The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, September 26, 2019 — 7
Granowicz making adjustment to college hockey
Size. Strength. Speed. School.
The four horsemen of college
hockey.
And
for
many
incoming
freshmen, these elements create
turbulence in the transition
from junior level hockey to the
NCAA level.
In
a
high-intensity
environment where every game
counts, freshmen Wolverines
must learn quickly. Arriving
on campus in September and
kicking off the season on Oct. 6
leaves little time for hiccups in
the transition process.
Michigan’s roster features
five freshmen: Cam York, Eric
Ciccolini,
Johnny
Beecher,
Keaton
Pehrson
and
Nick
Granowicz.
Granowicz’s path to playing
for the Wolverines was different
than that of teammates like
Beecher and York. Whereas they
spent time with the USNTDP
he spent three seasons playing
junior
hockey,
though
not
unusual to the world of hockey.
After graduating high school,
he began his junior career in
Topeka, Kan. After one-and-
a-half seasons, he moved on
to
Cedar
Rapids,
Iowa then a
few months
later
to
Merritt,
British
Columbia
with
the
Merritt
Centennials
in
the
BCHL.
After three years, Granowicz
was NCAA bound.
“For me it’s a big difference,”
Granowicz said. “In juniors, we
practice for about an hour (and)
twenty. Maybe have a workout
that day, but not for more than
an hour and the rest of the day
was ours to kind of hang out and
do whatever.”
When
freshmen
step
off
the ice, the pressure doesn’t
cease. They have to learn how
to balance their obligations to
the team and in the classroom.
Most players in junior leagues
don’t
take
classes,
which
creates excess free time. During
the college season, free time is a
luxury most players don’t get to
indulge in. There’s class. Then
after class there’s
practice.
Some
days, there’s weight
training. Some days,
they dedicate time
to
watching
film.
And
then,
there’s
homework.
“It’s a lot of time
management,”
Granowicz said. “So
it’s like non-stop till
8, 9 o’clock at night.
I think it’s good to be organized
and
kind
of
focus
with
everything you have coming up
in the day ahead of you, and you
kinda gotta plan out your times.
You don’t get really much of a
break, and you’re always going,
going, going.”
An increase in practice time
isn’t the only adjustment in
Granowicz’s
path,
because
even as a 21-year-old freshman,
he faces a size disadvantage.
Because of players coming in
from juniors and being older
than traditional freshmen, he’ll
come face-to-face with players
as old as 24. And with age and
size comes strength.
“I haven’t experienced a
college game yet,” Granowicz
said.
“But
I
know that guys
on
our
team,
they’re coming
in
around
200
pounds,
even
a
little
bit
over,
and
I’m
weighing
in about 175. I
know it’s more
physical
and
harder.
That’s
why it’s the next level.”
Size is just one difference in
competition between the junior
level and NCAA. Speed is a
huge factor. Play is faster. The
intensity is higher. Players skate
in practice with the intention of
mirroring game conditions.
Players are given some help
with the transition though.
Michigan coach Mel Pearson
and the coaching staff try their
best to help ease guys coming
from juniors into the rhythm
of college hockey. He counts
on senior players like captain
Will Lockwood, Jake Slaker
and Michael Pastujov to take
freshmen under their wings and
give them guidance.
Their advice isn’t exclusive to
balancing classes
and training, it
carries over onto
the
ice
during
games.
In
the
lineup,
Pearson
pairs
the
new
players
with
more
seasoned
ones to ease the
burden on their
shoulders.
“(The
freshman) just have to fit in,”
Pearson said. “They just have
to come in and be what they are
and play hard. We don’t try to
put a lot of pressure on them.
The thing I find is they put so
much pressure on themselves.
(They’re)
competitive.
They
wanna do well, they wanna
please.”
Wolverines top Rutgers
The set teetered back and
forth late in the second set, with
neither team giving in. Rutgers
had built an early lead, but the
Michigan volleyball team fought
back to gain a late lead. Then,
sophomore outside hitter Paige
Jones broke the tension as she
secured the win with a kill —
putting the Scarlet Knights at an
insurmountable deficit.
Jones
bolstered
the
Wolverines
offense
and
recorded her fourth consecutive
double-double
as
Michigan
topped Rutgers in 3 sets, (25-14,
25-23, 25-14).
“Paige has really taken her
game to a new level after her
freshman year,” said Michigan
coach Mark Rosen. “She plays
the way you would expect from
a veteran, and she’s surrounded
by good offensive players.”
The Wolverines not only
played
well
offensively
but
in all aspects of the game.
