The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 — 7A

‘M’ goaltending competition still open

Now, four games and an 

exhibition into its season, 
the Michigan hockey team 
has split goaltending time 
evenly between sophomores 
Jack LaFontaine and Hayden 
Lavigne. 

Mel Pearson has set the 

deadline 
for 
selecting 
a 

starting 
netminder 
at 
the 

eight-game 
mark. 
This 

deadline will come around 
in approximately two weeks 
after the Wolverines open 
conference play this weekend 
against Penn State and face 
Ferris 
State 
at 
home 
the 

following weekend.

“It’s not unlike quarterbacks 

here at Michigan,” Pearson 
said at the onset of the season. 
“You’ve got three, four, five 
quarterbacks 
who 
are 
all 

pretty good, but usually one 
emerges and then takes the 
job.”

LaFontaine 
and 
Lavigne 

have already put up half of 
the showings that will dictate 
who will get to be the primary 
goaltender for the remainder 
of the season.

With this important cut off 

looming in the near future, 
here is a closer look at the 
efforts of each 
goaltender 
so far in the 
season. 

Jack 

LaFontaine:

LaFontaine 

boasts 
a 

perfect 
2-0-0 

record on the 
ice, 
an 
elite 

.950 
save 

percentage and 
a minuscule 1.01 goals-against 
average. 
The 
goaltender’s 

performance 
has 
already 

transcended 
that 
of 
his 

freshman season where he 
recorded one win while in 
net. He has started the Friday 
nightcap against St. Lawrence 
and Vermont.

LaFontaine picked up his 

first win of the season against 
the Saints, which came in 
the Wolverines’ first game of 
the season. He registered 24 
saves, and allowed only one 
goal throughout regulation.

“LaFontaine was excellent 

in net (against 
St. Lawrence),” 
Pearson 
said. 

“You 
need 

goaltending, 
and I thought 
Jack was a huge 
difference for us 
in this game.”

In the home-

opener 
against 

Vermont 
on 

Friday 
night, 

LaFontaine 
again 
put 
on 

a stellar performance and 
recorded his second complete-
game win of the season. The 
sophomore netminder made 
five saves in each period, and 
let the puck slide by him only 
once.

Notably, 
when 
the 

Catamounts 
held 
a 
5-on-3 

advantage during the second 
period, LaFontaine remained 
unfazed, notching four saves 
en route to Michigan escaping 
the dangerous penalty kill 
unscathed.

Hayden Lavigne:
Lavigne has gone 1-1-0 over 

his two outings this season, 
holding a quality .898 save 
percentage and a 2.50 goals-
against average. 

In his season debut, the 

sophomore goaltender had to 
settle for a 3-0 loss to Clarkson. 
However, he still put up a solid 
effort, making 16 saves on the 
night and was instrumental in 
the Wolverines’ 5-for-6 mark 
on penalty kills. 

Lavigne 
notched 
his 

standout performance in the 
second game of the Vermont 
series.

Saturday night he earned 

his first win in the net, and 
was 
fundamental 
to 
the 

Wolverines’ clutch weekend 
sweep. Lavigne registered 28 
saves, shutting down many of 
the Catamounts’ most viable 
scoring opportunities.

“I 
thought 
they 
had 

a 
few 
very 
good 
scoring 

opportunities,” Pearson said. 
“And (Lavigne) came up big.”

After the first weekend of 

play, LaFontaine may appear to 
have a slight edge over Lavigne 
in the battle for the starting 
position. 
Yet, 
subsequent 

to the Vermont series, each 
goaltender has displayed at 
least one standout night and 
both hold impressive stats this 
year. These factors ensure that 
Pearson’s impending decision 
will be anything but easy.

“Two 
good 
goalies 
in 

both Hayden and Jack,” said 
sophomore 
forward 
Adam 

Winborg 
following 
the 

Vermont series. “… As long as 
we do our job in front of them, 
they’re there, so they’ll always 
give us a chance to win the 
games.”

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne has gone 1-1 over two starting outings this year, posting a .898 save percentage.

It’s not unlike 
quarterbacks 

here at 

Michigan.

FIELD HOCKEY
Wolverines close out 
season with shutout

It has been a regular season 

characterized by near-perfect 
execution for the No. 4 Michigan 
field hockey team — a sonorous 
symphony 
conducted 
with 

perfection by coach Marcia 
Pankratz 
and 
passionately 

played by a bevy of seniors. 

Tuesday night, that symphony 

concluded with a satisfying 
crescendo.

The 
Wolverines 
easily 

dispatched Central Michigan, 
4-0, in Mount Pleasant.

The 
victory 
resulted, 
in 

part, from relentless offensive 
pressure and excellent passing 
by the Wolverines.

“(The offense) does really well 

with basic skills – fundamentals,” 
Pankratz said. “Trapping and 
passing is the cornerstone of 
the game. We’ve been able to do 
it well and that’s allowed us to 
sustain our success.”

