The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, November 15, 2017 — 7A
Final Foes: Previewing the NCAA Tournament Final Four
In
the
early
rounds
of
the
NCAA
Tournament,
the
Michigan
field
hockey
team proved it was up to the
challenge.
The
Wolverines
dispatched
Syracuse
and
Northwestern to advance to the
semifinals.
Michigan is coming in hot —
not allowing a single goal in the
postseason so far — but the Final
Four will be its biggest test yet.
The Daily broke down potential
matchups for the Wolverines
this weekend in Louisville.
No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 9
Maryland
Prior
to
its
3-2
double-
overtime win in September,
Michigan had failed to defeat
the Terrapins in 15 years. That
time, it clinched a national
championship. So it seems only
fitting that the Wolverines will
have to get through Maryland
one more time.
The Terrapins defeated No.
13 Wake Forest in the round
of 16, 2-0, then upset No. 2
Duke in the quarterfinals, 3-2,
to advance to the semifinals.
There, Michigan awaits.
Maryland, a traditional field
hockey powerhouse, brings a
well-balanced attack. It ranks
18th in the nation in goals per
game and 13th in goals-against
average.
Midfielder
Lein
Holsboer led the Terrapins in
goals scored and assists. She
was named to the All-Big Ten
First Team and the All-Big Ten
Tournament team.
The Wolverines face a big
threat in Holsboer, who scored
one of Maryland’s two goals in
its earlier matchup. However,
as the season progressed, the
Wolverines
have
improved
their strategies for overcoming
those challenges. Michigan will
seek to neutralize Holsboer
with its dynamic back line of
freshman Halle O’Neill, junior
Maggie
Bettez
and
senior
Katie Trombetta – the Big Ten
Player of the Year. Look for the
Wolverines to utilize a 2-on-1
defensive formation for extra
protection.
Leading Michigan’s offense
on the forward line are fifth-
year senior Carly Bennett, junior
Emma Way and sophomore Meg
Dowthwaite. They contributed
to a squad that ranked 11th in
the nation in goals per game.
On offense, the Wolverines are
fast and confident, but their
real strength comes from their
passing. To keep Michigan off
the board, the Terrapins will
need to be as aggressive with
their
blocking
as
Syracuse
was in the NCAA Tournament
quarterfinal.
Maryland led the conference
in shots, and it will look to
overwhelm
its
opposition
with sheer quantity. In senior
goalkeeper Sam Swenson –
the national leader in save
percentage – the Wolverines
have just the person for the job.
The Terrapins are a team
with no real weaknesses, but
Michigan is ranked better in
all aspects of the game, making
this match the Wolverines’ to
lose.
If Michigan does advance
past Maryland, it will advance
to the title game, where it
will face one of two potential
opponents.
Michigan vs. No. 4 North
Carolina
North
Carolina
is
the
underdog in its semifinal match
against
Connecticut,
but
if
Michigan advances to the title
game, it should hope the Tar
Heels are there waiting.
That said, North Carolina
is no slouch. The Tar Heels
outscored
their
opponents
8-2 in their run to the ACC
Tournament championship and
earned the fourth overall seed
in the NCAA Tournament.
North
Carolina
does
everything
well.
It
ranks
sixth in the nation with 3.82
goals per game, a feat more
impressive when considering
its
competitive
conference.
Rather than one standout on
offense, North Carolina has
remarkable depth. Seven of its
players had five or more goals
on the season, with midfielders
Ashley Hoffman and Malin
Evert leading the tally at 11
apiece.
A leading scorer who also
plays defense, Hoffman will be
a different look for Michigan.
Planning
an
offensive
and
defensive
attack
will
be
tough against a team with so
many hybrid players, but the
Wolverines come in with the
advantage of having seen the
Tar Heels before. Michigan
won its season opener against
North Carolina, 3-2.
Since then, both teams have
improved. But the Tar Heels
may be in for a big surprise with
the look of the Wolverines’ back
line. Neither O’Neill nor Bettez
started the season opener, but
both have come into their own
as vital pieces of Michigan’s
defense.
Perhaps the biggest change
has
been
the
Wolverines’
approach to penalty corners.
They struggled with defending
corners in the early part of the
season, and North Carolina took
advantage in its first match. But
the personnel change, along
with a focus on corner defense
in practice, has led Michigan to
be much stingier with allowing
goals — posting 15 shutouts in
its last 18 games.
The Wolverines have been
able to formulate a defensive
plan of attack for all types of
offenses, an ability that will be
more crucial than ever against
North Carolina. If these teams
play in the title game, it will be
closely-fought and low-scoring.
