4B — Monday, February 5, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines haunted by missed opportunities, fall to Wisconsin, 4-2

The adage “three strikes and 

you’re out” may have originated 
with baseball, but it works fairly 
well in hockey too.

One minute into Saturday’s 

game, 
Michigan 
defenseman 

Sam Piazza motored around to 
the left circle, where his shot 
rebounded off of Kyle Hayton’s 
pads. The puck then bounced 
to a wide-open Cooper Marody 
with the Wisconsin goaltender 
nowhere near the play. Marody, 
a Hobey Baker Award nominee, 
normally puts away chances like 
those in his sleep. His attempt 
flew past Hayton — and the pipe.

Not 
long 
after 
Marody’s 

near-miss, senior forward Tony 
Calderone poked the puck away 
from a Badger near the blue line. 
The Wolverines’ leading scorer 
had a clean breakaway, but 
Hayton stonewalled him deep in 
the crease.

A third opportunity — while 

not quite as golden as the first 
two — came a minute later. 
On a three-vs-two, freshman 
forward Josh Norris laid the 
puck off to freshman forward 
Dakota 
Raabe, 

who 
cruised 

unchallenged 
into 
the 
slot. 

Again, 
Hayton 

made the save.

When 

Wisconsin 
forward 
Trent 

Frederic slipped 
the 
puck 
past 

Hayden Lavigne 
four 
minutes 

later, the tone was set. The 
Badgers made the most of their 
chances. The Wolverines didn’t. 
Thusly, Wisconsin (8-9-3 Big 
Ten, 14-13-4 overall) came away 
with a 4-2 win Saturday night 
at Yost Ice Arena, splitting a 
crucial Big Ten series between 

two teams neck-and-neck in the 
conference standings.

Despite 
winning 
5-3 
on 

Friday, Michigan (8-10-2, 13-13-

2) was seemingly 
outplayed 
for 

long 
stretches, 

especially 
during the third 
period. 
The 

opposite was the 
case 
Saturday. 

The Wolverines 
consistently 
controlled 
the 

puck and outshot 
the 
Badgers, 

34-33, including a high volume 
of grade-A opportunities.

“I thought we had a better 

effort tonight. I thought we 
played a better game,” said 
Michigan coach Mel Pearson. 
“We 
created 
more 
offense 

tonight than we did last night. 

Had some golden opportunities, 
especially that first five, six 
minutes, we came out and were 
all over them played in their 
zone. ... We put one of those in, I 
think you see a totally different 
game tonight.”

Instead, 
Hayton, 
who 

replaced Friday night starter 
Jack Berry, was up to the task 
all night for Wisconsin. Brilliant 
with both his glove and his pads, 
the ECAC goalie of the year last 
season at St. Lawrence posted 32 
saves to keep the Wolverines at 
bay.

“We had all the opportunities 

in the world to make it a 5-4 
game for us and he stood on 
his head, made a few really 
good saves and hurt us,” said 
sophomore forward Jake Slaker. 
“But it comes down to us. It’s not 
really what (Hayton’s) doing, it’s 
what we’re doing.”

Michigan suffered some self-

inflicted wounds, too, but none 
hurt more than Wisconsin’s 
second goal, which came against 
the Wolverines’ shaky penalty 
kill. Thirteen minutes into the 
first period, Badger forward 
Ryan Wagner stretched out his 
stick and sent a slow roller into 
the crease that had no business 
finding the net. But junior 
defenseman 
Nicholas 
Boka 

couldn’t clear it, Lavigne didn’t 
see it in time, and the puck 
crawled past them both.

Just 56 seconds later, forward 

Cullen Brady lasered a wrist 
shot from the right circle past 
Lavigne. In the span of six 
minutes, the Badgers had taken 
a 3-0 lead.

Michigan went on the penalty 

kill early in the second period, 
again with disastrous results. 
Defenseman 
Wyatt 
Kalynuk 

scored on a rip from the blue 
line just five seconds after 
the initial face-off, prompting 
Pearson to insert sophomore 
Jack LaFontaine 
between 
the 

pipes in relief of 
Lavigne.

“I 
just 

wanted 
to 
get 

(LaFontaine) in 
the net,” Pearson 
said. 
“Just 
to 

get 
him 
some 

minutes and see 
how he was, and 
I thought he did 
an outstanding job. He gave us 
a chance to come back in this 
game.”

Michigan 
took 
advantage 

of that chance. Slaker found 
the net midway through the 
second with an angled shot off 
a pass by senior defenseman 

Sam Piazza. Eight minutes into 
the final stanza, Jack Becker 
lit the lamp on a power play to 
pull the Wolverines to within in 
striking distance. Meanwhile, 
LaFontaine stopped all 18 shots 
that were sent his way.

