The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, March 16, 2017 — 7A

Wolverines rolling into Big Ten Tournament

The Michigan hockey team’s 

change in mentality was wholly 
apparent from the moment it 
began around a month ago.

The Wolverines started to 

come to terms with an unpleasant 
reality: 
with 
a 
record 
well 

below .500, Michigan would 
not be securing a bid to the 
NCAA Tournament during the 
regular season. From there, the 
Wolverines started to think of 
themselves as the underdog. 

If they were to qualify for the 

NCAA Tournament at all, they 
would need to run the gauntlet at 
the Big Ten Tournament, winning 
three games in as many days — a 
scenario that players such as 
senior forward and captain Alex 
Kile were quick to point out as the 
team’s ultimate goal.

And so, the second half of the 

season became a trial run of sorts. 
How much desperation could this 
team play with, and how much 

progress could it show before the 
conference tournament? After all, 
the same version of the team that 
at one point held a 9-17-3 record 
wouldn’t be likely to make it past 
the first day.

But give Michigan credit: it 

took its blows, and while some 
may say the change in identity 
took too long to happen, it has 
the 
Wolverines 
experiencing 

the most success they’ve had all 
season. They have dropped only 
one of their past five games, with 
all four wins coming against 
ranked teams that have either 
locked up or are competing for 
NCAA Tournament bids: No. 13 
Ohio State, No. 5 Minnesota and 
No. 15 Penn State.

And now, that long-awaited 

moment is here. Michigan is 
headed to Joe Louis Arena, where 
it will fight to keep its season — 
and in the case of the seniors, their 
careers — alive, starting with an 
opening-round game Thursday 
night against the Nittany Lions.

“I think we had beginner’s 

luck at the beginning of the year 
with a couple of wins when we 
didn’t really know ourselves yet,” 
said senior defenseman Nolan 
De Jong. “Then we obviously 
struggled through the heart of the 
season. Now we’ve come into our 
own a little bit. We understand 
how we have to play. …”

“We found our identity a little 

more, and we know we can grind 
out these games and hold a lead 
better now than in the middle of 
the season.”

The Wolverines are coming 

off the heels of a sweep against 
Penn State this past weekend that 
included a 4-0 shutout Saturday. 
Though the score was lopsided, 
Michigan was well aware that it 
didn’t play as well as it could have. 
Berenson pointed it out after the 
game, as did senior goaltender 
Zach Nagelvoort, who stood on 
his head and turned in a 46-save 
performance as the Nittany Lions 
outshot the Wolverines by a 2:1 
ratio.

It was evidence that although 

Michigan’s 
record 
may 
be 

red-hot 
amidst 
its 
attitude 

adjustment, the team still has a 
lot of room for improvement. The 
Wolverines, with their abysmal 
Corsi numbers, don’t have the 
firepower to play the way they 
have in the past. Any postseason 
run will involve a combination 
of pucks bouncing the right way, 
the team’s trio of goaltenders 
continuing their stellar play and a 
tangible improvement on defense, 
which Michigan spent all week in 
practice working for.

“It all comes down to the F3 

and F2,” said senior forward Alex 
Kile. “If you’re in on the forecheck 
and (Penn State) breaks the puck 
out, you’ve got to backcheck 
because their defensemen are 
really active and provide a lot 
of offense for them. That’s been 
our main focus. All their good 
chances this weekend were off 
rushes — 3-on-2s, 4-on-2s — with 
no backcheck, as we’ve found.”

Yet the Wolverines, thanks to 

Nagelvoort, withstood Saturday’s 
onslaught, and winning the game 
in that fashion only added to the 
growing belief within the team 
that they can write their own 
Cinderella story this weekend.

“I think this is definitely the 

most confident we’ve been all 
year,” De Jong said. “We know 
it’s going to be a challenge to beat 
the same team three times in a 
row because we know that we 
got outplayed at certain times on 
the weekend. But we definitely 
have that confidence and we 
know that we can win games 
whether they’re tight games or 
having to hold a lead. It’s the Big 
Ten Tournament and anything 
can happen — that’s the kind of 
attitude we’re going in with.”

Added 
Kile: 
“Once 
you’re 

realistic with yourself and realize 
other teams have better records 
and you are the underdog in most 
of the games you play, I think it 
benefits you. … The past three 
weeks have been the closest we’ve 
ever been as a team this year. We 
just have a belief in the locker 
room right now.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
‘M’ to open WNIT run

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball 
team 
is 
facing 
a 

postseason test — not of skill but of 
character. The Wolverines (11-5 Big 
Ten, 22-9 overall) were snubbed by 
the NCAA Tournament selection 
committee after finishing third in 
the Big Ten, but their postseason is 
not over.

