2B — January 22, 2019
SportsTuesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

As 
Mel 
Pearson 
sat 
down in the 
offices at Yost 
Ice 
Arena 
on 
Monday, 
he 
admitted 
he 
was 
disappointed 
with 
his 
Michigan 
hockey team.
Pearson 
had just walked in from the 
Wolverines’ practice, and coming 
off a bye week, Pearson’s team 
didn’t have a great Monday 
practice.
It was clearly weighing on 
Pearson’s mind. At one point, 
he went off on a bit of a tangent, 
seeming to speculate about why 
his players were a bit lackluster.
“I’ll be fine when I leave here. 
I’m fine. I’m not gonna let them 
ruin my day,” Pearson finished, 
perhaps 
trying 
to 
convince 
himself as much as anyone else.
Any of Pearson’s frustrations 
make sense in the midst of this 
season, though. The Wolverines 
began the year ranked fourth 
in the nation. But they haven’t 
strung together wins like many 
expected them to — currently 
sitting at 8-9-6 — and time is 
running out for Michigan to 
climb the rankings and keep 
postseason hopes alive.
“We talked, and we’re in 
playoff mode,” Pearson said. “Just 
like, you know, this is playoff 
hockey. You’ve got to play every 
game like it’s your last game. And 
I know it’s a cliché, but you really 
have to. I mean, you really have to 
show up and play hard.”
Luckily for the Wolverines, 
they were in nearly an identical 
position last season.
Last 
January, 
Michigan 
needed to pile up some signature 
wins. It responded with a sweep 
of Minnesota which catapulted 
the Wolverines to wins in 11 of 
their last 14 games, allowing for 
a postseason run to the Frozen 
Four.
The 
similarities 
are 
even 

deeper than that.
Last season, Michigan lost a 
top producer when forward Will 
Lockwood suffered a season-
ending shoulder injury at the 
World Junior Championships. 
This year, sophomore forward 
Josh Norris went down at the 
same 
tournament, 
leaving 
the 
Wolverines 
comparably 
hamstrung.
Lockwood says he has given 
Norris some advice here and 
there and will continue to do so 
as Norris needs it.
The bigger point, though, is 
that Lockwood’s injury seemed 
to be a bit of a rallying point for 
Michigan last season. If that’s 
the case, he can help advance the 
hunger to mimic the results of 
yesteryear.
After all, Lockwood, one of 

the few players on the roster 
who didn’t get to experience 
last season’s magic, will be 
looked upon to help orchestrate 
another run. And perhaps he 
is already trying to help with 
that, as Pearson complimented 
Lockwood’s 
practice 
Monday 
despite his overall feeling about 
the team’s day.
“(Lockwood) comments about 
that,” Pearson said. “He enjoyed 
it, but he felt like he wasn’t a part 
of it almost. So no question about 
it, yeah. And he’s been good. He’s 
been really good. And he worked 
hard today.
“... And he wants a little taste 
of that, which is good, because 
he didn’t get it his first year. You 
know, we weren’t very good that 
year. We went 13-19. Last year we 
took a step, but he doesn’t get to 

participate, so you want that.”
Added Lockwood: “It’s weird. 
You get it taken away from you, 
and you don’t really know what 
you have until you’ve lost it.”
Lockwood was 
talking 
about 
his 
injury, 
but 
the same can be 
said for a season. 
At 
some 
point, 
obviously, 
it 
will end. There 
will 
only 
be 
one 
national 
champion, 
and 
the rest of the 
teams will be left 
wondering what more they could 
have done to reach the top.
Now is a point that the 
Wolverines may look back to in a 
few months, for better or worse.

No. 15 Penn State comes to 
Ann Arbor on Thursday before 
the Wolverines go to New York 
City to face the Nittany Lions on 
Saturday. It’s a prime opportunity 
to start climbing 
the 
Pairwise 
rankings.
If last season 
taught 
us 
anything 
about 
the Wolverines, 
it is that they 
have a penchant 
for playing well 
with their backs 
against the wall. 
When they had 
no option other than to win, they 
did just that, over and over again. 
It isn’t a healthy way to live in 
college hockey, a sport in which 
upsets are common a night-to-

night basis, but it worked once.
And it is the reality Michigan 
faces now.
 “You know, I think we need to 
have that spark,” Lockwood said. 
“And we know it’s not just gonna 
happen. And we can’t say, you 
know, ‘We did it last year. It’s just 
automatically gonna happen.’ It 
starts from hard work and hard 
work in practice. And, you know, 
I think once we get a bit of a spark 
like that and win a couple games 
in a row, I think we have a chance 
to make a run, and I look forward 
to it.”
Pearson shares that sense of 
urgency.
When asked when Michigan 
must get going before it’s too late, 
Pearson made sure to leave no 
room for interpretation.
“Now.”

SportsTuesday Column: A familiar inflection point

MIKE 
PERSAK

After up-and-down freshman year, 
Dakota Raabe maturing off the ice

Dakota Raabe walked into the 
Michigan hockey locker room last 
January to find his locker empty.
Then a freshman, Raabe had 
been dealing with some academic 
issues and the Wolverines decided 
to send a message to him.
“You have a responsibility 
here as a student-athlete,” said 
Michigan coach Mel Pearson on 
Monday. “Our program, I can 
only speak for our program, but 
you go to class, you’re on time. 
You represent your family, your 
teammates, the program, the 
athletic department. There’s a 
responsibility there, and if you’re 
not doing it, you’re not entitled to 
play hockey. It’s a benefit.”
A year later, Raabe is one of the 
players Pearson frequently calls 
out — praising his growth and 
increased maturity over his time 
so far at Michigan. The sophomore 
now plays on a line that Pearson 
says he’d match up against any 
team’s top line.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Last season, while trying to 
find his way as a freshman, Raabe 
struggled to understand his role 
and do the little things he needed 
to do to be successful. 
“With him, it’s just, I think 
(telling 
him) 
that 
you 
are 
important to the team,” Pearson 
said. “Regardless of your role, how 
minimal or whatever it is might 
seem. Maybe that was part of him, 
doesn’t think he’s that important, 
‘Because I’m not Josh Norris, I’m 

not Quinn Hughes, I’m not Cooper 
Marody.’
“You can get a tendency to 
think, ‘Well, they’re going to do it. 
I just have to show up and I’ll be 
fine.’ But that’s not the case.”
This year, Raabe has been a 
nearly constant presence in the 
lineup — he’s missed only one 
game all season. Along with 
that 
consistent 
playing 
time 
comes a deeper 
understanding of 
his role and the 
importance of his 
contributions 
to 
the team.
“He’s 
worked 
a lot harder, but 
that’s 
part 
of 
understanding 
how you have to do 
it each and every 
day,” 
Pearson 
said. “You just can’t do it once in 
a while, you just can’t be satisfied 
with being in the lineup. You have 
to do what you’re good at and try 
and bring it every day.”
As Raabe has grown on the ice, 
his role as a leader has developed 
off it. On a team with 10 freshmen, 
any player that wants to add 
leadership is welcomed.
And Raabe is largely trying to 
show the freshmen exactly what 
Pearson wanted him to learn last 
year.
“I’m just trying to show that 
each day, you have to bring 
it,” Raabe said. “Just from the 
situation I was in, it doesn’t matter 
what your role is or whatever as 
long as you just accept it, work 

hard at it, and then, when you’re 
given an opportunity, you take the 
chance.”
Raabe 
and 
his 
linemates, 
freshmen forwards Garrett Van 
Wyhe and Nolan Moyle, have 
played together in almost every 
game this year. As a sophomore 
playing 
with 
two 
freshmen, 
Raabe’s leadership is even more 
important with his linemates.
But it seems he is not the only 
leader on that line. 
“He’s playing with a guy like 
(Van Wyhe) that’s really helping 
him,” Pearson said. “Garrett’s 
a pretty mature kid for being a 
freshman. … They complement 
each other well, how they play. 
And Garrett’s a hard worker. 
That’s his M.O., work hard, so I 
think sometimes that rubs off or 
should rub off on your linemates 
and your teammates. I think it 
has.”
The hard work and commitment 
that Van Wyhe has helped instill 
in Raabe shows itself when 
the 
two 
play 
together on the 
penalty kill for 
the Wolverines.
Perhaps 
no 
example of this 
is more striking 
than 
when 
Raabe and Van 
Wyhe — along 
with 
junior 
defenseman 
Luke Martin — 
killed off two minutes of a five-
on-three advantage for Ohio State 
two weekends ago.
Those two minutes showed 
Raabe’s ability and willingness 
to sacrifice his body to block a 
shot and make a play. And that 
willingness, especially in contrast 
to his freshman season, is exactly 
what Pearson wants to see from 
him.
“That 
second 
year, 
you’ve 
matured, you understand what it 
takes,” Pearson said. “And you’re 
just willing to do it. I think that’s it.
“He can skate, he can score, so 
he’s just got to believe in himself. 
But he’s been much better. We 
need him to be good going down 
the stretch. He’s taken big steps.”

