The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, February 6, 2019 — 7A
After two weeks of relief, Mann staying ready for when his number called
One goaltender — the starter
— leads the team onto the ice.
The other — his backup — comes
in the middle of the pack, faces
half as many shots in warmups
and spends the whole game on
the bench.
While that’s the standard
routine for a starting netminder
and the backup, the Michigan
hockey team hasn’t been doing
things quite like that lately.
In the early part of the
season,
junior
goaltender
Hayden Lavigne and freshman
goaltender Strauss Mann split
time in net. One would start
on the first night of a series,
and the other would start the
second night.
But since the beginning of
January, Lavigne has been the
go-to man in goal, starting
all but a mid-week matchup
against Merrimack. Against the
Warriors, Mann got the start,
largely to allow Lavigne to rest
as the week was bookended by
three important Big Ten games.
However, in the Wolverines’
last two series, Lavigne hasn’t
finished the second game of
either weekend.
On Jan. 26, Lavigne played
just over 30 minutes and allowed
five goals to Penn State before
getting
pulled.
Last
Saturday,
he played barely
more
than
a
single
period
at
Minnesota,
giving up three
goals
in
an
eventual
4-3
loss,
before
Michigan coach
Mel
Pearson
elected to switch
to Mann.
“I think it’s just a gut thing,”
Pearson
said
of
making
a
goaltender change. “I talk to
the other coaches about it.
Sometimes, it’s not that the
goalie’s playing poorly. Like,
in Saturday’s case, it wasn’t
Hayden, but we needed to give
our team a little bit of a wakeup
call.”
Pearson is right. It isn’t
completely
Lavigne’s
fault
that he’s been taken out of
two straight Saturday night
games early. The Wolverines’
defenders haven’t done their
job to help Lavigne, especially
against the Nittany Lions where
they gave up four one-on-zero
breakaways.
And
when
the
defenders
aren’t doing their job, Pearson
turns to Mann to provide a
spark and wake up his team.
“It’s a little bit of a wakeup
call to the other players when
you pull the goalie out because
Hayden’s played extremely well
for our team,” Pearson said on
Monday. “They know it. Players
are smart and they understand
that,
‘Hey,
maybe
we
left
Hayden out to dry a little bit.
(Mann’s) getting in, we better
pick it up.’ Your goalie going in,
he has to be ready to provide
you that spark, too. Strauss has
done that.”
Mann
has
played
about
70 minutes across those two
games. In those 70 minutes,
he’s allowed only one goal and
has a save percentage of .966 —
well above his season average of
.896.
“He’s
come
in
in
tough
situations
but
given us chances
to come back in
games,” Pearson
said. “Especially
Minnesota,
we were down
three to nothing.
Really
nothing
on
Hayden,
nothing against
Hayden, we left him out to dry.
“But Strauss came in and
made some key saves to at least
get us back tied. He’s looked
really good. Good for him,
because it’s hard. It’s hard when
you’re not playing, but he’s
stayed in it mentally, which is
huge.”
Perhaps it’s that wakeup
call to the defense that has
allowed Mann such success in
his appearances. Perhaps it’s
Michigan recognizing that its
back is against the wall when
it gets into a situation where a
goaltender change is warranted.
In those two Saturday night
appearances, Lavigne allowed
a combined eight goals before
getting pulled — each time
leaving the game with the
Wolverines in a deep deficit.
Or
perhaps
it’s
Mann’s
dedication to staying mentally
prepared, even when his playing
time is inconsistent.
“Obviously, at any point,
whether the guy gets hurt or
pulled, you can get in, so you
always have to be ready,” Mann
said. “I think you just kinda
go through the game, keep
the bench energy up and help
your teammates, and when you
realize there’s maybe a chance
you might get in, then you start
kind of moving your legs a little
bit and start getting your mind
in the right place in case you get
in.”
Added Pearson: “Mentally,
he’s handled it really good. He’s
been ready. That’s what you
have to do as a goalie, is you
have to be ready to go in at any
time because the goalie could
get hurt or the coach could call
upon you to go in and play just
to change the momentum.”
And change the momentum
Mann has, particularly against
the
Golden
Gophers.
He
entered the game 15 seconds
into the second period with the
Wolverines trailing three goals
to none. By the time the period
ended, the game was tied at
three apiece.
But despite that comeback,
the game ended in a loss and
became
Michigan’s
fourth
straight split series.
The Wolverines know that
it’s crunch time. They are out
of the conversation for the
NCAA Tournament based on
regular season record — their
only path is to
win the Big Ten
Tournament.
There are just
seven
regular
season
games
left
before
the
Big
Ten
Tournament
starts
and
getting
home-
ice advantage for
the first round is
still in play.