Michigan will play its first 

game of the Women’s National 
Invitational Tournament against 
Kent State on Thursday night. 
While this is not the tournament 
it strove to end up in, it will give 
the Wolverines the chance to 
conclude their season on a high 
note — and potentially prove the 
NCAA wrong. 
 

“Obviously, we’re extremely 

disappointed,” 
said 
Michigan 

coach Kim Barnes Arico. “But 
it’s going to be about how we 
move on from here and let that 
disappointment fuel us.”

This will be Michigan’s eighth-

straight postseason appearance, 
with its last two seasons ending 
in the WNIT semifinals. The 
Wolverines have never made it 
past the semifinal round but they 
certainly have the potential to 
break that record this year.

The Golden Flashes (13-5 Mid-

Atlantic, 19-12 overall) have a 
similar record to Michigan, but 
the Wolverines’ schedule was 
undeniably 
more 
challenging. 

Michigan faced five top-25 ranked 
teams, while Kent State only 
played then-No. 5 Baylor, to whom 
they lost 84-42 back in November.

The two teams have also 

faced off against four common 
opponents this season: Western 
Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and 
Iowa. The Wolverines beat all 
four, while the Golden Flashes 
were victorious over just the 
Broncos and the Bobcats. Kent 
State suffered blowout losses 
to the Golden Gophers and the 
Hawkeyes, falling 92-62 and 
83-48, respectively.

Yet, Michigan’s defense, led by 

junior guard Jillian Dunston and 
senior guard Siera Thompson, will 
have to watch out for offensive 
juggernaut guard Larissa Lurken, 
who averages 23.6 points, 6.6 
rebounds and 2.8 assists per 
game. Forward Jordan Korinek is 
the only other Golden Flash who 
averages over 10 points a game. If 
the Wolverines are able to shut the 
duo down, Kent State will have a 
hard time sinking shots.

Michigan’s 
main 
concern 

will be regaining its scoring 
confidence. 
The 
Wolverines 

have not played since losing to 
Michigan State 74-64 in the 
Big Ten Tournament on Mar. 3. 
In that game, freshman guard 
Kysre Gondrezick, junior guard 
Katelynn Flaherty and sophomore 
center Hallie Thome scored 23, 18 
and 16 points, respectively. Despite 
their considerable efforts against 
the Spartans, Michigan’s top three 
scorers (and the highest scoring 
trio in the Big Ten) were unable to 
solidify the win.

The 
Wolverines 
also 
lost 

their last regular season game 
to Penn State on Feb. 26, though 
Gondrezick tallied 25 points, 
Flaherty scored 22 and Thome 
had 14. Against better teams, the 
trio’s talent has not been quite 
enough to push Michigan over 
the brink. While it may not be a 
deciding factor against the Golden 
Flashes — who have not proven 
to have a deep offensive unit this 
season — the Wolverines could use 
scoring help from Thompson and 
sophomore guard Nicole Munger.

Even though Michigan has lost 

four of its last five games, it has had 
almost two weeks off to rest and 
practice. With a proper mindset, 
the Wolverines can shake off 
lingering disappointment and still 
make program history by winning 
the WNIT.

“Our senior class has done a little 

better than the year before it and 
put our team in a better position 
than the year before it every year 
since I’ve been here,” Barnes Arico 
said. “We’re definitely headed in 
the right direction.”

Brdar, Thomas spark Michigan 
as a potent infield combination

Through 15 games this season, 

the 
Michigan 
baseball 
team 

has kept pace with last year’s 
offensive 
output. 
The 
2016 

Wolverines scored at a rate of 
6.35 runs per game, while this 
year’s edition currently crosses 
the plate an average of 6.33 times 
per game. 

With seven regular starters 

returning from last year, this type 
of production at the plate was 
expected. But two other players 
have also stepped up as offensive 
contributors – senior shortstop 
Michael Brdar and sophomore 
second baseman Ako Thomas.

Last season, Brdar and Thomas 

were new to the team – Brdar 
as a junior college transfer from 
Diablo Valley College in California 
and Thomas as a freshman 
from 
Chicago. 
Despite 
their 

lack of experience in Division I 
baseball, the pair quickly became 
mainstays in Michigan’s lineup, 
both appearing in 53 games. 
However, Thomas and Brdar 
were relative nonfactors at the 
plate, ranking just seventh and 
10th on the team, respectively, in 
batting average, and they drove in 
just 32 runs between them.

This year, the pair lead the 

Wolverines in batting average, 
with Thomas hitting .339 and 
Brdar putting up a .328 clip. 
Thomas is also tied for second in 
runs batted in with 10, and Brdar 
has already eclipsed his home run 
total from last season with two, 
while driving in eight runs of his 
own.

There isn’t anyone in the 

Michigan 
program 
who 
has 

forgotten last season’s dismal 
finish, in which the Wolverines 
let a NCAA Tournament bid slip 
out of their hands by losing seven 
of their final nine games after a 
34-12 start. The memory of that 
slide has manifested itself as a 
more aggressive mentality for the 
Wolverines this season.

“There’s no taking the foot off 

the gas pedal,” Brdar said. “We 
saw last year the difference was a 

couple games – every pitch, every 
moment we have is important. 
You always talk about that, but 
we never really saw it until last 
year.

“We’re more aggressive in 

everything we do, with running 
the bases, playing defense, coach 
calling signs and in the weight 
room. I think we have more intent 
with everything we do.”

This new mentality has shown 

itself most prominently on the 
basepaths. Michigan was a solid 
base-stealing team last season, 
with 60 steals in 83 attempts, but 
this season the Wolverines have 
gone from decent to dangerous, 
swiping 35 bases in 39 attempts to 
rank sixth nationally.

Leading this improvement has 

been Brdar and Thomas, who 
combined to steal just four bases 
while being caught six times in 

2016. However, raw speed was 
never the issue for the pair – it 
was instead getting acclimated 
to the pressures of Division I 
college baseball. With a full year 
of experience under their belts, 
Thomas and Brdar now rank 15th 
and 26th in the nation in steals, 
respectively – Thomas with nine 
and Brdar with eight.

“We’re just as fast as we were 

last season, but it was our first 
year, and we didn’t have all the 
confidence we do now,” Brdar 
said. “Now when we’re on the 
bases, we have more confidence, 
we trust our jumps and trust what 
we see to be able to actually steal 
bases instead of being hesitant.”

Added Thomas: “We’ve just 

been more aggressive this year, 
trying to get guys in scoring 
positions as much as we can.”

But a team must be able to 

reach base in order to steal bases 
in the first place, and Michigan 
has excelled in putting runners 
aboard in a variety of ways. The 
Wolverines are drawing one more 
walk per game than they did last 
season. Thomas (.438 OBP) and 
Brdar (.418 OBP) have paced 
the Wolverines with their plate 
discipline, and they have excelled 
at making contact as well, having 
combined to strike out in just 13 
percent of their at-bats.

“We can manufacture some 

runs for sure,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “I like when 
our offense is very disciplined 
and doesn’t chase out of the zone, 
and we’ve got a lot of speed in the 
lineup that can really get around 
those bases fast.”

Brdar and Thomas have also 

formed 
a 
defensive 
bedrock 

in the middle of the infield. 
Michigan has committed just 
half as many errors per game as 
it did last season, and Brdar and 
Thomas have been central to this 
defensive resurgence. Working in 
combination with each other, the 
pair has helped the Wolverines 
turn 11 double plays already, 
while the Wolverines recorded 
just 26 for the whole of last 
season. Thomas in particular 
has displayed a penchant for 
highlight-reel moments at second 
base, while sporting a perfect 
fielding percentage.

“What doesn’t show up in 

the boxscore is the web-gem 
play after web-gem play that 
he makes,” Bakich said. “The 
difficult play that you think is a 
hit that somehow he’s got a glove 
on it and then throws a guy out, 
and the double plays that he’s in 
the middle of with he and Michael 
Brdar. He is a true sparkplug type 
guy.”

Michigan shot out to a fast 

start last season, and this year’s 
version has done so as well. But 
a more aggressive mindset in 
all facets of the game and the 
evolution of Brdar and Thomas 
gives the Wolverines hope that 
they can write a different final 
chapter this year.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Senior defenseman Nigel de Jong and the Wolverines are experiencing the most success they’ve had all season.

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“There’s no 

taking the foot 

off the gas 

pedal”

EVAN AARON/Daily

Senior shortstop Michael Brdar has stepped up as an offensive contributor in his second season as a Wolverine.

MAGGIE KOLCON

Daily Sports Writer