The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, October 30, 2018 — 7

Mel Pearson adjusting to new NCAA rule allowing an extra skater

After 36 years of coaching 
college 
hockey, 
Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson is learning 
something new.
For the 2018-19 season, the 
NCAA increased the number of 
skaters each team is allowed to 
have dressed for a game from 
18 to 19. So, for the first time, 
Pearson has to balance an extra 
level of decision-making when 
he’s setting his lineup.
“I’ve gone 36 years in college 
hockey with a certain way, and 
now all of a sudden you have 
an extra body,” Pearson said. “I 
think it’s taken me and will take 
me a little time to learn how to 
really maximize that position 
and get the most out of them.”
Five games into the season, 
the No. 12 Michigan hockey 
team (3-2) has had different 
lineups almost every night. 
Other than keeping the same 
skaters for two games against 
Western Michigan, Pearson has 
made a different decision about 
his 19th skater for the other 
three games.
In the first game against 
Vermont, freshman forward Jack 
Randl saw his first collegiate 
action as the 13th forward. 
Against the Broncos, freshman 
defenseman Nick Blankenburg 
earned his first two starts. And 
in last weekend’s series against 
St. 
Lawrence, 
two 
different 
forwards — freshman Jimmy 
Lambert 
and 
junior 
Adam 
Winborg — saw time as the extra 
man on the line chart.
Lambert was listed as the 
19th man on Friday night, after 
playing on the second and third 
lines in the previous four games. 
Saturday, he was back in his spot 
as the right winger on a line with 
senior forward Brendan Warren 
and redshirt sophomore forward 
Luke Morgan and Winborg made 
his season debut.
The frequent changes are all 

part of Pearson’s plan to figure 
out the best way to use the extra 
skater and create competition 
amongst his players.
“We just want to give everyone 
an opportunity to see what we 
have,” Pearson said. “We just 
want to create some competition 
and some players have played 
well, so we give them the 
opportunity to get in the lineup.”
In Saturday’s game, Pearson 
scratched 
freshman 
forward 
Nolan 
Moyle, 
sophomore 
forward 
Dakota 
Raabe 
and 
junior defenseman Griffin Luce. 

And while Pearson wanted to 
reward players who deserve an 
opportunity, he has a hard time 
taking players out of the lineup.
“You have to reward guys who 
have played well in practice,” 
Pearson said. “It’s always hard 
taking somebody out. It’s easy 
to throw somebody in, but it’s 
always hard to take somebody 
out.
“The guys we took out didn’t 
necessarily have a bad game, 
like I thought (Moyle) had 
maybe his best game for us. We 
just want to continue to create 

some competition and get them 
to push each other and one of 
the best ways to do that is by 
changing the lineup.”
The addition of a 19th skater 
complicates the already-difficult 
process of setting a lineup. It 
gives an extra chance to play 
someone who has worked hard 
and is ready for an opportunity, 
but 
it 
also 
creates 
more 
ambiguity. Adding a forward 
without a line or a defenseman 
without a partner adds a layer 
of complexity to the decision of 
who to play at what times.

That difficulty showed itself 
Saturday night, as Winborg — 
dressed for the first time all 
season — was listed as the 13th 
forward. Pearson planned to play 
him on the penalty kill, but the 
Wolverines were penalized only 
one time in the game.
“We thought he was more of a 
specialty player that’s gonna kill 
penalties for us,” Pearson said. 
“Then we had one penalty again, 
and I didn’t get (Winborg) in the 
game, which I felt bad about.
“He’s earned a chance to play. 
He played last year for us in the 

Frozen Four, so he’s not a bad 
hockey player, we just gotta find 
a way to get him in and get him 
involved. That’s on me.”
The addition of the 19th 
skater 
offers 
Pearson 
more 
opportunities to get players 
like Winborg involved. It gives 
space on the bench for a penalty 
kill or power play specialist but 
figuring out who those players 
are takes time.
And after 36 years as a coach, 
Pearson is taking his time to 
figure out the best way to use his 
extra man.

EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson has had to adjust, in his 36th season, to the new NCAA rule for the 2018-19 season which allows teams to employ a 19th skater on the ice for each game.

Michigan has used four different players in its first five games as the 19th skater allowed on the ice

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines finish fall 
season on strong note

Puddled 
greens 
coupled 
with flashes of thunder and 
lightning plagued the course 
for the Michigan women’s golf 
team. Over the weekend, the 
Wolverines finished their fall 
season at what was supposed 
to be a three-day tournament 
at the Landfall Tradition in 
Wilmington, North Carolina. 
They got called off the course 
on Friday due to weather, 
and 
the 
tournament 
was 
suspended 
until 
Saturday 
morning. 
Though 
these 
poor 
weather 
conditions 
might 
have 
actually 
been 
an 
advantage for 
Michigan. The 
Wolverines 
are 
used 
to 
getting 
their 
paws 
wet 
and 
playing 
through rough conditions.
“Being from Michigan, we 
get the chance to practice in 
these rough conditions,” said 
Michigan coach Jan Dowling. 
“We really just stayed tough, 
limited our mistakes, and 
handled it well.” 
It 
almost 
seemed 
like 
Michigan 
embodied 
the 
bishop from Caddyshack in 
that one rainy scene on the 
green (before he got struck by 
lightning). 
After 
the 
thunderstorms 
and 
rain, 
the 
Wolverines 
faced a challenging lineup 
that boasted several top-25 
teams and played up to the 
competition. 
This tournament concluded 
the fall season, so Michigan 
will be not be competing 
again until February. The 
confidence and enthusiasm 
derived from this strong finish 
could certainly bleed into the 

