8A — Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan splits series 
with No. 5 Minnesota

With just over three minutes 

left 
in 
the 
third 
period, 

freshman goaltender Hayden 
Lavigne 
skated 
towards 

Michigan’s 
bench. 
Senior 

forward Alex Kile took his 
place, jumping onto the ice and 
heading toward Minnesota’s 
defensive end to give the 
Wolverines a man-advantage.

It was a last-ditch effort for 

the Michigan hockey team, as 
it trailed 3-1 during the final 
stretch of its second game 
against No. 5 Minnesota. But 
despite the last-ditch efforts 
from 
the 
Wolverines, 
they 

wouldn’t 
close 
the 
deficit. 

Instead, the Golden Gophers 
scored an additional empty-net 
goal.

With the final goal, Michigan 

(4-12-2-2 
Big 
Ten, 
11-18-3 

overall) fell to Minnesota on 
Saturday 
in 

the 
second 

game of a home 
series at Yost 
Ice Arena, 4-1. 
The Wolverines 
split the series 
with the Golden 
Gophers (13-5-
0, 22-10-2) after 
recording a win 
Friday, 5-3.

“We 

didn’t figure our game out 
quickly enough,” said senior 
defenseman Nolan De Jong. 
“Yesterday, we definitely didn’t 
like our start but we liked the 
way we came out in the second 
and third. We ended the game 
really well tonight, but it was 
the first 40 minutes that kind 
of bit us at the end of the day. 
(Lavigne) did a great job of 
keeping us in it, keeping it 
within a couple goals, but I 
think we just couldn’t figure 
ourselves out quickly enough.”

The beginning of the first 

period was chopped up into 
penalties, as five were tallied 
within 
a 
13-minute 
span. 

Despite the early back-and-
forth play as a result of power 
plays and penalty kills, neither 
team was able to capitalize on 
an opportunity to put itself on 
the scoreboard.

But with 4:35 remaining in 

the first period, Minnesota 
forward 
Rem 

Pitlick was able 
to do just that 
on a Michigan 
turnover. 
Forward 
Tyler 
Sheehy 

sent the puck 
from 
behind 

Lavigne’s 
left 

to Pitlick, who 
was waiting in 
front of the net 
to finish it off.

Sophomore forward Cooper 

Marody was almost able to 
tie the score when he sent in 
a rebound that bounced off 
Golden 
Gopher 
goaltender 

Eric Schierhorn. But the goal 
was waived off, as Schierhorn 
had been down on the ice, 

and the Wolverines remained 
scoreless 
headed 
into 
the 

second period.

“The mentality was, ‘Hey, 

we need to play better. We’re 
still in this game, it’s a one-goal 
game.’ We’re still in the game 
even though the shots were 
lopsided,” said Michigan coach 
Red Berenson. “We knew that 
we could play better than we 
were playing, but you just don’t 
turn a switch on. Our team is 
trying and they’re playing, 
but 
they 
weren’t 
playing 

with enough of an edge, they 
weren’t playing with enough a 
bite and we were chasing them 
around.”

Both teams knocked down 

the number of penalties they 
were taking in the second 
period 
— 
only 
recording 

coincidental 
minors 
for 

roughing with 1:08 left — and 
in their place, three goals were 
scored throughout the frame.

The 
first 

came 11:55 into 
the period when 
Gopher forward 
Tyler 
Sheehy 

beat 
Lavigne 

on a pass from 
forward Justin 
Kloos. 
An 

additional goal 
from 
forward 

Leon 
Bristedt 

three 
minutes 

later pushed the score to 3-0 in 
favor of Minnesota.

The 
Wolverines 
finally 

landed 
themselves 
on 
the 

scoreboard 
when 
junior 

forward Tony Calderone beat 
Schierhorn with the assistance 
of Marody to cut the deficit 
to 3-1 heading into the third 
period. Up until that point, 
Lavigne faced 31 shots, while 
Schierhorn saw just 17.

Almost halfway into the 

third period, after a Minnesota 
power play ended, Marody 
again almost capitalized on a 
chance to decrease the deficit. 
Freshman 
forward 
Nick 

Pastujov had just returned to 
the ice after serving a penalty 
for having too many men on 
the ice, and sent the puck to 
Marody. But Schierhorn was 
there to stuff the shot, and the 
score remained at 3-1.

And despite the Wolverines’ 

last-minute efforts, the only 

other 
goal 

that would be 
scored was an 
empty-netter 
at the hands of 
Sheehy, ending 
Michigan’s 
series 
with 

Minnesota in a 
split with the 
4-1 loss.

“They’re 

one of the most 
skilled teams in 

the country and I don’t know 
if we respected that as much 
as we needed to,” Calderone 
said. “I think we needed to lay 
bodies early and set the tone, 
but I think we were a little 
lackadaisical today off the start 
and they capitalized.”

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Michigan coach Red Berenson and the Wolverines had an up-and-down series.

The Wolverines came back for a 
5-3 win Friday, but lost Saturday

“We didn’t 

figure our game 

out quickly 

enough”

“We knew that 
we could play 
better than we 
were playing”

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Editor

With Walton’s emergence, Irvin accepts new role 

It has been an up-and-down 

month for Zak Irvin.

The senior wing went through 

a rough stretch for the Michigan 
men’s basketball team at the end 
of January and into February, 
starting with the Wolverines’ 
game at Michigan State on Jan. 29, 
which began a four-game stretch 
where he scored just 13 points on 
4-for-31 shooting. 

Irvin improved at home against 

Wisconsin on Feb. 16, when a 
banked 3-pointer with the shot 
clock expiring seemed to jump 
start his shot, as he put up 18 points 
on 6-of-12 shooting. 

Since 
then, 
it’s 
been 

temperamental 
for 
Irvin, 

culminating in what Michigan 
coach John Beilein called an 
“exceptional” performance Sunday 
night at Nebraska, where he scored 
15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

“That game against Nebraska, 

(Irvin) was as good as (senior 
guard Derrick Walton Jr.) was,” 
Beilein 
said. 
“Derrick 
was 

sensational, but Zak was really 
good too.”

Michigan, 
though, 
hasn’t 

missed a beat. The Wolverines 
have gone 6-4 since the game in 
East Lansing. It’s a big difference 
from earlier in the season, when 
a poor shooting performance by 
Irvin usually spelled doom for 
Michigan, such as the November 
loss at South Carolina, where Irvin 
scored just five points on 2-for-13 
shooting.

A lot of Michigan’s success 

without a scoring Irvin is due to 
the emergence of his roommate 
and best friend, Walton, whose 
starring role Irvin has enjoyed 
watching.

“Zak really enjoys seeing his 

roommate do so well,” Beilein said.

And with less pressure on 

himself to score, Irvin has excelled 
in other areas.

The senior wing has become 

a mainstay on the defensive end 
of the court, and his help defense 
on some of the Big Ten’s premier 
frontcourt players in Wisconsin 
forward Ethan Happ and Purdue 

forward Caleb Swanigan has 
boosted Michigan to top-25 RPI 
wins down the stretch to solidify 
its NCAA Tournament resume.

“Derrick’s playing really well 

right now,” Irvin said. “But I’m 
still trying to do as much as I can 
with the scoring 
load. I’m trying to 
affect the team in 
other areas.

“I know how 

important 
it 

is to play well 
defensively 
to 

win games and to 
be in games, so I 
really just try to 
be that anchor 
on defense, and I 
know if I do that, everything else 
will come into play.”

It’s an odd transition for Irvin 

to go from a go-to scorer to the role 
he is in now. When Irvin came to 
Michigan four years ago, his role 
was to be a shooter. Now, his job on 
the team has changed to more of a 

secondary scorer and a mainstay 
on the boards and the defensive 
end.

“(Irvin) just turned it over 

and said, ‘I’m going to become a 
defensive player and forget about 
(the slump), and I know that if I put 

less pressure on 
myself to be the 
guy, I could be a 
better performer,” 
Beilein said.

And in turn, as 

Irvin has defined 
his role, so has the 
rest of the team. 
And 
it’s 
made 

for a better team 
overall.

“(Zak’s 

playing) a different role on the 
team, but it’s made our team better 
right now,” Beilein said. “As Zak 
was going through a transition of 
trying to read things better and 
shoot it better, it forces us to go 
in other directions while he gains 
some confidence back, and it’s 

made our team better.”

But through it all — the slump 

and the role change — Irvin’s 
confidence hasn’t wavered.

Over the last seven games of the 

season, Irvin averaged 10 shots per 
game, not a far cry from the 11.75 
shots per game he averaged before 
then.

“He’s got a lot of faith in 

himself,” Beilein said. “He’s really 
got a good personality of letting 
things go.”

Added Walton: “The player and 

person that he is, he wants to be 
great at everything, so when one 
thing isn’t working, he’s worked so 
hard on everything. Overall, I don’t 
think his demeanor has changed. 
He’s still a confident person.”

Now, with Irvin’s collegiate 

career coming to an end, Michigan 
is going to need him to be as 
confident as ever.

Except this time, unlike earlier 

in his career, he will need to be 
confident in other aspects of his 
game besides scoring. 

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Senior wing Zak Irvin has stepped up on the defensive end and on the glass to compensate for his decreased scoring.

MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

“The player and 
person that he 
is, he wants to 

be great”