But Michigan hasn’t swept
a series since late October, and
the Saturday night difficulties
certainly aren’t helping that.
In eight of the nine series the
Wolverines
have
split
this
season, they’ve won on Friday
night and dropped the Saturday
night matchup.
“I
gotta
look
at
that,”
Pearson said Saturday night in
Minneapolis. “Hayden’s played
well, but as a team, we’ve won
the first game
mostly
and
then the second
night
we
just
can’t
complete
the deal. I don’t
know what it is.”
The issue of
why
Michigan
can’t
win
on
Saturday
nights
doesn’t
completely
come down to the goaltender
situation. But given Mann’s
mental preparation and his
performance
in
relief
of
Lavigne, he may be the key
to the Wolverines sweeping a
series or two down the stretch.
Down but not out, ‘M’ retains hope
When the Michigan women’s
basketball team lost at home to
No. 23 Michigan State on Jan. 27
— and fell to 3-6 in the Big Ten —
it seemed like it was time to look
toward next season.
With a home matchup against
No. 13 Iowa — which throttled
the Wolverines, 75-61, just two
weeks earlier — looming next
on its schedule, things were not
looking good for Michigan. The
Wolverines could not afford to
concede a second straight home
loss and miss another opportunity
to beat a ranked team if they were
to maintain any sliver of hope at
making the NCAA Tournament.
Considering that Michigan was
winless on the road in the Big Ten
and was headed to Madison to take
on Wisconsin following Friday’s
game against the Hawkeyes, the
odds of winning one game, let
alone both, were slim.
But what followed was a high
scoring, hard fought 90-81 victory
over Iowa and a 76-70 win over
the Badgers in what was far more
lopsided than the final score
shows.
“I think it’s important for us
not to lose our confidence,” said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico
said following the victory against
Iowa. “We’ve been in every single
game, we’ve lost some incredibly
difficult games. For the most part,
they’ve all been on the road. So we
know we’ve had a tough start to
our Big Ten schedule. We really
believe in our team. Our losses
are to some of the top teams in
the country. We don’t really have
a bad loss on our schedule, so
it’s really important to keep our
confidence.”
And Barnes Arico is right: Six of
Michigan’s nine losses have come
against teams currently ranked
in the AP Top 25. The other three
losses? All on the road.
“I think the next step in our
growth of this team is getting
wins on the road,” said senior
guard Nicole Munger. “So that’s
what we’re focused on moving
forward.”
Currently sitting at 57 in the
latest Ratings Percentage Index,
and as just the fourth team out
in ESPN.com’s Charlie Creme’s
latest bracket projection, the
Wolverines finds themselves in a
position that just 10 days ago was
inconceivable.
Even
though
things
are
trending upwards for Michigan,
it does not mean in the slightest
that the Wolverines are a shoo-in
to make the Tournament.
With seven games remaining —
including home matchups against
Indiana and No. 20 Rutgers as
well as a road contest against the
Spartans — Michigan will face
steep competition in this final
stretch of the season.
But
with
the
challenging
matchups comes the opportunity
for the Wolverines to leave
their final mark on the selection
committee.
Luckily for Michigan, four of its
remaining games will take place
at the Crisler Center and the other
two road games are against two
of the Big Ten’s bottom feeders:
Penn State and Illinois.
“I think it’s our fans,” said
junior guard Akienreh Johnson
when asked why she thought
Michigan played better at home
than on the road. “Just knowing
that when we’re away and we
have a bad loss or a bad game and
knowing we can come home (to
them), it just makes us happy.”
For
the
Wolverines
to
feel
comfortable
with
their
tournament chances, they will
have to come out of this stretch
with, at most, one loss. If it loses
two games, Michigan will be on
the bubble sweating it out come
selection time.
Anything more than two losses
and the Wolverines’ only hope at
making the NCAA Tournament
will likely be by accomplishing the
daunting challenge of winning the
Big Ten Tournament — something
they have never done in program
history.
So while Michigan still has its
work cut out, it’s not yet time to
count the Wolverines out.
Three takeaways from fall ball
Michigan softball is back.
After a No. 19 preseason
ranking, a second straight first-
round loss to Michigan State in
the NCAA Tournament and the
graduation of key power hitter
Tera
Blanco,
the
Michigan
softball program seems to be at
a crux. But stirrings of changes
haven’t fazed the Wolverines,
who already hit the ground
running in the fall — fast.
Michigan competed in two
exhibition series this fall: the
annual Traverse City College
Tournament Sept. 29-30 and
the home-and-home fall series
in October against the Spartans.