They
outperformed
Rutgers
defensively
and
consistently
blocked the Scarlet Knights
— their 10 blocks were their
second-highest
output
this
season. This combination of
strong defense and powerful
offense
gave
Michigan
the
advantage it needed to snatch
the win.
At the start of the first set,
both teams hustled to take the
lead, but the Wolverines seized
control at 5-4 and never trailed.
Rutgers tried to close the gap,
but lapses in communication
hindered the Scarlet Knights
from cutting into Michigan’s
lead.
The
Wolverines
—
particularly excelling in defense
— won, 25-14.
“We defended well,” Rosen
said. “Cori (Crocker) played
particularly well. She got 6 of
our 10 blocks. The blockers did
a good job, and the floor fed off
of that.”
Michigan, lulled into security
by the win, lost its groove at the
start of the second set.
“Early in the second set, we
were sloppy,” Rosen said. “We
did not take care of things we
needed to, and that gave the
other team momentum. They
started to play at a much higher
level. It’s a dangerous thing
to do — to give another team
momentum.”
Rutgers
led
the
second
set, 10-5. But the Wolverines
chipped away at the Scarlet
Knights’ lead and eventually
took the advantage. The teams
stayed within a few points of
each other, and by the time
the match point rolled around
Michigan had the lead. Jones’
attack won the Wolverines the
set, 25-23.
The
Scarlet
Knights’
momentum
dissipated
as
Michigan dominated the third
set. Success blanketed the court
for the Wolverines, especially
offensively.
“It’s certainly the plan to have
a good offense,” Rosen said. “We
have very good attackers and
things we can do offensively
are difficult to stop. It all comes
from good passing.”
Michigan stayed comfortably
ahead of Rutgers the entire set.
From the start, it looked as if
the Wolverines would tack on
their seventh-straight victory
over the Scarlet Knights. Jones
finished the game with a kill —
giving Michigan a win to open
its Big Ten slate.
“We have ambitions to win
every match we play,” Rosen
said. “We are just taking it day by
day. Right now we are focusing
on our Ohio State Sunday.”
Michigan looking to Tokyo 2020
Three
weeks
into
the
season, Michigan swimming
and diving has its sights set
on success. Not only for the
upcoming competition year,
but also for 2020 in Tokyo.
“It’s
an
Olympic
year,”
said Wolverines coach Mike
Bottom. “We are the only
college pool in the country that
has the Olympic Countdown
Clock.”
It may be over 300 days until
the opening ceremony in Tokyo
Olympic Stadium, until the
final runner lights the Olympic
torch to commence the Games,
but Bottom is already eager
to gear his swimmers up for
qualifying events.
On Friday and Saturday,
Michigan
(2-0)
opened
its
season with a two-day dual
meet series featuring sweeping
victories over Navy (1-1) and
Miami (OH) (0-2) on both the
men’s and women’s sides.
For
Saturday
morning’s
contest, which included relays
and short swim events, the
Canham
Natatorium
pool
was extended from 25 yards,
its
traditional
competition
length, to 50 meters, the
standard Olympic length, to
create the long-course-style
pool that qualifying Wolverine
swimmers will face in Tokyo.
“We want to make sure we
are giving our student-athletes
a great opportunity to make
their Olympic team,” Bottom
said. “We’re going after it.
We’re going after it hard.”
And indeed the Wolverines
went after it.
On Friday, the men powered
past
the
Midshipmen
and
Redhawks, winning 15 of the
16 swim events and trouncing
their opponents, 225-75 and
253-45, respectively.
In the diving well, the
women swept first through
fourth place in both the 1-meter
and
3-meter
springboard
events. Junior Ross Todd took
first place in both events on the
men’s side, while senior Jake
Herremans took second.
On
Saturday,
with
the
50-meter Olympic length in
place, the men’s and women’s
teams won nine of 12 relays,
with the women capturing
first in all three freestyle relay
events and both teams taking
first in the 400-meter and
800-meter medley relays.
In the 50-meter butterfly,
Michigan swept the podium
with
sophomore
Maggie
MacNeil
(27.54),
senior
Vanessa Krause (28.77) and
freshman Megan Glass (28.83)
claiming first, second and third
place.
On
the
men’s side, senior
Miles
Smachlo
took first place
in the 50-meter
fly (25.11), which
he tallied on top
of his first place
finishes
in
the
100-yard (47.59)
and
200-yard
(1:46.59) fly from
Friday’s meet.
Alongside Smachlo, fellow
veterans like senior Tommy
Cope and graduate student
Miranda Tucker led the way
for the Wolverines, with Cope
and Tucker each taking first
place in both the 100-yard and
200-yard breaststroke for their
respective sides on Friday.
