The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsWednesday
January 4, 2017 — 3C

ICE HOCKEY
Marody makes return
to the ice for Wolverines

Coming
into
the
2016-17

season, the Michigan hockey team
expected
sophomore
forward

Cooper Marody to be a main
contributor on a team losing much
of its scoring from the previous
year.

But after having academic

issues last season, Marody was
deemed ineligible for the first
semester of this year, which meant
that he would be unable to play in
the Wolverines’ first 16 games.

Marody

finally returned
to
the
ice

Thursday
in

the Great Lakes
Invitational. But
while he had
been practicing
with the team
all season, in
his first game
—
against

Michigan Tech
in the semifinal of the tournament
— the sophomore showed some
signs of rust.

Marody
wasn’t
alone.

Michigan’s
entire
offense

was stymied by the Huskies,
producing just 23 shots on goal
with zero goals. Marody led the
Wolverines with five shots on
goal, but that effort wasn’t nearly
good enough, as Michigan Tech
won, 2-0.

“It’s hard to show up and play

his first game in probably nine
months and make an impact,” said
Michigan coach Red Berenson
after Thursday’s game. “He’s
worked hard all semester in
practice. I think he’ll help our
team, but it wasn’t to be tonight.
He had a lot of chances, a lot of
guys had chances — what if — but
it never happened.”

Friday against Michigan State,

Marody and Michigan’s offense
flipped the script. The Wolverines
notched five goals in all, with
Marody earning three assists.

One of the beneficiaries of

Marody’s playmaking was senior

forward Alex Kile, who was on
the same line as Marody in both
games. Kile scored two goals
against the Spartans, both off
assists from Marody. And though
the GLI served as the first time
the two have played together
this season, their improvement
from one game to the next was
noticeable.

“The first game back, it’s

going to be a lot different than
just practicing,” Marody said.
“It’s been a while since I played
a game and really got up to that
speed. And I think after a day of
playing together, me and Alex

have gained great
chemistry. And I
think as a team we
just played better,
which helped us
play better.”

Added
Kile:

“I
think
time

will tell with our
chemistry.
But

we’re two players
that want to play
with each other,

and any time you have that, I
think chemistry will form right
off the bat. So, I mean, we’ve still
got 20-plus games left, and I think
as the season goes on we’re just
going to get better.”

Michigan can only hope that

the two will be able to develop
that
relationship,
and
that

Marody will continue to improve
as the season goes on. Not only did
Marody provide another scoring
threat on offense, but he also
provides experience on defense.
The sophomore wasn’t on the
ice for any of the six goals scored
against
the
Wolverines
this

weekend, and though plus-minus
can be a flawed statistic, Marody’s
presence was surely felt.

And on a team looking for

answers after the first half of
its season, Michigan will hope
to ride some momentum from
Marody’s return. With a majority
of the Big Ten season left to play,
coupled with the Wolverines’
inconsistency thus far, they need a
boost from somewhere.

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

“I think he’ll
help our team,
but it wasn’t to

be tonight.”

Michigan finishes third at Great Lakes Invitational

DETROIT — With the score

knotted up at 4-4 at the end
of regulation, the Michigan
hockey team found itself in a
five-minute
overtime
period

in its first battle of the season
against in-state rival Michigan
State on Friday. It would take
only one goal to determine
the winner of the first of five
meetings between the two foes
this season.

That determining goal came

from
junior
forward
Tony

Calderone.

Assisted by junior forward

Dexter Dancs, Calderone was
able to clean up a loose puck and
put it in the back of the net with
2:02 remaining in the overtime
period. With his tenth goal of
the season, Calderone helped
Michigan stun the Spartans,
5-4.

The Wolverines (1-3-0 Big

Ten, 8-9-1 overall) took home
a third-place finish in the 52nd
annual Great Lakes Invitational
with their victory over Michign
State (0-2-0, 4-11-1), after a
2-0 loss to Michigan Tech on
Thursday.

“This
was
a
learning

experience,”
said
Michigan

coach
Red
Berenson.

“Sometimes we leave here with
a lot of confidence, and I think
we’re going to leave (the Great
Lakes Invitational) with some
resolve and some awareness. We
can look at this and say, ‘These
were the areas we’ve got to fix.’
If you’ve got a car with a flat tire
and you won’t admit it, you’re
not going to get very far. We’re
going to stop and fix the flat.

