Week of Reckoning
The findings in East Lansing
following the Larry Nassar
trial hint at a deeper
problem, writes Betelhem
Ashame.
» Page 2B
The Big 4-0-0
Kim Barnes Arico earned
her 400th career victory
as the Michigan women’s
basketball team beat
Northwestern.
» Page 4B
Wolverines swept by sixth-ranked Buckeyes
SPORTSMONDAY
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 29, 2018
B
C
OLUMBUS —
Ohio State has
notoriously won
games this season
by gaining a first-
goal advantage. The Buckeyes had
done so in 11 of their 16 wins prior
to Saturday night, emblematic of a
team that can hold onto early-game
momentum.
Given this, when freshman
forward Jack Becker cracked Ohio
State’s net first, the Michigan
hockey team — who hadn’t seen
a single goal Friday night — was
provided with a glimpse of hope.
But Saturday, this stat wouldn’t
matter. The Buckeyes didn’t score
first. However, with another lights-
out performance on their home turf,
they didn’t need to.
After being neutralized the night
before, No. 17 Michigan started
strong, but eventually deteriorated.
For the second time this season, No.
6 Ohio State (10-5-1-0 Big Ten, 17-5-
4 overall) swept the Wolverines (7-9-
2-1, 12-12-2), this time handing them
a 5-3 defeat.
For Michigan, who had been able
to cruise past Minnesota and Penn
State in its previous two weekends,
the series in Columbus served as a
wake-up call of sorts.
“We may have been getting by,
and as coaches, we knew that we
had to clean some things up,” said
Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “We
got a little bit of a reality check
this weekend. Ohio State is a very
good hockey team, you can’t take
anything away from them, but we
made it too easy for them with the
goals they scored all weekend.”
The game opened up sloppily,
with an absence of smooth passing
and urgency evident on both sides of
the puck.
Ohio State notched the first
man-advantage 4:29 into the first
period, as a tripping call sent senior
defenseman Sam Piazza to the box.
Despite many close opportunities
and the fact that the Buckeyes
capitalized more often than not on
their power play the night before,
the Wolverines escaped the penalty
unharmed.
And less than three minutes later,
Michigan did something it couldn’t
all of Friday — find the net. Despite
having two Ohio State blueliners
wedged between him and the
goal, Becker sent a long-range shot
straight at the net, passing both the
defensemen and Buckeye goaltender
Sean Romeo to get the Wolverines
on the board.
But Ohio State wouldn’t let this
advantage stick for long. Halfway
through the period, forward Freddy
Gerard successfully tipped the puck
in off a rebound, equalizing the
game as Value City Arena erupted.
In the final two minutes of
the period, Michigan’s first line
had a few dangerous chances
in the Buckeye zone. However,
the Wolverines were unable to
capitalize a second time, sending
both teams to the locker rooms tied
neck-and-neck at 1-1.
Ohio State had no desire to waste
time coming out of the intermission.
Just 26 seconds into the second
period, Gerard broke away from
a pack of Michigan defensemen,
challenged sophomore goaltender
Hayden Lavigne for the second time
of the night, and again sent a blast
past the netminder.
Holding a 2-1 lead, the Buckeyes
were given the first power play of
the second period, with a Wolverine
penalty for roughing with 5:48 left in
the frame. Michigan fended off the
Buckeyes again, allowing just one
on-target shot over the stretch.
Unfazed by their deficit, the
Wolverines fired again midway
through the period. Michigan’s
fourth line would find the net for the
second time that night, as freshman
Dakota Raabe found Niko Porikos
right outside the crease, and the
senior lit the lamp for his first goal of
the season.
And as the game presented a
competitive energy completely
absent the night before, it was not
long before Ohio State’s offense
challenged again. Three minutes
after Michigan’s goal, Buckeye
forward Ronnie Hein fired the puck
past Lavigne to gain a 3-2 edge.
With just over three minutes
remaining in the second, the back
and forth nature of the game
quickly came to a halt. Ohio State
forward Brendon Kearney found the
Wolverine net, widening the gap to
two for the largest lead of the night.
The Buckeyes demonstrated their
offensive depth, with three different
lines supplementing the night’s four
goals thus far.
“I just did not like our defensive
awareness, and our puck
management tonight was not good
and led to two or three of their
goals,” Pearson said. “I wouldn’t say
their goals were unearned, we just
can’t play like that against a team
like Ohio State. We knew how they
play and we talked about managing
the puck tonight and we just did not
do a good job of that.”
Though Michigan was unable
to answer, Ohio State incurred an
elbowing penalty with 12 seconds
remaining in the period, giving the
Wolverines their first power play of
the game to start the third.
This man-advantage was fruitless
for Michigan, as it was shut down by
the Buckeyes’ penalty kill — the top
in the nation — that boasts an elite
.905 average.
Because of this, the Wolverines
had been looking anemic on their
power play all weekend. Ohio State
saw a few close opportunities for
short-handed goals Friday night that
fell flat, but this would no longer be
the case during the second half of
Saturday’s third period. With 8:12
dwindling in the game, Buckeye
forward Mason Jobst broke away
with the puck, evading Lavigne with
a short-handed blast, tacking on a
fifth Ohio State goal.
The Buckeyes continued their
dominance on the penalty kill,
preventing Michigan from finding
the net while the Wolverines were
on a significant two-man advantage.
With 2:30 left on the clock,
Michigan attempted a final late-
game rally as sophomore forward
Jake Slaker scored, bringing the
game to 5-3.
“I think I was kind of like, ‘Well,
we’ve got two minutes, we could
try to get back in this,’ ” Slaker said.
“But it was also super frustrating,
because it was so late.”
At this point in the game, every
Wolverine on the ice exhibited this
same frustration. Michigan had just
come off two competitive series in
which it had claimed all the points.
This weekend, it walked away with
none.
“Obviously, it’s not good enough,”
Porikos said. “Coming in here,
leaving with no points, it’s not what
we wanted. But it is what it is.”
Added Slaker: “There’s not much
to say after a weekend like that.”
ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer
BUCKED
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Design by Jack Silberman
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OSU 4 MICHIGAN 0
OSU 5 MICHIGAN 3