Cope was also a part of the first
place 800-meter medley relay,
while Tucker (33.67) won the
50-meter breastroke and was
a part of three of five winning
women’s relays on Saturday.
“We have a whole lot of
seniors who have been through
the
wars,
and
truthfully,
they’re tired of not winning,”
Bottom said. “They want to
win and they’re leading this
team in that direction.”
But the seniors were not the
only ones producing. Freshman
Kaitlynn Sims made a splashing
debut by taking first place in
the 500-yard (4:50.50) and
1000-yard (9:53.49) freestyle
races, showing great promise
for the future of the Michigan
women’s program.
“On the women’s side, we
lost a big senior class last
year, but (this
year’s) class is
doing a great
job
putting
their
arms
around
the
freshmen and
sophomores
and
getting
them ready for
the
future,”
Bottom
said.
“We’re trying
to understand where we’re
going and what our purpose is,
who we’re doing it for. For us
to triumph at the end (of the
season), we’re going to have to
work hard.”
Though the greatest trials
and tribulations of the season
are
still
on
the
horizon,
and Tokyo remains far in
the
distance,
the
Olympic
countdown clock in Canham
Natatorium ticks away in the
background as the Wolverines
hop in the pool each day.
They can hear it, and they
are working.
Reed propels ‘M’ past Kent State
On two penalty corners, Kayla
Reed was positioned in the same
spot, right in front of the right
post. Both times, it resulted in
the junior midfielder finding the
back of the net for two of the
No. 9 Michigan women’s field
hockey team’s (5-2) four goals in
a 4-0 win over Kent State (4-5) on
Sunday.
Reed’s first goal came in the
second minute of the second
quarter, on the fourth of a stretch
of
four
consecutive
corners.
Senior midfielder Kay Feijer
made a pass off the corner to
junior defender Halle O’Neill,
who found Reed. Reed dove to get
a stick on the ball and redirected
it into the net.
The second came just six
minutes later, and looked almost
identical. This time, sophomore
midfielder
Kathryn
Peterson
made the initial pass to O’Neill,
whose pass went straight to
the stick of Reed for an easy
redirection goal.
“Definitely over the last three
years it’s been a go-to corner play
for us,” Reed said. “I feel like if
you look back on the stats, it’s one
of our most scored corners.”
Throughout the game, keeping
possession was an important
factor for the Wolverines. In the
first quarter, they constantly
played in Kent State territory,
but had difficulty getting passes
to the center and getting shots
on net. Michigan broke through
in the second half, when the four
consecutive penalty corners and
Reed’s goal gave it momentum,
and went on to attempt 22 shots.
“It’s always important to keep
possession,” said Michigan coach
Marcia Pankratz. “We’re always
working on it and I thought today
we did quite a good job.”
After
taking
a
2-0
lead
into halftime, the Wolverines
switched into more of a defensive
mode in the second half. While the
Golden Flashes were not getting
many
scoring
opportunities
in the first half,
they
had
even
fewer
in
the
second. Michigan
held them to no
attempted
shots
in the second half,
and only three in
the entire game.
“I was proud of
our team defense,”
Pankratz said. “I thought we
stepped up and intercepted well.”
The fourth quarter may have
been the Wolverines’ most sound
quarter from both an offensive
and defensive standpoint. They
continued to stifle Kent State
defensively, and they consistently
threatened in the offensive zone.
Sophomore
midfielder
Sofia
Southam added to Michigan’s
lead with a high goal off her own
rebound within the first thirty
seconds of the quarter, and senior
midfielder Guadalupe Fernandez
Lacort tallied the final goal for
the Wolverines with ten minutes
remaining.
“I thought our team worked
really hard,” Pankratz said. “We
had to be very disciplined and
organized today and I thought we
were.”
The win marks Michigan’s
fourth in a row, giving the
Wolverines a sizable amount of
momentum
going into the
start of the Big
Ten season on
Friday.
Their
difficult
non-
conference
schedule,
including
four
ranked
opponents, has
made
them
confident
that
they can compete with the best of
the best.
“I think we feel prepared,”
Pankratz said. “It’s by design that
we play a tough pre-conference
schedule to play against the best,
to improve and see where we are.”
DREW COX
Daily Sports Writer
JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan swim and dive team has its sights on the Olympics.
We’re trying
to understand
where we’re
going.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior midfielder Kayla Reed scored twice as No. 9 Michigan beat Kent State, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon.
We had to be
very disciplined
and organized
today.
MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman forward Nick Granowicz comes to Michigan from the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL, a junior hockey league.
MEGAN CHAPELLE
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Paige Jones notched a double-double.
The thing I find
is they put so
much pressure
on themselves.
You don’t really
get much of a
break, you’re
always going.