“It’s not as easy as that, but

that’s what we’re going to take
from this tournament.”

Four of the game’s nine

goals were scored in the first
period, three of which came

from the Wolverines. The first
came 3:57 into the game, when
sophomore
forward
Cooper

Marody attempted a shot that
landed behind Michigan State
goaltender
John
Lethemon.

Calderone was there to clean it
up, though, opening the scoring.

Michigan’s second goal came

from freshman forward Will
Lockwood, who managed to
score a clean, unassisted wrister
just two minutes later. The
goal marked his seventh of the
season and was his first since
November 11th, when he tallied
a goal against Boston University.
It also put Lockwood at second
for most goals scored, only
behind Calderone, who has 10.

For a few minutes afterward,

the Wolverines were able to
keep the Spartans contained
without allowing any quality
chances.
That
was
until

Michigan
State
defenseman

Carson Gatt corralled the puck
on the Spartans’ end and sent it
down the ice to forward Logan
Lamdin. Lambdin shot the puck
into the net from the left faceoff
dot and whittled Michigan’s
two-goal lead down to one.

Senior forward Alex Kile

tacked on the final goal of the
period on an assist from Marody
and freshman forward James
Sanchez. Kile pushed the puck
through a crowd of players
in front of Lethemon for the

Wolverines’ third goal.

The second period started

with 4-on-4 play, as senior
defenseman Kevin Lohan and
Michigan State’s Jerad Rosburg
both earned a trip to the penalty
box for roughing after the
whistle at the end of the first.
This play decreased to 3-on-
3 when junior forward Cutler
Martin and Spartan forward
Patrick Khodorenko were both
called for tripping.

Despite the calls, though,

both
teams
killed
off
the

penalties without allowing any
goals.

Senior
goaltender
Zach

Nagelvoort made critical saves
throughout
the
period,
one

of which was when Spartan
forward Connor Wood brought
the puck into a dangerously
close position in Michigan’s
zone. Nagelvoort deterred the
shot, and managed another
quick save soon thereafter to
maintain the Wolverines’ two-
goal wlead.

Kile was the only player

on either team to find the net
in the second period, with
6:41 left on the clock. While
standing near Michigan State’s
net, junior defenseman Sam
Piazza generated a shot, and
Kile tipped the puck into the net
while it was still in the air.

This gave Michigan a three-

goal lead heading into the third

period, but it took Spartan
forward Mason Appleton just
seven seconds to decrease the
lead to two. After corralling
the puck off the initial faceoff,
Appleton scored on a breakaway
to push the score to 4-2.

At the 14:50 mark, Gatt left

the Wolverines clinging to a
one-goal lead after scoring from
a wrister.

“There’s a sense of confidence

when you’re up 4-1, but Michigan
State is a team that loves playing
against us and they’re obviously
not going to give up, especially
in an enviroment like this, you
can never count them out,” Kile
said. “It was a good start for us,
getting to 4-1, but it was a really
bad third period for us, letting
them get three straight. Moving
forward, that can’t happen.”

In an attempt to strengthen

his team’s lead, Calderone took
the puck down to Michigan
State’s net and passed it to
freshman forward Jake Slaker at
the last moment in a desperate
attempt to get the puck past
Lethemon, but it was no good.

In the final seconds of the

period, Michigan State forward
JT Stenglein skated through a
crowded Michigan defense in
front of the net to finish off a
loose puck and score the tying
goal.

But Calderone took advantage

of
the
overtime
period
to

put the Wolverines on top in
this matchup of in-state and
conference rivals.

“Even though they took it to

overtime, it’s a good learning
lesson for our team,” Marody
said. “There’s going to be times
in the future when we’re going
to have leads going into the
third period, and we learned
our lesson that the other team
is going to come hard and they
might score a couple of goals,
but we finished hard at the
end of the game. It was a good
lesson.”

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Editor

After falling to Michigan Tech on Thursday, the Wolverines recovered to defeat Michigan State in overtime on Friday.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Junior forward Tony Calderone scored the game-winning goal to defeat the Spartans and lead Michigan to a third-place finish at the Great Lakes Invitational.

