‘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