The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 — 7

‘M’ tops Dartmouth, 11-10, in 3OT

As time ran down in the first 
overtime period, Molly Garrett 
took an open shot in front and 
missed wide. She immediately 
went down with an injury.
Less than 5 minutes later, the 
junior midfielder was back on 
the field. Forty-eight seconds 
into the second overtime period, 
she had the same opportunity, 
but this time she converted for 
her fourth goal of the season, 
breaking the tie and giving the 
Michigan 
women’s 
lacrosse 
team (4-0) an 11-10 win over 
Dartmouth (0-2).
“I was kind of just putting my 
head down saying ‘This one’s 
mine, this one’s for the team,’ ” 
Garrett said.
While 
Garrett’s 
heroics 
decided 
the 
game, 
the 
Wolverines 
seemed 
to 
pull 
away with 15 minutes left in 
the second half. They came out 
of halftime strong, scoring five 
goals in the first 15 minutes of 
the second half to take a 10-7 
lead. Sophomore attacker Caitlin 
Muir was a big reason for this, 
scoring one goal and assisting 
on two early in the half thanks 
to her stellar play behind the 
Dartmouth goal.
Additionally, 
Michigan’s 

play in the draw circle greatly 
improved in the second half. 
After controlling just four of 
11 draws in the first half, the 
Wolverines controlled the first 
five of the second half, and only 
lost one in the first 15 minutes. 
When they were winning draws, 
they were at their best.
“Draw controls were huge,” 
said Michigan coach Hannah 
Nielsen. “The Dartmouth draw 
girl is extremely talented and we 
won the battle 15-10 there.”
After a strong start to the 
half, Michigan let Dartmouth 
back into the game but could 
have put them away with better 
offensive play down the stretch. 
The Wolverines led by three 
with less than nine minutes 
to play in regulation when a 
turnover by senior defenseman 
Gabby Burns and a foul by junior 
defenseman 
Quinn 
Melidona 
led to a Dartmouth goal on the 
advantage, cutting the lead to 
10-8.
Michigan’s defense recovered 
after the goal, but its offense 
never did. In the final eight 
minutes 
of 
regulation, 
the 
Wolverines turned the ball over 
three times, committed four 
fouls, and earned two yellow 
cards. Senior goalkeeper Mira 
Shane and the defense bailed 
them out, making big saves and 

forcing Dartmouth turnovers, 
but eventually, the sloppy play 
caught up with them. The 
Big Green scored on two free 
position shots in the final 1:47, 
tying the game at 10-10 and 
forcing overtime.
“I think it was just youth and 
inexperience in close games 
from 
our 
offense,” 
Nielsen 
said. “We had times where our 
defense was getting us back the 
ball and we were taking the first 
option or just taking less than 
90-plus percent opportunities.”
Even though Dartmouth came 
back, the Wolverines showed 
resiliency in overtime. They 
continued to play hard so they 
wouldn’t lose a game that they 
seemed to have control of late in 
the second half, culminating in 
Garrett’s game-winner.
Now 4-0 after two wins this 
weekend, Michigan is off to 
its best start in the history of 
the program. While there are 
still improvements to be made, 
winning close games like this 
will be extremely beneficial as 
the season progresses.
“I think it shows how mature 
we are and how we’ve grown as 
a program and how we’re able 
to handle that and have those 
people out there to keep each 
other calm, cool, collected,” 
Garrett said. “We can handle it.”

JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer

ASHA LEWIS/Daily
Junior midfielder Molly Garrett scored the double-overtime goal to give Michigan an 11-10 victory over Dartmouth.

Connection between Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske fuels Wolverines

Zavier Simpson bided his time, 
wrapping 
behind 
the 
basket 
before splitting two defenders 
with a no-look bounce pass. Just 
as the pass reached its apex, 
Jon Teske came streaking into 
the lane, collected the ball and 
emphatically slammed it home, 
giving Michigan a double-digit 
lead it would never relinquish.
That scene came late in the 
second half of the Wolverines’ 
65-52 win over Maryland on 
Saturday, but it’s emblematic 
of a larger trend that has come 
to define their offense over the 

past three months. Simpson — 
Michigan’s offensive conductor 
— leads all Big 
Ten point guards 
in 
assist-to-
turnover 
rate, 
while Teske has 
flourished as its 
interior linchpin, 
averaging 
10.7 
points 
and 
6.9 
rebounds 
in 
conference play.
“A 
little 
bit 
under-recruited 
guys that came in with a little edge 
about them,” said Michigan coach 
John Beilein. “A lot of people 
doubted whether they maybe 

could play at Michigan, either one 
of them. And I love the way they 
work 
together. 
They really have a 
great feel for each 
other.”
Early last year, 
the 
chemistry 
between 
the 
two 
would 
have 
appeared 
completely 
foreign. 
Teske 
played 
just 
12 
minutes a game, 
while Simpson was still finding his 
foothold in a three-headed point 
guard rotation.
This summer, that all changed. 