Michigan suffers loss in exhibition

Kate Fahey slammed her 
racquet against the court in 
frustration after watching yet 
another forehand sail long.
It was that kind of a start for 
the No. 10 Michigan women’s 
tennis team, which saw its Big 
Ten Tournament title defense 
begin on the wrong side of a 
lopsided upset. Ohio State took 
the Michigan Invitational by 
storm on Saturday, sweeping 
the hosts in an exhibition four-
match doubles series.
When the dust settled, the 
Wolverines dodged a bullet. 
Because of the event’s exhibition 
status, results don’t factor into 
team and individual records — 
thus saving No. 10 Michigan 
from the stain of a 4-0 doubles 
loss 
against 
an 
unranked 
opponent.
The Buckeyes underscored 
their 
dominant 
performance 
by toppling the Wolverines’ 
15th-ranked tandem of Fahey 
and fellow senior Brienne Minor, 
the NCAA’s 2017 singles national 
championship, in the top doubles 
match. 
As 
unforced 
errors 
mounted, the duo lacked energy 
in a 6-1 loss against Ohio State’s 
47th-ranked pairing of Shiori 
Fukuda and Isabelle Boulais.
But if there’s anyone who 
can diagnose and cure the 
problem before its destructive 
onset, 
it’s 
Michigan 
coach 
Ronni Bernstein. Now in her 
12th season at the helm of the 
program, the five-time Big Ten 
Coach of the Year has guided 
the Wolverines to seven Big Ten 
championships since 2010.
“(Doubles play) is something 
we’re working on,” Bernstein 
said. “It’s not just the result — 
it’s that our energy wasn’t there. 
They need to feel us, and I didn’t 
feel us in the building today.”
With the sour taste of the 
doubles sweep still lingering, 
Michigan took the court again 
— this time for an eight-match 
singles series against Tennessee. 
Highlighted 
by 
a 
Fahey 
comeback win, the Wolverines 
earned four victories against 
the Volunteers to cap off the 

afternoon. Fahey — a three-
time All-Big Ten selection who 
entered the season tabbed as 
the nation’s No. 3 singles player 
— found herself in a quick 3-0 
hole against Tennessee’s Sadie 
Hammond. With the set on the 
brink of slipping away, more 
glimmers of frustration began to 
shine through.
“My energy was a little 
negative,” Fahey said. “I was 
trying to yell and be expressive 
but it wasn’t in a positive way. 
I’m a super competitive person 
— I express my emotions a lot, 
and everyone knows that. I shut 
down when I stay within myself, 
so I like to yell.”
Following the rocky start, 
Fahey found her footing during 
the match’s second changeover. 
She rallied to force a tiebreaker, 
but Hammond answered with 
a decisive 7-3 win to take the 
opening frame.
Instead of unraveling after 
seeing her comeback bid fall 
short, Fahey hit the reset button. 
The New Jersey native’s ability 
to manage her fierce competitive 
drive has earmarked her storied 
career, and she comfortably 
captured 6-1 victories in the 
ensuing two sets to win the 
match.
Fahey 
wasn’t 
the 
only 
Wolverine who put on a strong 
singles showing — Minor, junior 
Chiara 
Lommer 
and 
junior 
Giulia Pairone also secured 
victories against the Volunteers.
Lommer and Minor both won 
in straight sets — 6-1, 6-1 and 
6-3, 7-5, respectively — while 
Pairone was put to the test in 

her Michigan debut. The junior 
transfer from Arkansas won the 
opening set, 6-4, before losing a 
tight tiebreaker in the following 
frame. Going into the third set of 
her singles match after already 
playing doubles, Pairone knew 
she was in a battle against both 
fatigue and Tennessee’s Gabby 
Schuck.
That didn’t stop Pairone — she 
came out firing on all cylinders, 
igniting an emotional spark that 
propelled her to a 6-1 win.
“(Pairone) was on a high 
level,” Bernstein said. “When 
you watch her, the biggest thing 
is that her energy is great. We’re 
really happy to have her.”
Though 
Saturday’s 
results 
weren’t 
encouraging, 
the 
Wolverines’ confidence didn’t 
waver 
in 
the 
slightest. 
If 
anything, the positive takeaways 
outweighed the shortcomings by 
showing a glimpse of this unit’s 
potential.
“We almost got to the Final 
Four my freshman year, and 
I really think we can do even 
better (this year),” Fahey said. 
“On a national level, we can 
do really big things with this 
group.”
When 
Fahey 
slammed 
her racquet on the court in 
frustration, 
it 
came 
away 
unscathed. Not even a scuff. 
Rather 
than 
breaking, 
the 
racquet lifted her to a roaring 
comeback over Hammond just 
moments later.
After a lackluster first day, 
Bernstein can only hope her 
team has the resilience of her 
star senior’s racquet.

MAX KUANG/Daily
Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said her team’s energy wasn’t there on Sunday.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore forward Dakota Raabe is maturing in his second year at Michigan.

“I’m trying to 
just show that 
each day, you 
have to bring it.”

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior forward Will Lockwood said that the 8-9-6 Michigan hockey team needs a spark ahead of its pivotal series with Penn State in order to make a return to the NCAA Tournament this season.

“We have a 
chance to make 
a run. ... I look 
forward to it.”

