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October 22, 2018 - Image 10

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The Michigan Daily

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4B — Monday, October 22, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Michigan Daily Top 10 Poll

Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out bal-
lots, with first-place votes receiving 10 points,
second-place votes receiving nine and so on.

1. Alabama: It’s hard to get Tua creative
with this one.

2. Clemson: Are we really going to allow
a team whose best win is at home against
NC State to make the playoffs?

3. Notre Dame: The Irish are back.

4. LSU: More like WSU! These guys keep
winning!

5. Michigan: Michigan is less back than
Notre Dame.

6. Georgia: Athens, GA has the most bars
per square foot in the country. In related
news, yes that is vomit on your shoe.

7. Texas: Texas is less back than Michigan,
which is less back than Notre Dame *gal-
axy brain*

8. Oklahoma: Their best player prefers
baseball. Baseball.

9. Florida: Florida is less back than Texas,
which is less back than Michigan, which
is less back than Notre Dame *exploding
galaxy brain*

10. Ohio State: Urban Meyer earned his
sad slice of Papa John’s this week.

Special teams tell the story in series split

Griffin Luce doesn’t score
many goals.
The No. 11 Michigan hockey
team’s junior defenseman had
just two goals in 62 games
played entering Friday night’s
matchup against No. 19 Western
Michigan (3-2).
But on the power play in the
third period, Luce received the
puck from redshirt sophomore
forward Luke Morgan in the
right circle and fired a shot that
found twine. Goaltender Trevor
Gorsuch never saw the puck —
not until it was going over his
right shoulder into the net.
“(I) liked our power play,”
said
Michigan
coach
Mel
Pearson
after
Friday’s
6-5
victory. “(I) thought our power
play obviously got us back in the
game in the second period, got
us the lead.”
The Broncos played a physical
game, providing the Wolverines
(1-2) with multiple power play
opportunities.
They
were
penalized eight times, including
three times in the second
period. Michigan converted on
two of those chances, allowing
the Wolverines to come back
from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game.
In total, Michigan scored on
three of its seven power plays
— a conversion
percentage
of
42.8
percent,
which
would
rank first in the
nation
if
the
Wolverines’ pace
continued for the
full season.
But
Saturday
night, Michigan’s
power
play
struggled to find
that same success as it fell, 5-4,
to Western Michigan.
The Wolverines lit the lamp on
only one of their eleven chances,
and that one goal came from
a rarely-utilized power play
unit of senior forward Brendan
Warren, junior forward Jake
Slaker, junior defenseman Luke
Martin, freshman defenseman
Jack Summers and Morgan.
Morgan’s shot was blocked by

goaltender Austin Cain and
Warren was able to tip in the
rebound for his first goal of the
season.
“I think we almost had too
many power plays tonight,”
Pearson said. “You get out of
sorts and you’re continuing to
play your top guys. Our only
power play goal came from a
group that we really haven’t
worked
with,
and they go out
there and just
keep it simple
and
they
get
one.”
Just like the
power
play,
Michigan’s
penalty
kill
had an up-and-
down weekend.
It was nearly
perfect Friday, allowing just
one goal on six chances for the
Broncos.
On that one goal, Slaker and
Martin let forward Ethen Frank
slip behind them to stand just
outside the right circle in the
perfect spot to receive a pass
across the ice from defenseman
Corey Schueneman. Frank fired
a wrist-shot that beat junior
goaltender Hayden Lavigne and

allowed Western Michigan to
take the lead.
But the Wolverines’ penalty
kill settled in after that, and the
Broncos managed three shots
on each of their three following
power plays. Michigan’s penalty
killers had five shorthanded
shots on the night — the same
number of power play shots they
allowed Western Michigan.
In
contrast,
on
Saturday,
the Wolverines
allowed
the
Broncos
two
goals
on
five
opportunities,
shooting
themselves
in
the foot. Twice,
a
Michigan
player
was
penalized while
the Wolverines were already
on the penalty kill, creating
five-on-three
chances
for
Western
Michigan
that
it
capitalized on.
“We can’t put ourselves five-
on-three,” Pearson said. “Like I
told the team, both penalties we
took to put us on five-on-three
were slashing. And it’s not like
we were preventing a goal, it
was just a lazy penalty.

“Unfortunately, to start the
third period, we had some
momentum
going
into
the
period. We gave up that five-
on-three within two minutes
of the third period. We just did
not have a good start, we shot
ourselves in the foot.”
With the pace and physicality
of
college
hockey,
special
teams cannot be overlooked.
An
extra-man
advantage
opens up scoring
opportunities
that can make
the
difference
between
winning
and
losing.
When
both the power
play and penalty
kill succeed, a
team has extra
chances to recover from a
deficit and pull itself back into
contention.
But when special teams units
struggle — like on Saturday,
when
Michigan
scored
on
just one of eleven power play
opportunities and allowed two
goals while on the penalty kill —
a win can become out of reach.
The Wolverines learned that
the hard way this weekend.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Junior defenseman Griffin Luce scored his third career goal on Friday night in Michigan’s win over Western Michigan.

“I think we
almost had too
many power
plays tonight.”

“We gave up
that five-on-
three within
two minutes...”