But it takes more than one 

strikeout to lose a baseball 
game, 
and 
the 
same 
logic 

applies 
to 
hockey 
as 
well. 

The three opportunities the 
Wolverines had early in the 
first period weren’t the only 
strikes they took — for them, 
missed opportunities defined 
the contest.

When Kalynuk went to the 

box early in the third period, 
the ensuing power-play proved 
to be a microcosm of all of the 
chances Michigan had to take 
control of the game. Freshman 
defenseman 
Quinn 
Hughes 

missed the net wide right. 
Calderone fanned on an open 
shot from the slot. Hayton 
extended an elastic reach to 
deny Slaker from straight on.

The misses kept coming up 

until the final horn. On a two-
on-one, Norris hit Slaker with a 
perfect pass, but his effort sailed 
high. 
After 
the 
Wolverines 

pulled 
LaFontaine 
in 

desperation 
mode in the final 
minute, 
junior 

defenseman 
Joseph Cecconi’s 
shot went wideby 
mere inches. And 
that was that.

“Frustrating,” 

Pearson 
said. 

“That’s the best 

word to describe this evening.”

Added Piazza: “I thought 

we had a really good start, we 
played well enough to win. Just 
really unfortunate we couldn’t 
put the puck in the net early, and 
they got a few crappy bounces. 
Just one of those nights.”

EVAN AARON/Daily

Mel Pearson and the Michigan hockey team split their weekend series against No. 18 Wisconsin after a 5-3 win on Friday and a 4-2 loss on Saturday.

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“It’s not really 

what (Hayton’s) 

doing, it’s what 

we’re doing.”

“...They got a few 

crappy bounces. 

Just one of those 

nights.”

No. 20 Michigan fell two spots in the PairWise Rankings after splitting its series against the 18th-ranked Badgers

No. 13 Michigan’s offense listless in loss

Where 
has 
the 
Michigan 

women’s basketball teams offense 
gone?

The 13th-ranked Wolverines’ 

scoring touch was nowhere to 
be found in their 63-56 loss to 
Rutgers (6-5 Big Ten, 18-7 overall). 
Unfortunately for Michigan, this 
has been the case since the fourth 
quarter of its loss to Purdue on 
Thursday.

Entering Sunday’s game, the 

Wolverines 
(8-4, 
19-6) 
were 

ranked fifth in the Big Ten in 
scoring, averaging 77.1 points per 
game. The 56 point total was their 
third fewest of the season.

The struggles were apparent 

from the opening tip. Michigan 
scored just seven points in the 
first quarter while Rutgers played 
solid defense on the Wolverines’ 
all-time leading scorer, senior 
Katelynn Flaherty. The guard 
wasn’t able to find her rhythm, 
shooting just twice in the opening 
period and scoring zero points.

While Flaherty and Michigan 

were able to pick up their output in 
the second, the team still amassed 
just 14 points in the third quarter. 
The Wolverines were, however, 

able 
to 
execute 
defensively, 

holding the Scarlet Knights to 13 
points. Despite the ineffective 
play, Michigan was down just 
seven at the half.

The 
Wolverines’ 
biggest 

struggle was their inability to 
take care of the ball. Michigan 
committed 26 turnovers, well 
over its season average of 16.1. 
And Rutgers capitalized on their 
mistakes, scoring 26 points off 
the Wolverines’ turnovers. The 
biggest culprit was Michigan’s 
main ball handler — Flaherty — 
who committed a staggering 10 
turnovers.

“I think we turned it over 

trying to get out in transition,” said 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. 
“Watching them play Maryland 
(on Thursday), Maryland was 
really able to get out in transition 
and score some easy buckets that 
way. And (Rutgers) is a team that 
makes you play in the half court, 
and if they make you have to grind 
it out we thought that would be 
tough.”

“You can’t win a game with that 

many turnovers.”

The 
Wolverines 
did 
show 

glimpses of solid play in the 
second half, partially returning to 
form with 35 points. But it wasn’t 

enough. Michigan shouldn’t be 
too surprised, though, as the 
Scarlet Knights have the top-
ranked defense in the conference, 
allowing just 57.1 points per game.

The 
staunch 
defense 
and 

the hostile road environment 
undoubtedly took a toll on the 
Wolverines’ bench, which scored 
just four points. The first player off 
the bench, freshman guard Deja 
Church, was the only Michigan 
non-starter to score.

A positive takeaway for the 

Wolverines was their ability to 
shut down Rutgers best player, 
Tyler Scaife. Despite averaging 
19.2 points, the senior guard was 
held to just two field goals, totaling 
seven points. However, the Scarlet 
Knights found an unlikely hero 
in sophomore Ciani Cryor. The 
guard, who averages 6.6 points, 
had a career day with 16 points 
and four assists.