In Traverse City, the Wolverines
played Central Michigan, Detroit
Mercy and Western Michigan
in a round-robin tournament
with
a
championship
and
consolation game. The team also
scrimmaged Detroit Mercy on
Oct. 18 in Ann Arbor.
Though the exhibitions, by
nature, didn’t yield reported
scores or statistics, fall ball
provided
key
insights
into
Michigan’s
coming
season.
These three main takeaways
from fall ball may be pivotal in
defining the team’s potential
this season.
1. The team will bring in a
third pitcher this season.
Last year, sophomore pitcher
Meghan Beaubien emerged as a
star, pitching three individual
no-hitters
and
leading
the
nation in wins.
Beaubien
shared
primary
pitching time with Blanco, a
then-senior. By the end of the
season, with only two main
pitching options, Beaubien was
gassed. She held a 3.99 ERA in
the last four games compared to
an overall season ERA of 1.16.
Michigan
coach
Carol
Hutchins’
solution?
Add
a
third primary pitcher into the
rotation.
“We need a really good,
confident
pitcher,”
Hutchins
said Tuesday at the team’s
media day. “If we don’t have to
give Meghan the ball as many
innings, and you give it to
somebody else, it forces teams to
prepare for more than one look
and it helps keep her fresher
longer.”
Adding a third viable pitching
option to supplement Beaubien
and sophomore pitcher Sara
Schaefer does just that. And
freshman
Alex
Storako,
a
two-time
Illinois
All-State
First Team player, seems to fit
the role. Storako specializes
in spin-pitching, in contrast
to
Beaubien’s
more
power-
driven pitching. Splitting time
between Beaubien and Storako,
in
addition
to
Schaefer’s
contributions, will force teams
to prepare for diverse pitching
styles.
“(Beaubien) throws it hard
and she can bend it, but she
doesn’t really spin it,” Hutchins
said. “I like the fact that they’re
so different.”
After Beaubien sat out of fall
ball with an injury, Storako got
time in the circle at the college
level and is poised to be a strong
step-up pitcher going into the
regular season.
“We have our sights set on
Alex Storako,” Hutchins said.
“We think she’s going to come
in and give us some innings —
some really good innings.”
2. A veteran infield will
set the team chemistry for
younger talent.
The
Wolverines’
pitching
situation may be in flux, but the
Michigan infield is locked in.
With junior Madison Uden at
third base, sophomore Natalia
Rodriguez at shortstop, senior
Faith Canfield at second base
and multiple strong first base
contenders, infield chemistry
shouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s really nice having Natalia
and Faith there cause, you know,
you already know how they play,
what their range is, and how
they honestly play, to the nitty-
gritty of how they throw the ball
to you,” Uden said. “It’s huge
because it’s consistent and you
know what to expect and it just
makes you that much tighter
in your defense and that much
better.”
That chemistry will set an
example for younger players as
they integrate into the program.
Additionally, players hope the
success and team chemistry
from fall ball will set a pace
for the entire team to follow
during
the
regular
season.
The games this fall solidified
the
upperclassmen,
and
subsequently, the team’s, tempo
heading into the season.
“I think you look to your
upperclassmen always to set
the tone and what kind of team
they’re going to have and what
kind of standards they’re going
to hold,” Hutchins said. “My
upperclassmen and particularly
my seniors have been really
rock solid all year, holding high
standards and showing up to
work hard every day.”
3. Rankings, former losses
and impressions won’t affect
the Wolverines’ play.
Among
pitching
changes,
established
team
chemistry
and freshman integration, the
biggest takeaway from fall ball
is that Michigan softball is
fighting. The Wolverines may
have received a No. 19 preseason
ranking. They may bat with a
traditional
consistency
style
that some teams deem dated.
They may have suffered early
tournament exits at the hands of
in-state rivals. But Michigan has
built a culture — one that has
sustained.
“We came out tough against
Michigan State even though
it’s just fall ball, and I think we
really handed it to them,” Uden
said. “The past few years, it’s
been a grind for us against them
in the postseason, but I think we
came out hot this year and that’s
how it’s going to continue to be.”
Beaubien
agrees,
saying
that
rankings
don’t
affect
the team, whose focus is on
its performance and play — a
Hutchins philosophy.
“I expect the same thing
every year,” Hutchins said. “In
every aspect of our program,
we are gearing toward a chance
to be a World Series contender.
That’s the expectation of our
program.”
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Freshman goaltender Strauss Mann has been called in to relieve Hayden Lavigne on two straight Saturday games, both of which the Michigan hockey team lost.
(Mann has)
given us
chances to
come back.
It’s a little bit of
a wakeup call ...
when you pull
the goalie.
BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico needs her team to win most of its remaining games to make the tournament.
SOFTBALL
LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer