‘M’ extends losing streak in tightly contested battle

With under four minutes 
remaining 
in 
the 
game’s 
final quarter, Decker Curran 
swept across the the top of 
the box towards his right and 
dodged down the alley, firing 
an overhand shot past the 
head of Rutgers goalkeeper 
Max Edelman to bring the 
Wolverines within one goal, 
10-9.
His 
second 
of 
the 
day, 
Curran’s goal brought hope to 
the Michigan men’s lacrosse 
team that it could tie the game 
up, produce a win and end a 
frustrating seven-game losing 
streak.
However, over two minutes 
later, Scarlet Knight attackman 
Adam 
Charalambides 
maneuvered 
past 
the 
Wolverines’ 
defensive 
unit 
and snuck a shot past senior 
goalkeeper 
Gunner 
Garner, 
notching his sixth goal on the 
day to end those hopes.
Despite 
the 
efforts 
of 
senior 
midfielders 
Curran 
and Brent Noseworthy, who 
together contributed five of 
the Wolverines’ nine goals, 
Michigan 
(3-9 
overall, 
0-4 
Big Ten) fell to Rutgers (7-6, 
2-2) on Saturday in an intense, 
back-and-forth 
chess 
match 
for contention in the Big Ten 
Tournament.
“It’s really, really hard to 
win Big Ten lacrosse games. 
Every team in our league 
is 
disciplined, 
organized, 
incredibly 
talented 
and 
physical,” said Michigan coach 
Kevin Conry. “If we don’t have 
that discipline and physicality 
ourselves, 
that’s 
when 
9-9 
turns to 11-9.”
Despite 
the 
ill-favored 
result, the Wolverines battled 
with the Scarlet Knights from 
the opening faceoff to the final 
whistle.
The first quarter began the 
same way the fourth quarter 
ended, 
with 
Curran 
and 

Charalambides 
exchanging 
goals in the first two minutes. 
By the end of the quarter, 
Michigan and Rutgers both 
stood tall, as the game remained 
tied, 4-4, with Noseworthy 
contributing a pair of goals and 
sophomore 
attackman 
Alex 
Buckanavage also contributing 
a goal to the Wolverines’ tally.
The 
first 
quarter 
foreshadowed what looked to be 
a high-scoring affair between 
two 
dynamic, 
experienced 
offenses.
However, 
in 
the 
second 
quarter, each side only managed 
to reel in a single goal.
In one of the few offensive 
highlights 
of 
the 
quarter, 
following a feed behind the goal 
from 
sophomore 
attackman 
Kevin 
Mack, 
Noseworthy 
found himself with his hands 
free seven yards out from the 
goal, cocked back his arms 
and rocketed a high-to-high 
goal past Edelman, earning his 
third hat trick of the season and 

tying the game once again, 5-5.
With 
his 
assist, 
Mack 
extended his point-streak to 12, 
notching a point in each game 
this season thus far.
“We all settled into the 
game,” 
Conry 
said. 
“Both 
defenses settled in and played a 
controlled game.”
Taking advantage of the 
Wolverines’ persistent faceoff 
and 
possession 
struggles, 
the Scarlet Knights picked 
up ground balls and gained 
possession on 5-of-6 faceoffs 
in the third quarter, allowing 
their offense to outscore the 
Wolverines 4-1 in the quarter.
“(They) did a really good job 
of controlling the initial draws 
and maintaining possession,” 
Conry said. “They were a little 
more patient with their game.”
Trailing 
9-6 
going 
into 
the fourth quarter, Michigan 
refused to give up and let the 
game slip away from it, as Mack 
and junior midfielder Avery 
Myers each contributed goals 

within the first five minutes of 
the quarter to cut the Scarlet 
Knights’ lead to 9-8.
However, two huge goals 
from Charalambides warded 
off 
Michigan’s 
desperate 
attempts to overcome its one-
goal deficit and iced the game 
for his team
Nevertheless, with a season 
filled with tight battles and 
shortcomings winding down, 
Conry keeps in perspective the 
long-run vision of the program, 
celebrating 
the 
trials 
and 
tribulations of putting talented 
freshman like attackman Bryce 
Clay and defenseman Andrew 
Darby through the wringer in 
games like these early in their 
college careers.
“They were baptized in fire. 
We threw them in a situation … 
with injuries mounting up, (we 
said) ‘Let’s get (them) in and 
have them make some mistakes 
now, so (they) can be better for 
the future,’” Conry said. “It’s 
creating a map for their future.”

DREW COX
Daily Sports Writer

ZACHARY GOLDSMITH/Daily
Senior midfielder Decker Curran scored twice in an 11-9 loss to Rutgers as the Wolverines remain winless in the Big Ten.

Foster’s first-place 
finish a focal point

On March 29, in Palo Alto, 
Calif., Chloe Foster finished 
first.
Three weeks later, history 
repeated itself.
Competing at the Cardinal 
Classic in Palo Alto on Friday, 
the sophomore again topped 
the field in the 400-meter 
hurdles, 
finishing 
with 
a 
time of 59.69 seconds. Three 
weeks earlier, at the Stanford 
Invitational, 
Foster 
came 
in first with a time of 59.65 
seconds — on 
the same track.
“It 
gets 
them used to 
the 
venue,” 
said Michigan 
coach 
James 
Henry. 
“(It) 
makes it easier 
to adjust to the 
competition.”
Foster 
wasn’t 
finished after the 400-meter 
hurdles, however. Competing 
in the 400-meter run on 
Saturday, Foster ran a career-
best 54.47 seconds to capture 
her second victory of the 
weekend. Junior Julia Hall 
also ran a career-best time of 
55.52 seconds to finish third 
in the event, while sophomore 
Emma Lane rounded out the 
top five, posting a 57.84.
Elsewhere, Michigan saw 
success from two debutants. 
Sophomore 
Alice 
Hill, 
participating 
in 
her 
first-
ever collegiate 3,000-meter 
steeplechase 
event, 
placed 
fourth with a time of 10:04.58. 
In the 5,000-meter run, sixth-
year senior Erin Finn returned 
to action for the first time 
since the 2018 season, coming 
in fifth with a time of 16:09.94.
The Wolverines saw another 
strong 
repeat 
performance 

in the 800-meter run from 
freshman Aurora Rynda. At 
the 
Stanford 
Invitational, 
Rynda placed fifth in her 
career-debut in the event. This 
weekend, 
Rynda 
improved 
upon 
her 
performance, 
finishing third in a field 
consisting of runners from 
Stanford, Indiana, Oregon and 
others.
“I 
thought 
the 
middle-
distance and distance groups 
did well, as well as the 400 and 
400-hurdle groups,” Henry 
said. “We accomplished some 
of the things we were out to 
get, and that was 
to improve our 
performances, 
get 
regional 
times 
and 
set 
ourselves 
up 
for the Big Ten 
meet.”
Michigan 
also had some 
success in the 
sprint 
races. 
Hall 
finished 
fourth in the 200-meter sprint 
and junior Tiana Luton placed 
fifth in the 100-meter hurdles.
With the Cardinal Classic 
in the rearview mirror, the 
Wolverines 
have 
only 
one 
more meet — the Len Paddock 
Open in Ann Arbor — and just 
three more weeks until the Big 
Ten Outdoor Championships. 
It is not all time to prepare, 
though, 
as 
the 
Michigan 
runners also have to deal with 
end-of-semester projects and 
final exams over the next few 
weeks.
“That’s 
the 
challenge 
that we have, but that’s the 
great thing about the type of 
athletes that we have,” Henry 
said. “They can be focused on 
their competition, as well as 
be focused on their studies in 
between. And many, if not all, 
of our athletes are able to do 
that.”

(It) makes 
it easier to 
adjust to the 
competition.

MATTHEW KENNEDY
Daily Sports Editor

Mixed results at Las Vegas Lake 
for fifth-ranked Wolverines

This 
weekend, 
Michigan 
couldn’t find its rhythm.
The fifth-ranked Wolverines 
experienced 
mixed 
results 
against No. 1 Washington and 
No. 6 Ohio State at their regatta 
in Las Vegas. 
The closest race of the day 
was in the 2V8 category. While 
Michigan was solidly in second 
place for most of the race, the 
Buckeyes became a threat in 
the final 750 meters. Powering 
through the sprint, Ohio State 
ended the race in a photo finish 
with the Huskies coming in 
first. The Wolverines edged out 
the Buckeyes by 0.08 seconds to 
claim second. 
Michigan’s 
only 
victory 
came 
in 
the 1V4 category in 
which it beat out 
Washington by two 
seconds and Ohio 
State by 12. 
The 1V8 came in 
third, crossing the 
finish line with open 
water separating it 
from its competition 
— 10 seconds behind 
Washington and six 
seconds behind the 
Buckeyes. 
The 1V8 came off 
of the line strong, 
rowing a powerful 
start — a strength 
of 
the 
program. 
Trouble came after 
the first 500 meters 
when the boat didn’t 
settle to its typical 
base pace. 
“Our 
1V8 
struggled to establish 
a good rhythm,” said 
Michigan 
coach 
Mark 
Rothstein. 
“They 
just 
really 
lost the race in the 
middle 
thousand 
and wasn’t able to 
get back in terms 
of 
Ohio 
State 
or 
Washington.”