From 
the 
outset 
of 
the 

match, the Wolverines (8-0 Big 
Ten, 16-2 overall) thoroughly 
dominated the Chippewas (0-5 
Mid-American 
Conference, 

0-16 overall). Michigan kept 
possession and generated several 
scoring chances early in the 
first half, but Central Michigan 
desperately fended off each of 
these chances.

Then, 
Michigan 
junior 

defender 
Leah 
Cardarelli 

deftly beat goalie Lily Amadio, 
spinning with Bachian grace 
and chopping the ball at the 
seemingly 
wide-open 
net. 

Suddenly, Chippewa defender 
Ali Huddleson came out of 
nowhere and stretched her stick 
out, barely stopping the ball from 
rolling over the line. Mere inches 
separated Cardarelli from her 
second goal of the season.

Yet again, Central Michigan 

had fended off an excellent 
Wolverine attack.

But the Chippewas defense 

would not hold forever.

With about 20 minutes left in 

the half, sophomore midfielder 
Meg Dowthwaite received the 
ball on the right side of the field 
and fired a cross to the front of 
the net. Junior forward Emma 
Way redirected it to junior 
midfielder Katie Walker, who 
pounded it into the back of the 
net to give Michigan a 1-0 lead.

A mere 35 seconds later, 

Dowthwaite pounced on a ball 
in the middle of the shooting 
circle and flung it past several 
Chippewa 
defenders 
and 
a 

sprawling Amadio with the sheer 
force of Mozart’s symphony No. 
25.

The 
Wolverines 
suddenly 

had a 2-0 lead — a lead that they 
would never look back from.

In the second half, senior 

back 
Katie 
Trombetta 
and 

graduate 
forward 
Carly 

Bennet each tacked on another 
goal to Michigan’s lead. Due 
to 
suffocating 
defense, 
the 

Wolverines didn’t concede a 
single shot attempt, let alone a 
goal, to the Chippewas — the 
10th shutout of their 13-game 
winning streak.

“They 
just 
communicate 

really well and organize the 
defense,” Pankratz said. “Of 
course, (senior goalkeeper Sam 
Swenson) does a great job in 
goal as well. And we’ve got some 
speed back there on the side back 
position. Put that all together 
and that’s a very solid foundation 
(for our defense).”

As the final notes of a truly 

stellar regular season begin to 
fade into silence, the Wolverines 
know that they are capable of 
ending the postseason with a 
national title — but Pankratz 
doesn’t want her team to focus 
on that.

Even-keeled 
as 
always, 

Pankratz said, “the next game is 
the most important one.”

Wolverines aim to put blowout in the past

These are uncertain times for 

the Michigan football team.

Saturday 
night, 
the 
now-

unranked Wolverines suffered their 
worst loss since 2015 — another 
42-13 blowout at the hands of then-
No. 2 Ohio State — and they have 
faced a storm of backlash as a result.

Though they faced a wave of 

criticism after their first loss to 
Michigan State, this is the wave 
that could threaten to bring their 
sails crashing down.

In the high-stakes atmosphere 

of college football, one loss has the 
potential to poke holes in a resume. 
Two losses has the potential to sink 
a season.

But Monday, Michigan argued 

that its ship is still intact.

“With any team and fanbase, 

there’s going to be negative talk 
about it. That’s just the way it is,” 
said fifth-year senior fullback Henry 
Poggi. “Everyone wants perfection, 
and when that doesn’t happen, 
people start falling off the ship.

“We know that no one on our 

team can fall off the ship.”

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 

has taken it upon himself to 
steer the Wolverines in the right 
direction. After Saturday’s game, 
he told them about those fans who 
would hop off the bandwagon and 
express negative opinions about 
the state of the team.

He didn’t have to tell them. 

In the often-critical landscape 
of social media, Twitter and 
Instagram give those types of fans 
a platform to voice their complaints 
either directly or indirectly. College 
athletes, 
whose 
social 
media 

presence is typically monitored by 
the communications departments 
of their respective programs, have 
to learn how to deal with the hits 
without hitting back.

Junior wide receiver Grant 

Perry said he just keeps scrolling 
to bypass the negativity. Poggi said 
he just doesn’t follow people who 
engage in that kind of activity.

For a Michigan team dominated 

by underclassmen, it can be easy for 
the outside noise to seep through. 

The Wolverines’ veterans see it as 
their responsibility to turn down 
the dial.

“It’s a pretty bad loss,” Poggi said. 

“But the best thing about football 
during the season is that you have 
another game coming up to correct 
your wrongs. … The best way to put 
something in the young guys is just 
to lead by example. Show them that 
we’re still practicing hard. Practice 
harder to correct what happened.”