team’s postseason work ethic. 
“We will continue to get 
better through daily effort 
and on a consistent basis,” 
Dowling said. 
On Saturday, using team 
totals of 306 and 293, the 
Wolverines had a 46-hole total 
of 599, which tied them with 
Maryland for fifth-place. 
Freshmen 
Ashley 
Lau 
and 
Sophia 
Trombetta 
led Michigan through the 
Saturday tournament; the two 
tied for ninth with a 147 two-
round total. Lau shot a 71-76, 
and Trombetta shot a 77-70. 
Lau opened her event tying 
her 
career-
low, 
carding 
a 
one-under 
71 in the first 
round, 
while 
Trombetta, 
carding a two-
under 70 in the 
second 
round, 
also 
tied 
her 
career-best 
as well as the 
Wolverines’ 
season-low. 
“Ashely and Sophia had 
awesome rounds,” Dowling 
said. “Having freshmen on the 
leaderboard really shows the 
depth of our team. It also gives 
the team a lot of confidence 
that any of them can be up 
there.”
This type of performance 
continued 
into 
Sunday. 
Michigan, with a final-round 
tally of 297 and season-low 
896 
54-hole 
total, 
closed 
its fall season with a fifth-
place finish. This can be 
credited to Trombetta and 
Lau’s consistent playing. Lau 
led the Wolverines with her 
career-low 221 54-hole total. 
Additionally, she got a career-
best tie for 11th place overall.
“In 
other 
tournaments 
we were not playing up to 
our 
capabilities, 
but 
here 
we competed well in tough 
conditions,” 
Dowling 
said. 
“We showed up and played.”

WOMEN’S GOLF

EMILY CHAPELLE
For the Daily

“We will 
continue to get 
better through 
daily effort.”

Freshman Paige Jones emerging as a leader

When 
No. 
3 
Minnesota 
rolled into Crisler Center on 
Saturday night, everyone in 
the arena knew it would be an 
uphill battle. Without starting 
setter Mackenzi Welsh, outside 
hitter 
Sydney 
Wetterstrom, 
middle back Cori Crocker and 
an entirely new formation? An 
even steeper hill to climb.
What the audience might not 
have seen coming, however, 
was freshman Paige Jones’ 
18-kill performance at a .349 
clip 
while 
almost 
single-
handedly winning the first 
set for the No. 12 Michigan 
volleyball team.
With junior outside hitter 
Carly Skjodt playing through 
a sprained ankle after posting 
a 27-kill double-double the 
night before, Jones knew she 
had to step up at the other 
outside hitter position if the 
Wolverines (18-5 overall, 7-5 
Big Ten) were going to have any 

chance at knocking off the Big 
Ten-leading Golden Gophers 
(18-2, 12-0).
“I was ready to embrace (the 
bigger role),” Jones said. “I 
know my teammates trust me, 
and I trust them. So I just go 
(into) every game hoping I can 
do what they need me to do.
“We knew we had to bounce 
back pretty quick 
and prepare for 
this match, and 
before the game, 
(Michigan coach 
Mark Rosen) just 
told us to come 
out and swing at 
the ball. Go for 
every ball. Don’t 
hold 
back 
and 
good things will 
happen.”
With an ailing roster, Rosen 
was impressed with how the 
freshman showed up under the 
lights in front of a large Crisler 
crowd.
 “(Jones) has been working 
really hard to raise her level 

and raise her game,” Rosen 
said. “It’s been tough in this 
conference to play back-to-
back nights and have good 
nights. I thought, you know, 
last night she played great, 
and she came out tonight and 
played great offensively as well 
so that was a big step for her as 
an individual.
“When 
you 
have a change 
or 
somebody 
goes 
down, 
you 
want 
somebody else 
to step up, and 
I thought she 
really stepped 
up tonight and 
did a great job. 
I think it’s a 
good step in 
her 
progression 
and 
that’s 
what we’re looking for, to keep 
getting better every day. And 
I thought (Jones) got better 
today.”
Though the freshman played 
a near-flawless set, one of 

her few mistakes catalyzed a 
Minnesota run that carried 
throughout the rest of the set. 
After dropping two set points, 
the Wolverines were tied at 
25-25 when Jones failed to 
return 
a 
relatively 
routine 
serve, giving Minnesota the 
point it needed to steal the set.
“Personally, 
my 
passing 
wasn’t as good at the end of 
that set,” Jones said. “I could 
have let that ball go out of 
bounds. I could not get aced. 
I mean, there’s just something 
I 
personally 
could 
have 
controlled and that my team 
knows that I can do and I just 
didn’t do it.
“Minnesota’s a good team 
so they’re going to emphasize 
when somebody does that.”
After another stellar outing 
in an otherwise disappointing 
result, Jones hopes to continue 
her 
successful 
freshman 
campaign as Michigan figures 
out a way to get over the hump 
of 
beating 
higher-ranked 
teams.

AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman outside hitter Paige Jones tallied 18 kills and a .349 attack percentage and almost single-handedly won the first set for Michigan against Minnesota.

“I know my 
teammates 
trust me, and I 
trust them.”