However, Michigan’s previous
success against the Tar Heels
and
much-improved
defense
should make it a slight favorite.
Michigan
vs.
No.
1
Connecticut
Connecticut
is
still
undefeated
at
21-0.
The
Wolverines lead the nation in
goals allowed per game, and the
Huskies lead in goals scored.
This matchup, if it happens,
will be a clash of the titans.
Connecticut
has
been
unstoppable all year. The
American Athletic Conference
may not be as competitive as
the Big Ten or ACC, but the
Huskies
beat
top-10
teams
Northwestern, Penn State and
Michigan.
Forward Charlotte Veitner
leads the nation in goals per
game, and three Connecticut
players – Svea Boker, Amanda
Collins and Casey Umstead –
rank in the top 10 in assists. The
Huskies’ offense is so prolific
that they have been held to one
goal only once this season.
The
two
teams
met
in
September and the Huskies
came out on top, 2-1. However,
like the North Carolina match,
this game was early in the
season, when both teams were
still developing their identities.
It was an evenly-matched game,
with the ultimate advantage
for Connecticut coming on a
goal scored off a penalty stroke.
Michigan
has
not
allowed
another this season.
The other two goals came
off penalty corners. While both
teams have strong defense on
corners, they may provide the
best scoring opportunity in a
match between two top back
lines. The Huskies may be
more poised to take advantage,
as one of the Wolverines’ few
weaknesses in the postseason
has been giving up corners.
It will be up to Michigan to
strike a balance between being
conscientious
of
giving
up
corners while not becoming too
passive.
If the Huskies have any
cracks in their foundation, it
is their recent performance.
Connecticut
gave
up
four
goals in its first two NCAA
Tournament matches against
Boston
University
and
Penn State. Meanwhile, the
Wolverines earned shutouts in
each of their first two games.
It could be a fluke for the
Huskies or it could be a product
of
unfamiliarity
with
the
competition — one disadvantage
of a smaller conference.
Still, it’s hard not to give the
upper hand to Connecticut.
Michigan’s
offense
has
struggled against elite defensive
units such as Syracuse and
Penn State, from which the
Huskies would be a step up. And
while the Wolverines’ defense
has thus far been prepared
for
anything,
no
previous
opponent has received offensive
production from quite as many
sources.
Two teams that seem near
unstoppable, with only one of
them emerging as champion.
This is the matchup the NCAA
Tournament deserves.
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Senior defender Katie Trombetta was named Big Ten Player of the Year and will be crucial to Michigan’s defensive effort.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
Defensive zone key ahead of Wisconsin
During the first period of its Big
Ten home opener against then-
No. 4 Minnesota, the Michigan
hockey team saw three viable
scoring opportunities — but none
broke past elite goaltender Eric
Schierhorn.
This was a microcosm of one flaw
in the Wolverines’ distinguished
weekend — they struggled to find
the net early despite creating many
opportunities for themselves.
“I think we had some good
chances,” said Michigan coach
Mel Pearson. “And sometimes you
finish and some you don’t.”
Though
the
Wolverines
eventually triumphed in their
Friday slate, the Golden Gophers
built a dangerous scoring cushion
early on. Right after the first
intermission, they put three on the
board within eight minutes.
“It’s awesome that we have
character to be able to come back
from whatever deficit,” said junior
forward Cooper Marody, “but it’s
not something you want to build on
as far as doing that every game.”
Pearson mirrored this sentiment,
emphasizing that playing behind
with three-or four-goal deficits
will not be a sustainable practice
moving forward.
And his solution to this problem?
Don’t get so far behind in the first
place.
“You can’t continue to play from
behind,” Pearson said. “I think
(we need) more preparation, and
attention to detail defensively.
We’ve got to be better defensively;
you can’t give anything up until you
get something going.”
This week in practices, Michigan
has put a greater emphasis on
the defensive zone, focusing its
attention on odd-man rushes and
not turning the puck over the blue
line from the neutral zone.
Minnesota’s third goal Friday
night came when Golden Gopher
forwards Brent Gates Jr. and Tyler
Sheehy created an odd-man rush in
Michigan’s zone, en route to a clean
shot past sophomore goaltender
Jack LaFontaine.
The following night, defensive
lapses were responsible for another
Minnesota goal, when defenseman
Ryan Lindgren found a breakaway,
bringing the Golden Gopher lead to
3-0.
With more direct attention
to
these
game-like
defensive
scenarios, Pearson believes the
Wolverines can curb the number
of scoring opportunities for their
opposition.
