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