In the last 500 meters, the 
Wolverines gained a few seats, 
but it wasn’t enough to get them 
out of third. 
This 
wasn’t 
their 
first 
matchup against the Buckeyes. 
The two faced off last weekend 
in Columbus, where Michigan 
fell to its rival by a much smaller 
margin. The boat this weekend 
wasn’t entirely the same as the 
one that came in behind Ohio 
State last weekend. Rothstein 
opted to switch two rowers from 
the lineup possibly accounting 
for the lack of rhythm this 
weekend. 
“I think it was changes in the 
lineup and not really getting 
a lot of time to practice base 
pace in that lineup,” said senior 
Caroline Hendershot. “I think 

that it was still a really good race 
for the short amount of time 
that we’ve been together in that 
lineup from stern to bow.”
And the changes are far from 
over. 
“The lineups will continue 
to evolve over the next couple 
weeks,” Rothstein said. “We’ll 
see where they land but I think 
we have a lot of depth and a lot of 
parity so a lot of possibilities for 
lineups which is a good thing.”
Added Hendershot: “Coming 
away from a race can be hard if 
you don’t know what to work on. 
I think all of us understand that 
we have a really good start and 
a really good finish and it’s that 
middle thousand (meters) base 
pace that we’re really trying to 
find.”

LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer

Michigan outplayed by Iowa on 
Sunday in regular season finale

In the waning moments of 
a Sunday match against Iowa, 
Michigan 
freshman 
Patrick 
Maloney faced the task of 
keeping his team alive. Down 
5-4 in the third set, Maloney 
knew committing a single error 
would clinch the overall match 
for the Hawkeyes.
He tossed the ball high in 
the air and swung his racket 
with force, delivering what 
looked like a strong serve, 
at least until it landed just 
outside of the service box. 
Maloney’s opponent realized 
instantly that Michigan would 
be called for a double fault, 
and he pumped his fist as his 
teammates sprinted onto the 
court to celebrate their upset 
win over the Wolverines. 
Following Maloney’s close 
loss in singles, the No. 19 
Michigan men’s tennis team 
(16-7 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) fell 
1-4 to Iowa in the last meet 
of the regular season, after 
an 
uncharacteristically 
flat 
performance. 
The Hawkeyes (17-9, 6-5) set 
the tone from the get-go as they 
dominated the doubles sets, 

winning 6-0 at No. 1 doubles 
and 6-3 at No. 3 to clinch the 
doubles point. 
“We have to be way more 
aggressive 
in 
doubles,” 
said Michigan coach Adam 
Steinberg. “We have to move 
harder, we have to move more, 
we have to get (the doubles 
point) on the doubles court and 
it’ll transfer over to singles and 
really help the guys.”
Losing the doubles point 
to Iowa set the Wolverines 
on a downhill course as they 
entered singles matches. The 
Hawkeyes won the first set 
in four out of the six singles 
matches. And when sophomore 
Mattias Siimar and senior Gabe 
Tishman both lost in straight 
sets, Michigan quickly found 
itself in a deep hole, down 3-0. 
Freshman Andrew Fenty’s 
performance 
was 
the 
one 
positive element of the day for 
the Wolverines. Fenty came 
back from a poor loss in the first 
set of his singles match to win 
the next two and secure a 1-6, 
6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles. 
That win kept Michigan alive in 
the match until Maloney’s close 
defeat and improved Fenty’s 
record to a team-best 25-5. 
“Iowa did great,” Steinberg 

said. “They played really, really 
well. I don’t think the guys 
responded well to their energy, 
their fight and their tennis, and 
Andrew was pretty much the 
only one out there who did. So 
it’s tough to win a match when 
you only have one guy really 
playing to win, and the other 
guys were playing really tight 
and not being themselves. … 
We’ve had a lot of great matches 
this year as well but today was 
not one of them.”
Perhaps 
most 
surprising 
about Iowa’s thorough defeat 
of the Wolverines was the 
fact that just two days earlier, 
Michigan played one of its most 
complete matches all season 
against Nebraska. 
The 
Wolverines 
cleanly 
swept the Cornhuskers, picking 
up the doubles point and all six 
singles points for a 7-0 victory. 
Though Nebraska’s record is 
poor, Michigan’s near flawless 
performance in Lincoln was 
a stark contrast to the team’s 
showing on Sunday.
Despite the disappointing 
outcome of the regular season 
finale, Steinberg was proud of 
the regular season résumé his 
team has earned, and how his 
players managed to earn a top-
20 ranking in the nation for 
most of the year after losing 
four seniors from 2018. 
The 
Wolverines 
now 
have their sights set on the 
postseason, with the Big Ten 
Tournament starting play this 
Wednesday in Ann Arbor.
“It’s 
a 
new 
season, 
the 
postseason, 
for 
us,” 
said 
Steinberg. “It’s a big slate clean. 
We’re going to have a new 
attitude and erase this match 
and go forward, and I know 
they’re looking at it that way. 
Especially that we get to host 
the tournament next week, 
and the guys always feel very 
confident at home. I know they 
really only get one chance out 
of every 12 years to host the 
Big Ten Tournament, and this 
is the perfect time, especially 
after this match today.”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Freshman Andrew Fenty was one of the few bright spots for Michigan.

PHILIP CALDWELL
Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 — 7

