2B — January 23, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines split exhibitions to open their season

Senior 
goaltender 
Robbie 

Zenino set up for a shot from a 
Marquette attacker, his knees bent 
and pole over his right shoulder. 
With the ball ripping towards him, 
he dipped and extended his arms 
toward the bottom left corner of 
the goal, catching the attempt in 
the safety of his stick.

Zenino isn’t the usual face in 

front of the net. Last year, that was 
Gerald Logan, who transferred to 
Johns Hopkins University during 
the offseason. Logan’s move is 
one of a series of departures that 
shuffled the core of the Michigan 
men’s lacrosse team. But on this 
particular play, Zenino made the 
same save that Logan would have, 
as well.

The Wolverines, surrounded 

by question marks, began its sixth 
season Saturday with exhibitions 
against Marquette and Denison at 
Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.

In the first matchup, after a 

back-and-forth battle saw the 
18th-ranked Golden Eagles take 
a 15-12 lead with five minutes to 
play, sophomore attacker Brent 
Noseworthy and senior midfielder 
Mikie Schlosser scored a pair of 
goals, closing the lead to one with 
just over 15 seconds remaining. 
But an inconclusive faceoff and 
the strong play of Marquette 
defenders ran the clock out, and 
Michigan failed to complete the 
comeback.

“The great thing about getting 

to play in an exhibition like this 
is we get to use it as a learning 
opportunity — it’s not going on 
our record,” said Michigan coach 
John Paul. “We have some things 
we need to do better — we know 
that — but we gave ourselves a shot 
at the end, and that shows a lot of 
grit.”

A 
scoring 
battle 
between 

Noseworthy 
and 
the 
Golden 

Eagles’ Tanner Thomson proved 
to be the highlight of the afternoon 
— each scored five times to break 
ties at critical points in the game. 

The Wolverines got off to a fast 

start, scoring five goals early in 
the first period. The team limited 
Marquette’s opportunities thanks 
to physical defending, including 
a resounding hit by redshirt 

sophomore goaltender Tommy 
Heidt in front of his own net.

But the Golden Eagles would 

get their revenge on the starting 
goalie later in the frame, knocking 
him off his feet and outside the 
vicinity of his crease, leading to 
retaliation from defenders and 
a Michigan penalty. Though no 
conversion came on the man-
advantage, the hit on Heidt proved 
to shift momentum in the game, as 
a 4-0 run ensued.

“Managing (runs) for your team 

is just about making the next play,” 
Paul said. “Managing the other 
team’s runs is something we’ve 
been more concerned about the 
last couple of years. We haven’t 
been great at that.”

In the Wolverines’ second 

game, many reserves saw action 
in a low-scoring, shortened affair. 
Only three periods were played 
in a game that ended in a 7-6 
Michigan victory.

Freshman 
goaltender 
Matt 

Trowbridge 
was 
especially 

impressive early, making two 
remarkable saves, including one 
off a tough bouncing attempt and 
another off a point-blank effort 
from the left side of the crease.

Heidt, Trowbridge and Zenino 

have 
battled 
throughout 
the 

fall and winter for the role that 
Logan occupied for the past three 
seasons.

“I think it’s going to be a 

week-to-week thing this year, to 
be honest with you,” Paul said. 
“I’d love to just be able to make a 
decision, but all three are playing 
at a pretty high level in practice. 
Nobody’s separated themselves, so 
that’s what we’re waiting to see.”

Heidt surrendered 11 goals in 

three periods of action, while 
Zenino gave up four in the final 
15 minutes against Marquette. 
In the Wolverines’ second game, 
Trowbridge allowed just two 
scores in two frames.

“I would have love to see (Heidt) 

play a little better for the first 
three, he’s been playing great in 
practice,” Paul said. “I thought 
he was dipping his stick a little bit 
and giving up some stuff up high. 
I thought (Zenino) came in the 
fourth quarter and did a pretty nice 
job. He made a couple key saves 
to give us an opportunity to come 
back there. We still have a battle.”

Michigan will also miss the 

contributions of the program’s all-
time leading scorer, Kyle Jackson 
— the seventh overall selection 

in the 2016 NLL Draft. But the 
Wolverines welcomed back senior 
attacker Ian King, who sits 20 
goals away from Jackson’s record 
despite struggling with injuries 
over the past two seasons. King got 
off to a strong start, notching two 
goals in the second half against 
Marquette. 

“If I break (the record), it would 

be an honor, but I’m more focused 
on the team winning,” King said. 
“I’d love to see wins come. If the 
points come with it, then I’ll be 
happy, too.”