Thome shines in victory against the Badgers

While the Michigan women’s

basketball team is known for
its depth and ability to spread
the ball around to a variety of
contributors,
one
individual

performance stood out for the
Wolverines (2-0 Big Ten, 13-3
overall) in their 73-56 road
win over the Badgers (0-1, 5-9)
to start the new year on a high
note.

Sophomore forward Hallie

Thome scored more than half
of Michigan’s points — 37 to be
exact. That feat lands Thome
at No. 2 on the list of most
points during a single game in
Wolverine history, a fact she
knew nothing about over the
course of her dominant showing.

“I had no idea,” Thome said.

“(Junior guard Maria Backman)
tried to tell me at one of the
timeouts, and I was like, ‘Maria,
don’t tell me, I don’t want to
know.’ I don’t like knowing the
points, I just like playing the
game and doing my own thing.”

Though Thome pushed the

statistics to the back of her
mind during game time, she was
pleased to learn the final tally
once the contest had come to a
close. While Thome averages
14.6 points per game so far this
season, her accuracy took her
to the next level Sunday, as she
shot 13-for-15 from the floor.

“She hasn’t really had a

breakout game in a while,” said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. “So hopefully this really
elevates her confidence, because
she was sensational.”

At 6-foot-5 — the tallest of

the Wolverines — Thome used
her height and length to her
advantage in controlling the
paint and making layups look
effortless. She found her way
to the free-throw line often and
made the most of it, going 11-for-
13 on the afternoon. Thome not
only led the team in points, but
achieved a double-double by
tacking on 14 rebounds.

“Being
aggressive
and

wanting to go get them (made
the difference),” Thome said.
“It was a close game, but we just

had the will to want to go and
get it. I think that’s what our
whole team had.”

Junior guard Jillian Dunston

played a major role on the
glass as well, contributing nine
defensive boards and preventing
Wisconsin from gaining second-
chance attempts.

“That was our number one

goal today, to just rebound the
basketball,” Barnes Arico said.
“We knew we were going to be
undersized against them, and
Jillian Dunston did a great job.”

Freshman
guard
Kysre

Gondrezick was another bright
spot on the court for Michigan
on Sunday, tallying 16 points and
five rebounds of her own.

As
a
newcomer
to
the

Wolverines,
Gondrezick
has

quickly made a name for herself
in
the
conference,
earning

recognition as the Big Ten
Freshman of the Week twice
already this season. She has also
recently broken into the starting

lineup, as this was just her
second time on the court from
the opening tip. She joined the
starting five for the first time on
Dec. 28 against Rutgers.

Against
the
Badgers,

Gondrezick’s three 3-pointers
in the fourth quarter solidified
Michigan’s win over Wisconsin,
proving that she might stay in
the starting lineup for good.

The
Wolverines’
leading

scorer, junior guard Katelynn
Flaherty, became Michigan’s
fifth-highest scorer in program
history with her eight-point
performance. Yet it wasn’t the
level of play that can usually be
expected from Flaherty, who
averages 17.9 points.

Flaherty’s eight points make

this her fourth straight game
with fewer points than her
season average, following her
totals of eight against Vermont,
17 against American and 13
against Rutgers.

“As a player, you have a

couple games like that, you start
questioning everything you do,”
Barnes Arico said. “You start
pressing,
you’re
questioning

when your shot is released,
pretty much everything.

“But
she’s
a
tremendous

player. … She’s going to play
herself out of this.”

While
Flaherty
has
still

managed
to
be
productive,

Michigan is expecting much
more from its consensus All-Big
Ten first-team player. She went
0-for-7 on 3-pointers against the
Badgers, which leaves plenty of
room for improvement.

But while the Wolverines

wait for Flaherty to regain
the
shooting
stroke
and

confident approach that have
characterized her career, they
have capable players who can
make up for the deficit. With her
performance Sunday, Thome
proved that she can take control
and lead Michigan to victory on
her own.

MAGGIE KOLCON

Daily Sports Writer

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Sophomore forward Hallie Thome scored more than half of Michigan’s points in the Wolverines’ win against Wisconsin.