Simpson had already emerged 
as the exemplification of the 
Wolverines’ hard-
nosed identity, but 
Teske’s offseason 
was filled with 
questions 
of 
whether 
he 
could 
replace 
the 
departed 
Moritz 
Wagner. 
In October, when 
Beilein expressed 
his confidence in 
Teske to replace 
Wagner’s 3-point production, it 
was met with a justified skepticism 
— Teske had attempted just two 
threes in his first two seasons in 

Ann Arbor and missed both.
But those within the program 
knew better.
“Aw 
man, 
they were doing 
that at pickup,” 
said 
sophomore 
forward 
Isaiah 
Livers, referring 
to the unofficial 
scrimmages 
players hold over 
the summer to 
keep 
up 
their 
conditioning 
before official practices start in 
October.
Ask Teske himself and you’ll get 
an answer that goes even further 
back.
“I’d say (it developed) as soon 
as we got on campus,” Teske said 
after he and Simpson combined 
for 41 points in a win over 
Northwestern last month. “We 
came in as freshmen together, so 
we’ve been through a lot of ups 
and a lot of downs.”
No matter what answer you get, 
the consensus is a distinct lack of 
surprise.
And with the 
rest of Michigan’s 
starting 
five 
finding 
their 
share of offensive 
travails 
over 
the 
past 
few 
months, 
the 
pair’s consistency 
has been among 
the 
Wolverines’ 
defining 
strengths.
“The ‘5’ man and point guard 
have to have a really good 
connection on the court as well,” 
said sophomore guard Jordan 
Poole. “Cause everything kinda 
runs through them. And being 
able to have a big man who 
controls everything how he does 
in the middle and being able to 
have (Simpson) lead how he does 
from the point guard position is 
huge.”
On the rare occasions that 
Teske and Simpson don’t shine, 
the results are obvious. When 

Maryland cut a 15-point deficit to 
three midway through the second 
half Saturday, Teske’s offense was 
a major culprit, as he made just 
1-of-10 shots over the opening 35 
minutes.
Then, Simpson, as he so often 
does, sprung his center open 
for consecutive baskets, part of 
a two-minute stretch in which 
Teske singlehandedly outscored 
the Terrapins, 7-2, extending 
Michigan’s lead from six to eleven 
and effectively icing the game.
It’s not just that Maryland 
game, either. The pair’s bond 
has shone through in all of the 
Wolverines’ most impressive wins 
— Simpson last failed to assist 
Teske in a game on Jan. 22 against 
Minnesota.
“It allows him to play — pop, 
roll, slip, do anything he can do,” 
Simpson said. “And it opens up not 
just for himself but also for others 
so that’s always good.”
Just like on the court, Teske’s 
answer is on the same page.
“He always knows where I am 
on the court and I know he’ll make 
the right decision 
and 
the 
right 
pass for me to 
go finish,” Teske 
said. “And he has 
the 
confidence 
in me to go finish 
around the rim or 
pick and pop and 
shoot the three.”
So when Teske 
streaks 
to 
the 
basket off a feed 
from his point guard, it can be 
easy to forget the questions that 
surrounded him just four months 
ago.
But then he’ll set a screen for 
Simpson at the top of the arc and, 
when his defender cheats off him, 
pop out beyond the 3-point line 
to nail a three. And each time, it 
will elicit some sort of surprise 
from the uninitiated, reminding 
Michigan fans of the doubt they 
used to carry.
Teske 
and 
his 
teammates, 
though? They knew this was 
coming all the way.

