The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 — 7

Wolverines thrive behind early offensive surge

With 11:17 left in the first quarter 

Saturday, the Michigan men’s 
lacrosse team faced a 1-0 deficit 
after Lafayette’s Eric Jospeh scored 
the first goal of the game.

What ensued next, however, 

would lay the foundation for a 
blowout victory and just the second 
2-0 start in the Wolverines’ young 
history.

Michigan 
would 
net 
six 

consecutive goals to finish out the 
first quarter, a scoring barrage that 
started with 9:10 minutes left in the 
frame. Lafayette would never lead 
again, and would struggle to keep 
pace with the Wolverines for the 
remainder of the game.

“We gave up the first goal the 

other day too, in our first game 
of the year,” said Michigan coach 
John Paul. “The first goal doesn’t 

matter so much. We’re more 
focused on closing out quarters, 
and that’s something I thought we 
did a pretty good job of today.”

The 6-0 run — over an eight-

minute span — was Michigan’s 
most dominant stretch of action 
Saturday. The final four goals of 
the quarter were 
scored between 
the 3:18 and 1:03 
minute 
marks, 

showing 
the 

Wolverines have 
the potential to 
score in a hurry 
with a cluster of 
goals.

“(The 
first 

quarter) 
really 

put us in a more 
comfortable 
position, knowing what we had to 
do for the rest of the game,” Paul 
said. 

Senior attacker Ian King led the 

scoring outburst, tying the game, 
1-1, with his first goal of the season. 
King would add two more soon 
thereafter, ending the first quarter 
with a hat trick. Rounding out the 
scoring stretch was a trio of goals 
scored by senior midfielder Mikie 

Schlosser, 
junior 

attacker Pat Tracy 
and 
sophomore 

attacker 
Rocco 

Sutherland.

“(King) 
was 

hurt all week. He 
actually 
didn’t 

practice all week,” 
Paul 
said. 
“We 

weren’t even sure 
we were going to 
have him today 
so (it’s) great to 

see that he could have that kind of 
performance coming off a week 
with no practice.

“I know he’s a little bit upset 

that he didn’t shoot very well last 
week. So it was important for him 
to get his shot going early, and he 
did.”

After giving up the opening 

goal, sophomore goalie Tommy 
Heidt held steady, as Michigan 
went on its run of unanswered 
goals to take the pressure off of the 
defense. The goal-scoring spree 
ensured that Heidt would have 
a comfortable lead to work with 
going into the second quarter, and 
eventually, the second half.

“Our 
offense 
was 
feeling 

it today,” Heidt said. “They 
were putting up a bunch of 
points. 
Having 
Rocco, 
Brent 

(Noseworthy), and Ian down on 
attack makes our jobs much easier 
on defense. Knowing that they’re 
going to be able to put the ball 
in the net is great to know when 
you’re playing on defense.”

Being able to score in bunches 

in short intervals of time could 
become a game-changing facet 
to Michigan’s identity. And if 
Saturday’s scoring avalanche is 
indicative of what’s to come, the 
Wolverines will have a potent 
offense to shoulder the load as the 
season wears on.

Despite allowing an early goal 

and starting off slow offensively, 
the Michigan men’s lacrosse team 
(2-0) dominated Lafayette (0-1) 
17-6 on Saturday. 

After 
going 

scoreless through 
the 
first 
six 

minutes of the 
quarter, 
the 

Wolverines found 
their 
footing 

and jumped to 
a 6-1 lead to end 
the first quarter, 
fueled by three 
goals from senior 
attackman 
Ian 

King.

King put a poor first game 

behind him, in which he was held 
scoreless, finishing with five goals 
Saturday. And in contrast to last 
year, when the Wolverines started 
the season 1-2, Michigan has 
started this season hot.

Michigan looked to start the 

second quarter better than it 
started the first, but its offense 
came out stagnant once again. 
Lafayette scored the first goal of 
the quarter, and the Wolverines 
struggled to find the back of the net 
for the first eight minutes. Much 
like the first quarter, though, once 
Michigan got the ball rolling it did 
not look back, leading Lafayette 
11-4 at halftime.

While the Wolverines faced 

difficulties at the start of those 
quarters, Michigan coach John 
Paul put an emphasis on finishing 
out quarters strong and keeping 
momentum.

“The first goal doesn’t matter 

so much,” Paul said. “We are more 
focused on closing out quarters, 
and that’s something I thought we 
did a pretty good job of today. You 
just keep confidence high and know 
that what we came in planning to 
do is going to work and it did.”

The Wolverines went on to 

continue their late-quarter pushes, 
closing out the last five minutes 
of the second frame, 4-1, the last 

three minutes of the third quarter, 
2-0, and the last five minutes of the 
fourth quarter, 3-1.

Dominating performance aside, 

every win has its caveats.

