday.

“I don’t have to give them a 

message,” said Michigan coach Red 
Berenson. “They’re leading our 
team, and good for them. You need 
somebody, or a group, to really lead 
your team — particularly when you 
get behind.”

The sheer total of goals the first 

line scored isn’t even what’s most 
impressive about its performance 
this weekend. Instead, Motte, 
Compher and Connor seemed to 
have the clutch gene in their DNA 
against the Buckeyes, lighting the 

lamp just when Michigan needed 
it time and time again.

Just over a minute into the 

third period Friday, Connor 
sniped a one-timer past Ohio 
State netminder Matt Tomkins to 
extend Michigan’s unanswered 
scoring run to three.

After allowing three straight 

goals to open the game, Connor’s 
finish was a key one — providing the 
Wolverines with an opportunity to 
play the third frame as if it were a 
brand-new game.

Though Michigan went on to 

let a win slip through its fingers 
on a defensive zone faceoff with 
seven seconds to play, Connor’s 
goal was the spark that allowed 
the Wolverines to be in a position 
to steal three points from the 
Buckeyes.

The freshman rounded out the 

weekend with two more goals 
Sunday, both of which trimmed 
Ohio State’s lead to one. Connor’s 
second goal of the night came just 
52 seconds into the third period 
and led to the four consecutive 
finishes 
that 
left 
Michigan 

standing on top.

With his three-goal weekend, 

Connor is now tied for first in the 
NCAA in goals this season with 18.

As if an offense that scores an 

NCAA-high 4.86 goals per game 
isn’t scary enough, Motte is one 
of the three players Connor is 
tied with in the category.

The Buckeyes had no answer 

for Motte on Sunday, as the 
junior forward notched his first 
career hat trick to close out the 
series, and had an assist to go 
with it.

Like Connor, Motte found the 

back of the net at moments that 
entirely shifted the momentum of 
the contest — tallying a go-ahead 
goal in the first period before 
burying an equalizer and another 
go-ahead in the third.

“For me, it’s just working with 

these guys,” Motte said. “They 
make it pretty easy on me, getting 
me the puck in prime scoring 
areas. The timing of them just 
happened to be (go-ahead and 
tying goals) tonight.”

And then there’s the captain.

Compher 
didn’t 
endlessly 

pepper the back of the net like 
his two line partners, but he did 
add a pair of goals for himself. 
The more important of those two 
came Friday.

With the score sitting at 4-3 and 

just 2:41 remaining on the game 
clock, Compher held the puck 
behind the goal line searching 
for an opening before cleverly 
banking a shot off the goaltender’s 
back and into the net.

And while Motte and Connor 

may be leading the NCAA in 
goals, they can largely thank 
Compher for that.

The junior has been the 

maestro behind the offense all 
year, racking up 25 assists in 21 
games — good for second in the 
NCAA in that category.

“I think since (our line has) 

been put together, we just move 
the puck well,” Compher said. 

This weekend, the Wolverines 

were very far from perfect.

But with the first line they 

have, maybe, imperfection will 
do for now.

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Michigan’s line of Kyle Connor, JT Compher and Tyler Motte scored nine of the Wolverines’ 13 goals against Ohio State.

Wolverines rally, 
knock off Illinois

Michigan leans on 
back end to beat 

second consecutive 
ranked opponent

By NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

Once 
again, 
the 
No. 
10 

Michigan wrestling team found 
itself trailing a ranked opponent 
in the second half of a meet. And 
once again, the Wolverines rallied 
to win. 

Michigan 
defeated 
No. 
13 

Illinois, 25-14, and erased a 14-8 
deficit with four matches to go. 
The Wolverines’ victory comes 
directly on the heels of a 21-11 
triumph over then-No. 6 Ohio 
State on Jan. 9 — a meet in which 
Michigan trailed, 11-9, after the 
sixth bout.

“If we’re coming in at 184 

(pounds) and the dual is tied, 
we’re going to win the dual,” said 
sixth-ranked, 197-pound, sixth-
year senior Max Huntley. “There 
was no way that we were going to 
lose two of the three (matches) at 
that weight class.”

It all started in the 174-pound 

class when redshirt freshman 
No. 
16 
Davonte 
Mahomes 

earned a 12-3 major decision 
over Emery Parker. Mahomes 
scored 
five 
takedowns 
and 

accumulated 1:39 of riding time 
during the bout.

“At the 174 (pound) match, 

I looked at the scoreboard 
and said, ‘we have to win this 
match,’ ” said Michigan coach 
Joe McFarland. “It was good to 
see (Mahomes) go out there and 
really take control and dominate 
that match.”

The Wolverines took the lead 

when No. 10 junior Domenic 
Abounader 
earned 
two 

takedowns in the third period en 

route to an 8-2 victory over Jeff 
Kopke at 184 pounds. 

But it was Huntley who sealed 

the match for the Wolverines. 
He pinned Jeff Kopke 2:39 into 
the match to give Michigan an 
insurmountable 21-14 edge. No. 4 
junior heavyweight Adam Coon 
put the cherry on top, earning an 
11-2 major-decision win against 
No. 19 Brooks Black.

“We’re getting the work done 

in the practice room and it’s 
showing up on the mat,” Coon 
said. “We’re definitely happy 
with our performances, but we’re 
never satisfied.”

