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.”