One 
such 
caveat 
for 
the 

Wolverines was penalties. Four of 
the Leopards’ six goals came on 

man-up chances, 
and 
Lafayette 

finished the game 
with eight man-
up opportunities. 
In total, Michigan 
had 
nine 
and 

half minutes of 
penalties, five of 
which 
came 
in 

the fourth quarter 
alone.

However, Paul 

did 
not 
seem 

worried.

“You’d always prefer to rein 

it in if you’re playing a little too 

physical than try and get the guys 
to play more physical, so we were 
certainly the more aggressive, 
physical team tonight,” Paul said. 
“I think what we have to learn from 
this is you have to get a sense of the 
way the game is being called and 
then adjust your game a little bit to 
how it’s being called, and that’s the 
lesson we are going to take away 
from this.”

Michigan will look to keep 

up the offensive firepower and 
physical play on defense while 
limiting penalties as the early part 
of its season progresses.

“This is by no means a perfect 

performance,” Paul said. “We have 
a lot to work on. We improved from 
last week to this week, which we 
needed to do, and now we have 
to improve before our next game 
Wednesday and that’s really the 
only focus now. We have to keep 
getting better.”

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Senior attackman Ian King scored five goals against Lafayette in Oosterbaan Field House on Saturday, helping to push Michigan toward its second win of the season.

Senior attackman Ian King scores three of Michigan’s six first-quarter goals in a 17-6 victory Saturday

JACOB UCHITELLE-COHEN

For the Daily

EFE EDEVBIE
Daily Sports Writer

“They were 
putting up 
a bunch of 

points”

“We are more 

focused on 
closing out 
quarters”

Michigan notches 
fourth-straight W

The No. 7 Michigan women’s 

gymnastics 
team 
left 
East 

Lansing on Saturday afternoon 
with a solid win by a score 
of 196.025 – 195.625, but the 
Wolverines (4-1 Big Ten, 6-2 
overall) 
weren’t 
satisfied. 

Normally, it may have been 
enough to defeat in-state rival 
Michigan 
State 
(0-5, 
3-5), 

but the Wolverines departed 
hungry for more. 

“We were hoping for a really 

good away score that was going 
to help our RQS (score),” said 
Michigan coach Bev Plocki. 
“We came out with a win, 
which is great. We had some 
great individual performances. 
There were definitely a lot of 
positives.

“The ultimate goal was to 

come out with a mid-197 team 
score and we didn’t get that 
done.”

The 
Wolverines 
relied 

heavily 
on 
senior 
captain 

Nicole Artz, who nearly swept 
the meet. She took first place in 
three events, including vault, 
bars and floor.

Artz finished the meet with 

a 39.575, her best of 2017, and 
ultimately secured her fourth 
consecutive all-around title.

“She’s been amazing,” Plocki 

said. “She and Talia (Chiarelli) 
as a senior class have accounted 
for a very large percentage of 
our counting routines during 
the course of their careers here, 
so it’s been huge.”

Artz’s 9.900 on the bars 

proved useful during the first 
rotation after freshman Polina 
Shchennikova 
and 
junior 

Lauren Marinez both recorded 
falls, resulting in scores of 
9.200 and 8.500, respectively. 
Michigan trailed after the first 
event — an unfamiliar terrain 

for a squad often in the lead. 

And while Artz may be the 

clear leader of the Wolverines, 
the rest of her teammates take 
turns sharing the spotlight.

Sophomore Olivia Karas not 

only won the beam, scoring a 
9.900, but also competed on 
the bars for the first time this 
season after recovering from a 
wrist injury. Her debut didn’t 
disappoint. She finished only 
behind Artz in the event with a 
9.875.

One of the fresh faces on this 

year’s team is junior transfer 
Paige Zaziski. Not only has 
Zaziski 
brought 
the 
ability 

to compete in all events, but 
also she brings some extra 
excitement to the team. After 
she stuck the landing on her 
vault, she strutted back to her 
team snapping her fingers, a 
signature feature of her routine. 

If Zaziski’s reaction wasn’t 

enough to show that Michigan 
was having fun, the Wolverines 
moved to the floor event. Ranked 
fifth in the event, Michigan is 
known for its enthusiastic and 
fun routines.

Artz, Karas and sophomore 

Emma McLean shined in the 
event, earning the day’s top 
three scores. But Michigan 
had two gymnasts step out of 
bounds, which hurt the overall 
team score.

Artz’s continued excellence 

appears to lead toward the 
best season of her career, but 
her team may not necessarily 
be following suit. Michigan 
was happy to come away with 
the rivalry win, but it knows it 
needs to step up if it wants to 
accomplish its goals.

“This is the point in the 

season when we really have to 
be firing on all cylinders,” Plocki 
said. “The fact that we didn’t 
take advantage of a good away 
opportunity is disappointing.”

‘M’ falls to Wisconsin in final dual meet

The best was certainly saved 

for last on Sunday as No. 2 
freshman Logan Massa faced 
Wisconsin’s No. 3 Isaac Jordan 
in a highly-anticipated, top-five 
rematch after Massa beat Jordan 
earlier this season.

Massa gave up the early 

takedown but rallied back to 
take a 3-2 lead heading into the 
second period. From there, the 
165-pounder took over, delivering 
a quick takedown and ride-out in 
the second followed by a couple 
of late takedowns in the third to 
seal the victory, 9-7, in the final 
match of the afternoon. 

“I knew I just needed to keep 

my offense going the whole 
match,” Massa said. “Beating 
somebody on their home ground 
is always fun.” 

Added Michigan coach Joe 

McFarland: “I thought he did 
a nice job battling back after 
an early deficit in that match. 
That’s a great win against the 
number three ranked kid in the 
country.”

But Massa’s performance was 

not enough, as No. 14 Michigan 
(4-5 Big Ten, 8-6 overall) fell to 
No. 18 Wisconsin (5-5, 3-5), 19-18, 
in the last dual of the regular 
season for the Wolverines.

Michigan opened the scoring 

after redshirt freshman No. 8 
Myles Amine recorded a 10-2 
major 
decision 
win 
against 

Wisconsin’s Ryan Christensen 
in the 174-pound match. But the 
Wolverines’ lead was quickly 
relinquished as the Badgers 
strung together three wins in 
a row, knocking down redshirt 
junior Ernest Battaglia, redshirt 
freshman 
Jackson 
Striggow, 

and freshman Dan Perry in 
succession to go up 13-4.

In 
the 
125-pound 
match, 

redshirt senior Conor Youtsey 
took on Wisconsin’s Johnny 
Jimenez. After a low-scoring 
affair, the match headed into 
overtime tied at 1-1. Still tied 
after one sudden-death period, 

Youtsey and Jimenez battled 
into a second overtime period. 
Just when it looked like the 
match was headed toward a 
third overtime period, Youtsey 
notched a single-leg takedown 
with just two seconds remaining 
in the period to win 3-1.

“I put in a lot of hard work 

this week, getting into my leg 
attacks,” Youtsey said. “Going 
into those overtime matches, I 
kinda got a little bit of a feeling 
from NCAAs last year when 
I was capitalizing on a lot of 
overtime wins.”

“He did all the work in that 

match, he really did,” McFarland 
said. “It was good to see Conor 
stay tough.”

No. 7 Stevan Micic followed 

up Youtsey’s dramatic win with 
a dominant 20-5 technical fall 
victory over Eli Stickley in the 
133-pound match. Micic’s win 
helped 
narrow 
Wisconsin’s 

overall lead to just 13-12.

It was a dual characterized by 

runs, as the Badgers followed up 

Michigan’s two match win streak 
with back to back wins of their 
own. Wisconsin’s Cole Martin 
took down Sal Profaci in the 141-
pound match, and Andrew Crone 
edged out Malik Amine in the 
149-pound match.

In the 157-pound bout, ninth-

ranked senior Brian Murphy took 
on TJ Ruschell in the last regular 
season dual of his collegiate 
career. Murphy notched a four-
point cradle in the second period, 
but Ruschell kept it close until 
Murphy was able to manage a 
reversal late in the third period 
to capture the victory.

“It was a hard-fought dual, no 

question about it,” McFarland 
said. “I thought really, for the 
most part, we wrestled tough.”

Though Michigan was unable 

to win its last dual of the season, 
the 
Wolverines 
have 
their 

work cut out for them heading 
into the Big Ten and NCAA 
Championships.

“You’ve got to constantly 

be on the attack in this sport, 

or 
somebody’s 
gonna 
take 

advantage of it,” McFarland said. 
“That’s something that we’ve got 
to continue to stress.”

Youtsey believes there is still 

much that can be improved 
upon in preparation for the 
postseason.

“There are a lot of adjustments 

that can be made in the next 
couple of weeks,” Youtsey said. 
“I think everybody can work in 
their specific areas to get their 
timing down right before Big 
Tens come around the corner.”

“You wanna be at your best 

(in the) postseason,” McFarland 
said. “… That’s when the best rise 
up a little bit and elevate their 
level of wrestling. Our guys need 
to do that.”

Massa, building on Youtsey’s 

sentiment, feels that the team is 
ready to step up to the challenge.

“We’ve got a young team, 

everybody’s working real hard, 
and we have high goals,” Massa 
said. “… We’re gonna give it 
everything we’ve got.”

MAX KUANG/Daily

Redshirt freshman Logan Massa notched a victory in the 165-pound match, but it was not enough for Michigan to win.

ZACH GAN
For the Daily

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

PAIGE VOEFFRAY 

Daily Sports Writer