For Lambert, a vision falls into place

When Denver’s Brett Stapley 
finessed the puck past two 
defenders and the goaltender for 
the overtime goal to beat North 
Dakota on Feb. 2, Michigan 
freshman 
forward 
Jimmy 
Lambert tweeted a compliment 
for his former teammate.
The two played together on 
the same line for three years in 
the British Columbia Hockey 
League. And for all the skill and 
talent Stapley exhibited, the 
show never got old for Lambert, 
who 
had 
“front-row 
seats.” 
Lambert, however, put on a 
show of his own, scoring 142 
points through his three-year 
stay with the Vernon Vipers 
— the team for which the two 
played.
Lambert 
was 
born 
in 
Saskatoon, 
Saskatchewan, 
Canada. His grandfather started 
taking Lambert ice skating at 
the age of two. Going to public 
ice sessions offered at his local 
rink, his grandfather taught him 
how to skate, bit by bit, until 
Lambert reached four when he 
was given his first mini-hockey 
stick.
Then, Lambert took off and 
sought to perfect his craft 
through the junior league. He 
moved to British Columbia and 
joined the Vipers after three 
years in Saskatoon’s midget 
league. There, under Vernon’s 
coach Mark Ferner, Lambert 
developed into a better player in 
all aspects.
“The program there was 
awesome,” Lambert said. “Mark 
Ferner, our coach, he really 
helped me develop as a player, on 
both sides of the puck. He’s very 
understandings of how players 
play the game and really wants 
them to get to the next level.
“That’s the goal of junior 
hockey, that’s to help players 
get scholarships and he’s done 
that for many years with his job 
in Vernon. He’s sent multiple 
players to (the) NCAA, and 
he’s very good at developing 
players.”
Ferner, a two-time BCHL 
coach of the year, had a keen 

understanding of not only the 
game but his roster as well. 
Lambert’s game is built on 
speed, puck control and, most 
importantly, vision. Pitting him 
with a skill-based player like 
Stapley complemented his style 
and the two led the team to two 
division finals and a semifinal.
From there, Lambert reached 
junior hockey. He moved up 
to the NCAA. When Michigan 
came calling, he didn’t hesitate 
to accept.
“I definitely can say, if you’re 
going to school in Canada, you’re 
not going to be getting the same 
things we’re getting here for 
sure,” Lambert joked.
But the collegiate level proved 
to be a taller task than initially 
expected. With only four games 
left in the regular season, 
Michigan coach Mel Pearson 
noted that despite the strides 
he’s made so far, Lambert has a 
long way to go.
“He’s 
just 
learning 
what 
it takes to be a good player,” 
Pearson said. “Just an average 
player at this level.”
Through 25 games, Lambert 
has just totaled eight points, 
starkly contrasting the prior 
year, when he had 61 points in 
55 games in the BCHL and was 
top-20 in point totals of the 
entire league.
“He’s got to play stronger on 
the puck, he’s got to play faster on 
the puck, he’s got to handle the 
puck better, he’s got to release it 
quicker,” Pearson said. “I think 
that reflects in his numbers a 
little bit. He’s on the power play, 
and he gets a little good shake on 
a regular line, but his numbers 

don’t blow you away. But it’s an 
adjustment. And I don’t know if 
he was totally prepared for the 
adjustment that it takes.”
Pearson 
has 
implored 
Lambert to take things more 
seriously, through preparation 
for games or practices. There 
are many different routines or 
styles of hockey — different ways 
to play, practice or prepare. As 
Pearson puts it, Lambert’s yet to 
find his own.
But he has started to put 
things together.
“I’m 
working 
on 
making 
sure I’m a little better in the 
defensive zone,” Lambert said. 
“And I like to think I have some 
offensive upside, definitely need 
to start putting the puck in the 
net a little bit more.”
It’s clear what Lambert’s 
strengths 
are. 
Despite 
his 
numbers on the stat sheets 
being limited, the ones on there 
have been created by his speed 
and vision. Knowing not only 
where his teammates are, but 
his opponents as well, he likes 
to keep tabs on all the players 
on the ice at all times. Marked, 
unmarked, open or contested, 
he’ll know and make the play 
with the puck to get the best 
shot available.
“He’s got a good knowledge of 
the game, good hockey sense,” 
Pearson said. “Gets up and down 
pretty good, and he’s got some of 
the intangibles you look for in a 
player. I think he’s a good team 
guy, I know he’s a good team 
guy.”
Even if Lambert hasn’t yet put 
it all together, he has the vision 
that will allow it soon.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Freshman forward Jimmy Lambert has displayed speed and vision this season.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Junior center Jon Teske has developed a strong connection playing alongside Zavier Simpson, as the two scored nine and 12 points, respectively, on Saturday.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

People doubted 
whether they 
could ... play at 
Michigan.

We’ve been 
through a lot of 
ups and a lot of 
downs.

Being able to 
have (Simpson) 
lead how he 
does ... is huge.