Despite the team’s inexperience 

following 
the 
graduations 
of 

the Wolverines’ first recruiting 
class, King, Zenino and the rest 
of Michigan’s second recruiting 
class gives Paul confidence in the 
program’s future.

“They’re really focused on 

turning this program into an elite, 
Division I culture — that’s been 
their mission all year,” Paul said. 
“They want to leave this team 
competitive in the Big Ten and 
in a place where the next group 
of leaders stepping in has a much 
easier job in front of them — a team 
primed to do the things that need 
to be done to compete at a high 
level.”

AARON BAKER/Daily

Freshman goaltender Matt Trowbridge is part of a Wolverine trio that will compete for time in net this season.

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Writer

It’s personal for Zak Irvin

F

or as long as he has been 
one of the leaders and de 
facto spokesmen for the 

Michigan men’s basketball team, 
Zak Irvin 
has never 
hesitated 
to use any 
emotion as 
motivation.

Two 

years ago, 
when Irvin 
stepped 
into his role 
as a go-to 
player for the Wolverines, the 
Fishers, Ind., native admitted after 
scoring 23 points in Bloomington: 
“Going into this game, this was a 
personal one for me.”

Last February, after Michigan 

State and Indiana dealt Michigan 
consecutive, embarrassing 
blowouts at Crisler Center, Irvin 
minced no words: “You’ve got 
them laughing at us on our home 
court,” he said. “In these past two 
games, teams have just punked us, 
and we can’t let that happen.”

And then, after the Wolverines 

trounced Southern Methodist 
to win the 2K Sports Classic 
and avenged ugly defeats to the 
Mustangs in the previous two 
years, Irvin vowed: “The last loss 
we had to them, we basically got 
punked throughout the whole 
game, and we knew we weren’t 
going to let that happen this 
game.”

More fodder for another chip 

on Irvin’s shoulder came along 
last week, and you didn’t have to 
look hard to find it. After Illinois 
ran up 85 points to drop Michigan 
to 1-3 in the Big Ten, Fighting 
Illini center Maverick Morgan 
slighted the Wolverines, calling 
them “more of a white-collar team 
traditionally.”

Michigan coach John Beilein 

insisted the Wolverines “do not 
have a bunch of white-collar 
kids.” Junior guard Muhammad-
Ali Abdur-Rahkman added, “I 

especially don’t like that.”

But the first player to speak 

up, two days after the game, was 
Irvin.

“We’ll see them again,” the 

senior vowed.

Saturday, Michigan did. And 

the Wolverines blitzed Illinois, 
winning Saturday at Crisler 
Center in a game not nearly 
as close as the 66-57 score 
indicated. Michigan (3-4 Big 
Ten, 13-7 overall) has plenty of 
work to do to make the NCAA 
Tournament, but for at least one 
day, the Wolverines proved their 
toughness and their grit. 

In large part, that mindset 

stems from Irvin. The senior 
captain has long established 
himself as one of the leaders of 

the team, and he plays that role 
more emotionally than anything 
else. When Michigan goes on a 
scoring run, Irvin 
is among the most 
enthusiastic. 
When the 
Wolverines get 
“punked,” Irvin 
is usually the first 
to implore them 
to do something 
about it. In this 
case, while most 
of the players saw 
the “white-collar” 
comment in one 
way or another, junior forward DJ 
Wilson said Irvin showed the most 
urgency about it toward the rest of 
the team.

“Zak kind of just lets us know 

what was said and how we’re 
going to go about it the next time,” 

Wilson said 
Friday. “… Him as 
our leader, I think 
he’s just kind of 
just watching out 
for us and trying 
to get us ready as 
much as we can 
and prepare for 
them.”

Irvin made 

it clear how he 
wanted his team 
to approach 

the rematch against Illinois. In 
response to Morgan’s dig after 
last week’s game, Irvin had the 
idea of wearing road uniforms 

at home. The reason was simple: 
Morgan called the Wolverines 
white-collar, so they wore blue 
jerseys — “just to switch it up a 
little bit,” Irvin said.

The satisfaction in Irvin’s 

voice of having the last laugh was 
palpable. Illinois’ first shot was 
sweet, Michigan’s answer much 
sweeter. Irvin has always talked 
about the mental aspect of the 
game. He has lost 45 games in his 
college career. But the blowouts 
and the laughing and the insults, 
those seem to sting much more.

As the Wolverines look to climb 

out of this hole and inch back into 
the NCAA Tournament, they 
could use a fiery leader — or two or 
three — like Irvin.

“Teammates and coaches told 

me they notice that the team feeds 
off of me and the intensity that I 
bring,” Irvin said. “So I try to bring 
that no matter how I’m playing 
on the offensive end. I know I can 
always bring emotion to the team 
and get us going, and I did that 
a little bit today. But like I said, I 
really feel like DJ set the tone and 
carried us today.”

Saturday, with the help of 

Irvin, Wilson (19 points, seven 
rebounds, five assists) and senior 
guard Derrick Walton Jr. (13 
points, 11 rebounds), Michigan 
did what good teams do. The 
Wolverines came out on their 
home court with much more 
energy and outplayed Illinois 
almost wire to wire.

It’s worth noting that Irvin’s 

performance Saturday was 
statistically the least impressive 
of those three. He needed 15 shots 
to score 15 points and turned 
the ball over four times with no 
assists. But as he has proven many 
times before, he can influence the 
game with his intensity perhaps 
more than anything else. He 
admitted after the game that this 
performance meant a little more 
to him.

“When a team’s beat you and 

you get another opportunity to 
play ’em, you definitely want to 
take it personally,” Irvin said. 
“You really never want to get 
swept with that team in the 
regular season.”

Michigan allowed just 24 points 

in the first half and led by as many 
as 21. The Wolverines “punked” 
the Fighting Illini. They might as 
well have been laughing on their 
own home court.

They still have a long road back 

to the NCAA Tournament, but 
it continues Thursday night in 
primetime against Indiana, Irvin’s 
hometown team. That’s a personal 
one for him, remember.

Lourim can be reached 

at jlourim@umich.edu and 

on Twitter @jakelourim.

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

EVAN AARON/Daily

Senior wing Zak Irvin has always been an emotional leader for the Wolverines, and they will need that if they hope to return to the NCAA Tournament this year.

I know I can 
always bring 
emotion to the 
team and get us 

going

King scores to help ‘M’ 
beat No. 18 Marquette 

The 
Michigan 
men’s 

lacrosse team trailed 11-10 in 
its exhibition game Saturday 
against No. 18 
Marquette. The 
Wolverines 
desperately 
needed a spark 
late 
in 
the 

contest.

With 
one 

flick of senior 
attacker 
Ian 

King’s stick, he 
tied the game 
at 11. And with 
10.3 seconds left in the third 
period, he added another goal, 
giving Michigan a 12-11 lead 
heading into the final quarter.

Being an offensive spark 

plug is nothing new for King, 
who has tallied 68 goals and 29 
assists through his first three 
seasons for Michigan. It is 
not the most significant thing 
expected of him, though.

“If he’s leading and he’s letting 

the game come 
to him and being 
a steadying force 
on our offense 
and not ‘the guy’ 
on our offense, 
we’re going to 
be 
in 
pretty 

good 
shape,” 

said 
Michigan 

coach John Paul. 
“There’s going to 
be times where 
we need him to 
be ‘the guy’, but that can’t be his 
mindset day in, day out. We want 
to take that pressure off him and 
just have him play lacrosse.”

Kyle Jackson served in that 

role for Michigan last season 
before being drafted seventh 
overall 
by 
the 
Rochester 

Knighthawks 
in 
the 
2016 

National 
Lacrosse 
League 

Draft. He left the program as 

the all-time leading scorer, 
with 113 points. While King 
claims filling Jackson’s shoes 
will be a collective effort, the 
reality is that King is the most 
notable returner. With another 

full 
season 

ahead of him, 
King 
needs 

just 16 points 
to 
shatter 

Jackson’s 
record. 
Still, 

the Wolverines’ 
staff is hoping 
he assumes a 
role as a leader 
more 
than 
a 

scorer.

“I think we have a lot of good 

freshmen that are coming in 
and filling spots,” King said. 
“We lost a lot of points with 
Kyle Jackson, but if there is any 
added responsibility (for me), 
I’ll take it, but I don’t think 
there is.”

Added Paul: “He’s matured. 

He’s become a little more of a 
leader this year, which is what 
we need from him. You need 

your best player 
to lead. … He’s 
just 
worked 

really hard to 
set 
a 
better 

example.”

Entering his 

final 
season, 

King 
can 

likely 
surpass 

Jackson’s 
school 
record. 

But as for his 
ultimate 
goal, 

King said he wants to win 
the Big Ten Tournament and 
advance to postseason play 
for the first time in program 
history.

“If I break (the record), it 

would be an honor, but I’m more 
focused on the team winning.” 
King said. “I’d love to see wins 
come. If the points come with 
it, I’ll be happy too.”

JAKE 
LOURIM

EFE EDEVBIE

For the Daily

He needs just 16 points to shatter 
Kyle Jackson’s program record

There’s going to 
be times where 
we need him to 

be ‘the guy’

If the points 
come with 

(winning), I’ll 
be happy too

MEN’S LACROSSE