Wolverines fall to Western Michigan despite opportunities

Shooting yourself in the foot is
putting it lightly.
It’s easier to say after No. 11
Michigan dropped its matchup
against No. 19 Western Michigan,
5-4, that it had shot itself in both.
On Saturday, the Wolverines
simply weren’t careful enough.
They let the Broncos strike early,
and they let them strike hard,
which put a lot of pressure on
Michigan to respond. And while
it did to an extent, the response
just wasn’t enough to compensate
for the sloppy performances
given by the team.
“No question. We were loose
with the puck,” said Michigan
coach Mel Pearson. “Our puck
management in the danger zone
in our end was not good, it led
directly to three of their goals
tonight.”
Less than two minutes into
the game, Western Michigan
saw its first chance. Freshman
goaltender
Strauss
Mann

while
talented

was
still
inexperienced,
having
just
started his first regulation game.
After forcing a turnover in the
Wolverines’ defensive zone, the
Broncos had an odd-man attack
in play, which they executed to
perfection.
It was a textbook performance.
Two players on both sides of the
goaltender to divide his attention.
Passes between the two to
further the confusion. Though
a Michigan player dropped back
in time to contest one of the
Western Michigan players, it
wasn’t enough to allow Mann to
commit himself to the other. A
quick strike ensued and an early
deficit followed.
But Michigan didn’t relent.
The aggressive style of play of
the Wolverines, often countering
a Broncos’ push with one of
their own, forced opportunities.
Michigan just couldn’t capitalize.
In the first period, Michigan
had
six
power
plays.
They
converted zero of them. Western

Michigan simply saw through
the schemes, intercepting the
passes or blocking the shot before
it could even reach Broncos
goaltender Austin Cain.
“They blocked a lot of shots
tonight,” Pearson
said.
“They
played with some
urgency
and
some desperation
and that threw
us off a little bit.
And that’s how it
goes.”
It
was
only
through a four-
on-four
did
Michigan
find
the answer to the early goal.
Sophomore defenseman Quinn
Hughes scored after a scramble
in traffic behind the net pushed
the puck towards him, near the
blue line. With plenty of room to
skate, he pushed forward and hit

a straight-away shot in center-ice
to tie the game, 1-1.
Discipline looked to be the
deciding factor to controlling the
first period. While the Wolverines
received six penalties, they only
committed three.
It just happens
that
Western
Michigan
converted the one
it needed. Bronco
Hugh
McGing
had a clean shot
from the center
and
took
the
opportunity
given
from
a
five-on-three
situation to end the first period
on a high note.
“We can’t put ourselves five-
on-three,” Pearson said. “Like I
told the team, both penalties we
took to put us on five-on-three
were slashing. And it’s not like we

were preventing a goal, it was just
a lazy penalty. I call those lazy
penalties, we have to get those
out of our game.”
And the Broncos carried that
momentum
into
the
second
period.
Coming
out fast, Western
Michigan
kept
the
offensive
pressure on. With
another turnover
in the defensive
zone,
Michigan
just
couldn’t
recover in time.
The two-on-one
situation,
not
unlike the first-
period turnover, ended in the
same result — bringing the score
further in favor of the Broncos,
3-1.
As the period wound down,
however, the Wolverines found
the success they needed from

the facets of the game they had
struggled with prior in the match.
Senior forward Brandon Warren
converted the first power play
goal for Michigan and soon after,
with blazing speed, sophomore
Josh Norris broke
down ice and got
the lead against
two defenders.
With a flick
into the five-hole,
Norris tied the
game
at
three
apiece.
It
was
the hustle and
pace control the
Wolverines
had
lacked all game
that helped turn the tides in their
favor.
And riding the momentum
shift was junior center Nick
Pastujov, who quickly followed
suit scoring, this time off a
rebound for Michigan’s first lead.

Scoring three straight, two
in quick succession, can allow
a team to dictate control of the
game. Committing a penalty right
before the period ends doesn’t.
The Wolverines wanted to
capitalize on the scoring streak
late in the second period. But it
wasn’t possible with a five-on-
three disadvantage to start the
third period.
“Unfortunately, to start the
third period, we had some
momentum,
going
into
the
period,” Pearson said. “We gave
up that five-on-three within two
minutes of the third period. We
just did not have a good start. We
shot ourselves in the foot.”
If there was any more proof, it
came five minutes after Western
Michigan scored the equalizer
from the five-on-three at the
start of the period. In a fast-
paced sequence where multiple
shots were traded from both
sides, Michigan attempted to
clear the puck in its defensive
zone. Lockwood got the puck and
attempted to leave the zone, but
lost control just as Bronco Josh
Passolt cut from the blue line to
the goal.
Watching the puck sail to the
top right corner of the goal post,
all Mann could do is shake his
head defeatedly and slam his
stick against the crossbar of the
goal.
“Strauss did a good job,”
Pearson said. “I thought he kept
us in the game at times, I’m sure
he’d like that fifth one back a little
bit. He made some big saves, made
them look easy, and obviously the
five-on-threes were tough, he
didn’t have a chance at those.”
It wasn’t Mann’s play that
determined
the
game
for
Michigan. The Wolverines went
one for 11 on the power play,
notched three turnovers in the
defensive zone that resulted
in goals and had two five-on-
three situations, both in crucial
moments. It couldn’t be more
clear that while they lost to
Western Michigan, they also lost
to themselves.

EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Freshman goaltender Strauss Mann notched 19 saves out of 24 shots in Michigan’s 5-4 loss to Western Michigan on Saturday night in Kalamazoo.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

“No question.
We were
loose with the
puck.”

“I call those
lazy penalties,
we have to get
those out...”

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