“I think every team goes 

through this,” Barnes Arico said. 
“It’s like, now you have to keep 
your confidence, now we have to 
get back to work (and) we have to 
get better. Let’s not lose our mind, 
I mean we’ve lost two games. The 
world is not coming to an end. 
Let’s regroup. Let’s figure out how 
to get better.”

Special teams play significant role in 
weekend split with No. 18 Wisconsin

Earlier in the week, Mel 

Pearson said he expected the 
series against No. 18 Wisconsin 
could get a little “chippy.”

With conference points at 

stake for both the Badgers and 
the 
20th-ranked 
Michigan 

hockey team this weekend, the 
presence 
of 
physicality 
and 

emotions was almost inevitable. 
What Pearson couldn’t have 
foreseen, 
though, 
was 
that 

Friday night’s game would have 
a penalty summary lengthy 
enough to look like a team roster.

The night witnessed a grand 

total of 48 penalty minutes 
— with 17 separate players 
receiving penalties — and 24 
of them were doled out during 
the first period of the game. 
The Wolverines accounted for 
just over half of these minutes, 
putting Wisconsin on the power 
play seven times in the game.

“Discipline was not good,” 

Pearson said. “You could see 
right at the start of the second 
period after we got the lead that 
(Wisconsin) was going to come 
out and play physical and try to 
get us off our game a little bit, 
and they did a good job. And we 
fell right into it, and took some 
penalties in the second and the 
third and that gave them some 
momentum and some life. And 
that’s what they wanted to do.”

Added sophomore forward 

Jake Slaker: “We took way too 
many penalties and I think it’s 
unacceptable on our part.”

And 
though 
Michigan 

gave the Badgers many man-
advantage opportunities that 
played a part in their third 
period resurgence, when they 
rallied for two more goals, the 
Wolverines largely stood their 
ground on the penalty kill. 
Wisconsin converted on just 
one of its seven special teams 
showings.

On 
the 
other 
side 
of 

Michigan’s special teams, there 
was a stark contrast from last 
weekend’s lifeless power plays in 
Ohio State and the general trend 
of this season. The Wolverines 
lit the lamp twice, constituting 
just under half of the goals in 
Michigan’s 5-3 win.

The first time came just over 

halfway into the first period, 
when junior defenseman Joseph 
Cecconi took the puck into the 
Badgers’ zone and slapped a 
strong shot into the top-left 
shelf. Then, on another power 
play with under three minutes 
remaining in the same period, 
Slaker — set up perfectly outside 
of the crease — knocked the puck 
in. 

“The power play is just a huge 

momentum swing, and when 
we’re not scoring it’s tough,” 
Slaker said. “… You know it 
hasn’t been our strongest aspect 
of the game, but it showed up 
big for us tonight. And it shows 

we’re working hard in practice 
and sticking to details for that.”

The next night, though not 

nearly as physical as Friday and 
with less than half the penalty 
minutes, the ability to perform 
on both sides of special teams 
again proved crucial.

But 
Saturday 
night, 
the 

Wolverines’ 
penalty 
kill 
— 

which sits second to last in the 
conference with an effectiveness 
of 75.90 percent — wasn’t as 
resilient as it had been just a day 
earlier.

With 
five 
man-advantages 

during the game, Wisconsin 
found the net on two of them, all 
before Michigan put anything 
on the scoreboard to show for its 
efforts.

On 
the 
Wolverines’ 
first 

penalty of the game, the Badgers 
were able to convert and bring 
their lead to two. Then, just 
over three minutes into the 
second period, when sophomore 
forward James Sanchez was 
called 
for 
unsportsmanlike 

conduct, Wisconsin defenseman 
Wyatt Kalynuk sent the puck 
past 
sophomore 
goaltender 

Hayden Lavigne just seconds 
into the penalty. This was 
enough to bench Lavigne for the 
remainder of the game, as the 
netminder allowed four goals off 
16 shots.

The night before told a very 

different story for Lavigne. The 
goaltender largely bailed his 
team out Friday, as the Badgers 
fired double the amount of shots, 
forcing Lavigne to make 37 saves 
in the showing.

Pearson noted Lavigne has 

seen better nights, but attributed 
the Wolverines’ early deficit to 
poor timing with penalties. And 
Michigan never recovered.

“We were (more disciplined), 

but still, a couple bad penalties,” 
Pearson said. “… It happened at 
bad times too, when we were 
trying to get back in the game. 
And we would take a penalty, 
and lose all of that momentum. 
So we have to understand how to 
manage the game better in those 
situations.” 

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Michigan guard Katelynn Flaherty was held in check as the Wolverines fell, 63-56, to Rutgers on Sunday.

HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer

ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Jake Slaker believes his team took too many penalties in Friday’s game.