Added redshirt junior right 

tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty: “I 
think emotions are high. Going 
forward, I think we’re just going to 
continue to do what we do and try 
to improve our game and continue 
to learn from our mistakes. I think, 
most importantly, going forward 
as a team we just need to learn 
confidence and trust in ourselves.”

Michigan doesn’t have to look 

very far back to find an example of 
how one loss can turn into a string 
of them if the Wolverines aren’t 
careful about how they respond to 
it.

In 2016, Michigan’s first loss, 

to Iowa in November, was also 

unexpected. 
And 
while 
the 

Wolverines were able to respond 
with a win over Indiana — as they 
also did this year — they lost the 
final two games of their season to 
then-No. 2 Ohio State and then-No. 
10 Florida State.

Though Michigan’s losses have 

come much earlier this season, 
Harbaugh said Monday that the 
lesson he intends to teach is the 
same.

“The team that goes through 

this understands — can have a 
great opportunity of understanding 
— where there needs to be a 
response,” he said. “The response 
that comes as coaches and players 
(is) gotta keep coaching and players 
gotta find out what they’re made of 
from a competitive standpoint.

“The going gets tough, the tough 

get going. It’s a cliché, but clichés 
are usually clichés because they’re 
true.”

Harbaugh was then asked if he 

thought the Wolverines had it in 
them.

“I believe we do,” he said. “(I) 

believe that this team will respond.”

‘M’ finishes fifth 
in last fall match

For a day, the Michigan men’s 

golf team looked like it could 
hang with the nation’s cream of 
the crop. Well actually, a half a 
day. 

After 
the 
first 
round, 

Michigan was just six shots 
behind No. 8 Baylor — the 
eventual-champion 
— 
with 

Carlson and Mueller shooting a 
67 (-4) and 69 (-2), respectively.

From there, the Wolverines 

didn’t fare as well. In their 
last match of the fall season, 
Michigan finished fifth out of 
13 schools at the Royal Oaks 
course, 
a 
familiar 
location 

for experienced seniors Kyle 
Mueller 
and 
Ian 
Kim, 
as 

well as junior Nick Carlson, 
and it clearly showed in the 
tournament.

“This tournament was really 

unusual because all five of the 
players played in one group 
together,” said Michigan coach 
Chris Whitten. “We’ve never 
done that since I’ve been head 
coach here. That team dynamic 
this 
week 
of 
seeing 
your 

teammates do well and having 
the momentum [spread] through 
the group was a big deal.”

Indeed, it was a big deal. No 

one shot green numbers in the 
first round, as freshman Charlie 
Pilon and Kim both produced an 
even 71 for the first round.

Michigan’s 
top-three 

standing in the tournament 
was short-lived, though. On the 
second round of day one, birdies 
were hard to come by and more 
bogeys creeped their way onto 
the scoreboard. Baylor, No. 15 
Kent State and No. 17 Arkansas 
began to show their true colors 
as well, with all three schools 
shooting tremendous second-
round scores.

“In the second round, it’s 

not that we did anything a lot 
worse,” Whitten said. “We just 
didn’t make as many birdies. 
Sometimes, 
that’s 
just 
the 

difference of (getting) a few feet 
closer on your approach shots 
and then just getting a couple 
more putts to go.”

Heavy wind — a golfer’s worst 

enemy — dominated the course 
on the second day, and it showed 
especially in round 3 scores.

“It was funny because (in) 

some other tournaments, our 
worst round a lot of times was 
our first round,” Whitten said. 
“Today, I would say the course 
played totally different. I mean, 
it was so windy that you almost 
had to play the wind on a five-
foot putt or a four-foot putt.”

Contrary from the usual, the 

Wolverines played the par-3 
holes as good as anyone but 
finished dead last in average 
scores for par-5 holes.

Individually, 
Michigan’s 

top tandem of Carlson and 
Mueller continued their success, 
finishing 
third 
and 
12th, 

respectively. But the Wolverines 
still couldn’t make up for the 
loss of freshman Henry Spring, 
who is currently back in his 
home country playing for a 
potential spot in the Masters 
and the Open Championship.

“This is kind of a cool story 

actually,” Whitten said. “He’s 
qualified for the Asia Pacific 
Amateur, which is a really big 
tournament in New Zealand, 
his home country. So he’s in 
New Zealand right now about to 
play that and the winner of that 
tournament gets an exemption 
in the British Open and the 
Masters.”

For the rest of the team, 

however, there is a long three-
month 
break 
before 
their 

next tournament in February, 
which kicks off the spring 
season. During this break, the 
Wolverines will have five days 
of strength and conditioning 
on 
top 
of 
swing 
practice, 

continuing their hunt to break 
into the nation’s top-25 come 
February. 

As Whitten said: “We’ll be 

ready. For sure.”

AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA

For the Daily

MEN’S GOLF

ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer

DYLAN CHUNG
Daily Sports Writer

BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh emphasized that a loss to the second-ranked Nittany Lions will allow the Wolverines to learn something about themselves.