He largely sees this lack of
attention
on
defensive
play
stemming from how defense is
treated from the time hockey
players begin their careers.
“From the time you’re raised
up in hockey, you get home and
the first question your parents
or grandparents ask is ‘Did you
win and how many goals did you
score?’” Pearson said. “It’s not
‘Did you block a shot?’ or ‘How
well defensively did you do?’ It’s
all about offense. It’s ingrained. So
we’ve got to change that.”
This mentality, since almost
innate, can take time to change.
However, Pearson believes the
defensive tweaks his team needs to
make won’t be major, as they tend
to be representative of individual
mistakes and not holistic issues.
“I will say of the goals we gave up
(this weekend) everything can be
changed,” Pearson said. “It wasn’t a
total breakdown of the system.”
Michigan sees the responsibility
of protecting its net as a duty of
the entire team, and not solely the
responsibility of its defensemen
and goaltenders.
“If one of your five guys on the
ice messes up, you’re in trouble,”
Pearson said. “You’re in trouble of
giving up a goal.”
Sharpening
the
defense
this week could see an almost
immediate effect, as Michigan’s
upcoming series is against another
top dog with a hot offense: No.
9 Wisconsin. The Badgers have
netted at least one goal during the
first period in each of their seven
wins this season — notably scoring
three before the first intermission
Friday against Michigan State.
If the Wolverines are able to
reduce these offensive efforts,
they will leave more room to get
ahead early, and not have to worry
again about making extraordinary
comebacks.
Intangibles key for ‘M’
It’s not always glamor that
wins the game.
In the No. 24 Michigan
women’s
basketball
team’s
74-50 blowout against Liberty,
the Wolverines relied on a
strong
performance
from
the free throw line – a major
differentiator in the game. The
Lady Flames got to the line
just 14 times and converted
on just six free throws. On the
other hand, Michigan shot 21
of 26 from the charity stripe.
As junior shooting guard
Nicole Munger explained, the
team focused on free throws
during this offseason.
“We ran a lot from missed
free throws,” Munger said
with a laugh. “And now they’re
going in, and it’s paying off and
we’re (also) in good condition.
We worked a lot in practice
and by ourselves just because
we know they’re free points.”
And an improvement from
the free throw line has been
evident in Michigan’s young
season. The Wolverines were
18 of 21 from the line in their
season opener against George
Mason. While just two games
in, the team has averaged 23.5
free throw attempts, up from
16.8 last season.
“We just did a good job
of moving the ball,” said
freshman
forward
Hailey
Brown. “With that, we found
ways to draw fouls. Whether
that be a dish and then an and-
one, or a drive and attack. We
were able to put people in the
right positions to finish and
draw fouls.”
The
first
half
saw
a
particularly high number of
fouls, with Liberty committing
14 to Michigan’s nine. Twenty-
four of the Wolverines’ free
throw attempts came within
the first two quarters. This
was, in large part, a byproduct
of Michigan’s ability to get
into the bonus early in the
quarter.
“We did a great job on
drawing fouls early by picking
up touch fouls,” said Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “And
that brought us to the line. I
thought that’s really what gave
us our lead – when Katelynn
(Flaherty) was able to get to
the line so early.”
To
no
one’s
surprise,
Flaherty converted on those
opportunities,
shooting
a
perfect 10 for 10. She finished
the game with 20 points –
only nine shy of becoming
Michigan’s all-time leading
scorer.
Barnes Arico also explained
that getting the right players –
like Flaherty and senior center
Hallie Thome – to the line has
contributed to the Wolverines
success.
The impressive free throw
display wasn’t the only thing
that stood out, as the defense
was equally impressive. By
allowing 50 points, Michigan
far
outshined
its
2016-17
average of 61.8 points allowed
per game.
“We started off in our
zone, and I think it was
very effective,” Brown said.
“Whether it was the 22 press
or falling back to the two-
three … our zone did a good
job of putting pressure. I think
with our length we can cause
a lot of havoc for the other
players.”
The full court press was a key
tactic for the Wolverines. The
game plan was implemented by
assistant coach Wesley Brooks
and forced the Lady Flames
to speed up the game, helping
Michigan force 22 turnovers.
In
the
semifinals
of
the
Preseason
WNIT,
the
Wolverines are likely to play
No. 9 Louisville. In order
for Michigan to overcome a
stout Cardinals team, these
unglamorous
areas
must
continue to be a focus.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer
Wolverines use defense, free throws
to top Liberty on Sunday afternoon
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson emphasized that the Wolverines will need to avoid putting themselves in a hole early when they face the Badgers this weekend.
ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer