Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, November 4, 2016 — 7A

Understated Winborg could be just what ‘M’ needs

Adam Winborg isn’t a “rah-

rah” type of player.

Michigan senior defenseman 

and captain Nolan De Jong says 
that Winborg has been pretty 
quiet during his first year in Ann 
Arbor. Perhaps the freshman 
forward’s low profile is a result 
of his circumstances — he 
wasn’t the highly touted recruit 
that teammates Will Lockwood 
and Luke Martin were, and he 
was also suspended for the first 
five games of the season (he 
played five games past his 21st 
birthday for the Janesville Jets 
of the NAHL).

But now, Winborg is on the 

ice, and his impact is already 
being felt. De Jong said that the 
team has “done way too much 
talking this year and not enough 
of showing it on the ice and in 
our play,” and that’s a need that 
Winborg can help solve.

“He was pretty quiet,” De 

Jong said. “(He) just comes in 
and does his work. He’s not 
going to air out, not the type of 
kid to complain, whether it’s in 
the weight room or around the 
boys. We’ve had guys scratched 
that long, so he 
knew 
he 
was 

going 
to 
have 

the opportunity, 
and he’s taken 
advantage of it 
so far.”

Against 

Vermont 
last 

weekend, 
he 

led 
the 
team 

with 
three 

blocked 
shots, 

and against Dartmouth the 
following night, he recorded 
the first goal of his career on 

a power play to stake his team 
with an early 1-0 lead.

It was the type of goal 

Michigan has had too few of 
this season — Winborg planted 
himself in front of the net, got 
a stick on the puck and scored 
what he calls a “garbage goal.”

“It was nice to get that first 

goal out of the way pretty early,” 
Winborg said Thursday. “It 
wasn’t the prettiest goal, but it 
went in, and hopefully we can 
start winning some games this 
weekend. But it was definitely 
nice to get that first goal.”

“Obviously, when he wasn’t 

playing, he was putting a lot of 
extra work in with Joe — our 
conditioning coach — in the 
weight room and doing a lot of 
extra skating and things like 
that,” De Jong said. “But I think 
he’s been really attentive in all 
the meetings that we’ve had 
even when he wasn’t playing and 
he was very focused on what he 
had to do to be successful.”

Winborg doesn’t have the 

age or experience of a typical 
Michigan recruit. On a roster 
littered with 18- and 19-year-
old freshmen, Winborg — born 
in 1995 — stands out. Originally 
from Sweden, he spent three 

years 
in 

Janesville, Wis., 
playing for the 
Jets, where he 
led the team in 
scoring his last 
two years. But 
despite his level 
of 
production, 

Winborg 
didn’t 

make a college 
commitment 
until late April 

of this year, when he chose to 
attend Michigan.

His experience has helped 

him in numerous ways already 
this year. He has used his 
size to his advantage on the 
ice, like with his goal against 
Dartmouth. And perhaps more 
importantly, for a team that is 
clearly still searching for an 
identity through the early part 
of the season, Winborg already 
knows what he is.

“I see myself as a two-way 

player,” Winborg said. “(I) play 
hard, and both my offense and 
defense are strong. (I) try to 

be hard in front of both nets, 
especially on offense. Score 
some garbage goals. Just be 
hard to play against down low 
and try to make some plays.

“I feel as though I have an 

advantage, too — to know what 
kind of player you are and what 
you are able to do, so that you 
can help the team succeed on 
the ice.”

Winborg admits there was 

some adjusting to do when he 
finally hit the ice. After all, it 

had been almost half a year 
since he had last played in a 
game, and college hockey plays 
at a different pace than the 
junior leagues.

But his captain and coach 

were pleased with his effort and 
performance, and if Winborg 
is indeed the type of worker 
De Jong and Berenson have 
given him credit for, there is no 
reason the late bloomer will stop 
blooming anytime soon.

“We’ve been waiting for him to 

have a chance to play, and we’ve 
had the chance to watch him in 
practice a lot,” Berenson said. “I 
think the things I’ve gotten from 
him are he’s a responsible player, 
(and) I think he’ll help us both 
offensively and defensively. We 
put him in front of the net on the 
power play — I think he can help 
us there. And I think he’ll help 
us on the penalty killing and also 
gives us some depth on center 
ice. I think he’s going to be a real 
solid player for us.”

Now back from suspension dating to NAHL, freshman forward could make a difference for slow-starting Wolverines

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson thinks the Wolverines will benefit from Adam Winborg’s return to the lineup after missing the season’s first five games.

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Writer

“(Winborg) just 

comes in 

and does his 

work.”

Wolverines looking to get back on track at ASU

It was expected that the 

Michigan hockey team would 
fall on some hard times this 
year. 
What 

wasn’t 
expected 
was 
that 

those 
times 

would 
come 

so soon. But 
after falling to 
Vermont 
and 

Dartmouth 
last weekend, 
the Wolverines 
(3-3-1) 
are 

now 
in 
that 

situation.

After 
its 

struggles 
on 

the East Coast, the team will 
now look to right the ship on the 
other side of the country against 
Arizona State (1-7-0), a team in 
just its second year as a program.

Michigan’s 
most 
glaring 

issues this season have come on 
the offensive end of the ice — it 
has been outshot in every game 
this season. The Sun Devils, 
though, have given up at least 
four goals in every game but 
one this season. So if there’s 
any team that can ease the 
Wolverines’ offensive woes, it’s 
Arizona State.

“We know we’ve made way too 

many mistakes to be a good team, 
and way too many mistakes for 
a Michigan team,” said senior 
defenseman Nolan De Jong. “But 
we’re building on the positives 
we had (from last weekend), and 
we’re improving the things that 
we didn’t do as well.”

The bright spot for Michigan 

so far this season has been 
its goaltenders — specifically 
freshmen Jack LaFontaine and 
Hayden Lavigne. Each started a 
game last weekend, and though 
neither earned a win, they both 
faced a minimum of 35 shots 
apiece, and Lavigne set a career 
high with 39 saves.

But the number of shots that 

the goalies have faced this 
season is troubling to say the 
least. Though the netminders 
have been good enough to keep 
their team in games so far, that 
level of play can’t be expected 
to 
last 
all 
season. 
Their 

defensive troubles have led to 
a multitude of line changes and 
goaltender rotations already 
this year, something Michigan 
coach Red Berenson sees as a 
necessity for now.

“We wouldn’t change our 

lines if we were playing really 
well, unless there was an 
injury,” Berenson said. “We 
just don’t think our lines are 
playing well enough to leave 
them together game after game 
or period after period if they’re 
not playing well. We have too 
many growing pains right now 
to just stay with them … I know 
that as a player it’s usually a 
wake-up call when we’d change 
our lines, so I’d have to refocus 
and regroup. Same thing with 

our goalies.”

Michigan realizes it won’t 

be an easy season, and its road 
ahead 
looks 
even 
tougher. 

After the Wolverines return 
from Arizona, they will have 
to prepare for No. 4 Boston 
University. But with its seniors 
leading the way, Michigan has 
a renewed sense of urgency to 
improve quickly.

“(We have the) opportunity 

to put on the Block ‘M’ only 
a finite number of times for 
the rest of the year,” De Jong 
said. “It’s something we’ve got 
to be able to put on the line 
every single night, and I think 
the seniors realize that. We’re 
trying to move that message on 
to younger guys.”

Added Berenson: “We haven’t 

played the kind of hockey that 
I think our players think we 
can play, or the coaches think 
we can play. We’ve got to build 
whatever identity that is. Our 
next game is our best chance to 
take a step in that direction.”

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer

CLAIRE ABDO/Daily

Freshman goaltender Jack LaFontaine and the rest of the Michigan hockey team’s goalies have had to bail out the team’s offense early in the season.

Michigan at 
Arizona St.

Matchup: 
Michigan 
3-3-1; Arizona 
St. 1-7-0

When: Friday 
9:05 P.M.

Where: 
Oceanside 
Ice Arena

TV/Radio: 
Pac-12 Arizona

FIELD HOCKEY
Michigan moves into 
Big Ten semifinals

It may have taken 89 minutes 

and 57 seconds, but the No. 10 
Michigan women’s field hockey 
team finally clinched the win 
that will secure it a spot in the 
Big Ten semifinal on Friday.

In 
double 
overtime 
of 

the 
quarterfinal 
match 

against 
Michigan 
State 

(8-12), sophomore midfielder 
Leah Cardarelli scored the 
crucial 
game-winning 
goal 

off an assist from freshman 
midfielder Meg Dowthwaite. 
Dowthwaite gathered the ball 
between the Spartans’ offense 
and sent it to Cardarelli, who 
managed to dribble the ball 
into the circle and send her 
shot past Spartan goalkeeper 
Sierra Patton.

After falling behind early, 

the Wolverines (12-6) initially 
tied the game with only 2:44 
left off a goal from fifth-year 
senior midfielder Esther de 

Leijer at the 67:16 mark. The 
unassisted goal was a rebound 
shot from the top of the circle 
that 
neutralized 
Michigan 

State’s one-goal lead, courtesy 
of Kristin Matula at the 19:30 
mark in the first half.

Despite the Spartans scoring 

first, Michigan dominated in 
shots throughout the game. 
The Wolverines doubled the 
Spartans’ 
shot 
count, 
18-9, 

and also outcornered them, 
8-1. Thanks to this advantage, 
Michigan 
junior 
goalkeeper 

Sam Swenson only needed to 
make four saves as opposed to 
Patton’s 10.

Even though Patton’s defense 

proved strong, it wasn’t enough 
to deter the Wolverines in 
the final minutes of the game. 
Cardarelli’s goal proved fatal 
for the Spartans, as their season 
came to an end in the 2-1 loss.

Michigan’s season, however, 

will continue Friday in the Big 
Ten semifinal against Penn 
State in College Park.

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Writer

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Leah Cardarelli (1) scored the game-winning goal in double-overtime Thursday.