Yet 
Michigan’s 
final 
four 

wrestlers were not the only ones 
to shine Friday. No. 19 redshirt 
junior Conor Youtsey opened the 
meet with a 25-10 technical-fall 
victory over Francis Edelen at 125 
pounds. The performance gave 
the Wolverines a 5-0 lead at the 
time.

In spite of the win, there were 

a few moments Michigan would 
probably like to forget. 

In the 157-pound class, No. 5 

junior Brian Murphy suffered 
a technical-fall defeat at the 
hands of No. 1 Isaiah Martinez 
4:44 into the bout, turning 
an 8-6 Wolverine lead into 
an 11-8 deficit. Also, redshirt 
sophomore George Fisher lost 
his match against Brock Ervin, 
8-6, which gave the Fighting 
Illini a 6-5 edge.

With a matchup against No. 1 

Penn State on Jan. 31, as well as Big 
Ten and NCAA championships 
looming, McFarland was quick to 
point out areas where Michigan 
needs to improve.

“In some cases, we allowed 

guys to slow us down,” McFarland 
said. 
“We 
want 
high-paced, 

inspired wrestling. We have guys 
who are capable of doing that, 
but right now we don’t have all 10 
guys doing that. We need to get 
there.”

Wolverines fall short at Windy City Invite

Michigan finds room 

for improvement 
after Big Ten foes 
dominate meet

By COLE ZINGAS 

Daily Sports Writer

At the Windy City Invitational 

in 
Chicago 
on 
Sunday, 
the 

Michigan men’s gymnastics team 
lined up against five top-16 teams, 
hoping to establish legitimacy as a 
national contender. 

But 
after 
the 
meet, 
the 

Wolverines’ first of the year, 
they returned to Ann Arbor 
dissatisfied. For Michigan, a fifth-
place finish in a six-team field did 
not sit well. 

The fifth-ranked Wolverines 

(1-4, 0-4 Big Ten) ended up 
behind four other Big Ten teams 
— No. 2 Ohio State, No. 6 Illinois, 

No. 8 Minnesota and No. 9 Iowa 
— finishing with a 413.700 team 
score. That put them 12.250 
points behind the Fighting Illini, 
who edged out Ohio State by .250 
points to win the meet. 

Senior captain Nolan Novak 

addressed the team after the meet, 
telling them to remember the 
feeling they had at that moment. 

“We need to attack each 

practice with that feeling in our 
gut and say, ‘I don’t want to feel 
that way ever again,’ ” Novak said.

But the end result was not 

representative of the beginning 
of 
the 
competition 
for 
the 

young Michigan squad. To start 
the meet, freshmen Anthony 
MacCallum and Emyre Cole and 
junior Anthony Stefanelli took 
to the vault and finished second, 
third and fifth, respectively. 

They all scored a 15 or higher, 

and in Michigan coach Kurt 
Golder’s opinion, the routines 
should have been scored even 

higher.

“The first team up normally 

gets lower scores, then the judges 
get loosened up as the meet goes 
on,” Golder said. “I think they 
were real tight on us in some 
vaults.” 

Nevertheless, the Wolverines 

won the vault team event by 1.5 
points, a wide margin for a single 
event.

But after that, the team was 

shaky, showing its inexperience 
and youth in events such as the 
pommel 
horse, 
parallel 
bars 

and high bar. Michigan finished 
second to last in all three of those 
events. 

Part of the reason could be 

because 
several 
Wolverines 

had to face new challenges in a 
meet Novak called a “learning 
experience.”

Novak competed in the high 

bar for the first time Sunday. 
Freshman Matt Whitaker, an 
alternate, was slotted for the 

parallel bars at the last minute. 
Sophomore 
Marty 
Strech 

competed in the all-around for the 
first time in his Michigan career 
and seven freshmen competed in 
their first collegiate meet. 

But to Golder, having an 

inexperienced team means there 
is much more potential to improve 
than other top-10 teams. 

“If (Michigan) met Utah in 

football at the end of the season, 
we would have beat them,” Golder 
said. “Hopefully that will happen 
with our team.”

Though the Michigan football 

team never got another crack at 
the Utes, the men’s gymnastics 
team will face the top two teams 
from Sunday, Illinois and Ohio 
State, again later in the season. 

“We’ve got some pretty darn 

talented 
guys,” 
Golder 
said. 

“They’re certainly going to be 
scoring a lot higher at the end of 
the year than they are right now.” 

Golder said the vault team is 

already realizing its potential, but 
the floor team is also very talented 
and did not show what it’s capable 
of Sunday. He also foresees 
improvement 
in 
the 
parallel 

bars, which was the Wolverines’ 
downfall this weekend. 

Michigan is now determined to 

make these improvements. After 
falling to three teams ranked 
below them, the Wolverines know 
they need to perform better in 
order to reassert themselves as 
one of the nation’s teams to beat.

“This is going to fuel the fire 

for the rest of the season,” Novak 
said. “We have more motivation 
than anyone else because we have 
a lot more to prove.”

Michigan hopes to ignite that 

fire very quickly, as five days of 
preparation is all the Wolverines 
have before their next meet. 
Saturday, they will have a prime 
opportunity to prove themselves— 
they will take on No. 1 Oklahoma 
at Cliff Keen Arena.

WRESTLING

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

