The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, October 24, 2019 — 7

Pushing for a breakthrough year

Before 
every 
season, 
two 
things are always on the mind of 
the Michigan women’s basketball 
team: the next steps and the 
expectations.
Six years ago, the next step 
was simply to get better, to go 
further than the third round of 
the WNIT. Three years ago, the 
Wolverines were given the cold 
shoulder by the NCAA selection 
committee – and they won the 
WNIT instead. The next year, 
they made the tournament for the 
first time in four years.
Now, for the first time in the 
program’s 
history, 
Michigan 
is looking for its third straight 
NCAA Tournament bid. For the 
first time in the programs history, 
the Wolverines are shooting for 
the Sweet Sixteen – or higher.
The next steps are steeper than 
ever. The expectations are taller 
than ever.
“It kind of goes with one 
of the reasons why I chose 
Michigan,” said junior forward 
Hailey Brown. “I chose here 
to come to a school that we’re 

working 
towards 
something. 
We haven’t won a conference 
championship. My group hasn’t 
made it to the Sweet Sixteen. So 
that’s something we’re trying to 
do, each year do better. I think 
this year I’m just really excited, 
looking forward to accomplishing 
these things and really pushing 
through the grind with these 
girls.
Unlike other sports, though, 
it’s not all in Michigan’s hands. 
Women’s 
college 
basketball 
is 
incredibly 
top-heavy, 
and 
when playing on the opponents’ 
courts on the first weekend 
of the tournament, it’s nearly 
impossible to advance. The last 
two years, the Wolverines have 
been bounced by a two and one 
seed, respectively.
“In women’s basketball, so 
much is predicated on your seed,” 
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico. “And getting that seed 
where you’re going to play a one 
or two in the first round on their 
home court is really tough. We’ve 
got to get ourselves out of those 
positions. … So the goal for this 
year’s team is to keep advancing, 
keep moving forward.”

In the preseason poll, Michigan 
was picked to come in second 
in the Big Ten by the media, 
behind frontrunners Maryland. 
Sophomore forward Naz Hillmon 
was one of two players selected 
preseason all-Big Ten by both the 
media and coaches.
The star sophomore class is 
a year older, and Barnes Arico 
keeps bringing in top-notched 
recruits. The players aren’t as 
timid as their coach about this 
season.
 “We definitely want the Big 
Ten championships, we want to 
go there,” Brown said. “I think 
last year we had a tough one 
against Maryland when we lost 
in the Big Ten tournament. I 
think every year we’re just trying 
to build and build, and we’ve done 
that. I’m a junior now, my third 
year, so we’re trying to make a 
run to the Sweet Sixteen this 
year. We need to get a Big Ten 
Championship, for sure.”
For 
the 
Wolverines, 
improvement has been the sole 
focus under Barnes Arico. Every 
year, the team’s made a step 
forward, but this year, reaching 
the next level is harder than ever.

Wolverines learning how to play with a lead

The 
adrenaline. 
The 
desperation. The urgency. 
Giving everything you have to 
try and score that tying goal.
Playing from behind is a 
situation Michigan found itself 
in often last season. 
When 
the 
Wolverines 
opened regular season play 
two weeks ago against then-
No. 11 Clarkson, they found 
themselves back in that familiar 
spot: hunting to even the score. 
In 
Friday’s 
game, 
during 
the closing minutes of the first 
period, the Golden Knights 
struck first — converting on the 
power play in its dying seconds. 
Michigan mustered a second-
period goal for a 1-1 tie.
Saturday, however, it was 
unable to overcome the 2-0 hole 
it had fallen into. Its efforts 
as the minutes 
wound 
down 
were 
valiant, 
but not enough. 
When the game 
ended, 
the 
Wolverines had 
lost, 3-1.
“Obviously, 
playing 
up 
is 
what you want to 
do,” said junior 
forward Michael 
Pastujov. “Playing from behind 
was what we struggled with a 
lot last year. We started a lot of 
games down early, so it’s kind of 
hard to climb back up.”
Michigan plays 34 games in a 
season, so every night — every 
opportunity to eke out points to 
help its position in the standings 
— matters. And through the 
course of the weekend series 
with Clarkson, they faced the 
harsh realities of falling behind 
early in a game. It’s challenging 
to come back from being down, 
as evidenced by the Wolverines’ 
13-win season last year. 
Going into last week against 
Lake Superior State, Michigan 
knew it needed to strike first. 

It couldn’t afford to give up an 
early goal against a defensive-
minded team like the Lakers. It 
had to come ready to play, and 
both nights, it did.
Friday, sophomore forward 
Nolan Moyle was the first of four 
skaters to rifle the puck into the 
back of the net. Just five and a 
half minutes into the game, the 
Wolverines had the lead. It was 
writing a new narrative, and 
leaving last season’s in the past. 
It wasn’t a team that was going 
to play from behind. It was a 
team that was ready to take 
control.
The 
Wolverines 
looked 
comfortable. 
They 
showed 
glimpses 
of 
their 
potential. 
The pressure wasn’t on them 
any more — they were the ones 
applying it.
“Against 
those 
teams 
(Clarkson and Lake Superior), 
the 
way 
their 
style 
is, 
I 
thought it was 
important,” said 
Michigan coach 
Mel 
Pearson. 
“Because 
they’re so strong 
defensively 
and 
that’s their M.O., 
you want to get 
them out of their 
game. You want 
to get them to 
play more of an 
up and down game.”
In even less time than the 
Wolverines grabbed their lead 
over the Lakers on Friday, 
sophomore 
forward 
Jimmy 
Lambert connected with the 
puck and sent a shot whistling 
into the netting. Just like that, 
the lead was theirs.
Junior forward Jack Becker 
followed in Lambert’s footsteps 
and tallied two early goals in 
the opening period, and before 
the first period had ended, 
Michigan tripled its advantage.
The next 20 minutes were 
much more turbulent. Seemingly 
as quick as it had earned a 
three-goal lead, Lake Superior 
State found its way back in the 

game with two goals. But the 
Wolverines 
clung 
to 
their 
one-goal 
advantage with 
senior 
captain 
Will Lockwood 
heading 
the 
charge.
In the locker 
room, Lockwood 
stressed 
the 
importance 
of 
positivity. 
Michigan didn’t 
have the period it wanted, but 
the scoreboard didn’t reflect 

it. It didn’t need to panic the 
way it had in 
the past, when 
it was searching 
for a last-minute 
tying goal. The 
Wolverines 
just needed to 
stick 
to 
their 
game plan and 
execute. 
They 
maintained 
the 
lead, something 
they 
weren’t 
often capable of 
doing last year.
“Positive team talk in the 

locker room,” said Lockwood. 
“(The 
Lakers) 
came 
out 
Saturday 
night 
and scored two 
goals right away 
in 
the 
second. 
And they didn’t 
take the lead, but 
I think that just 
goes with team 
talk and trying to 
keep everyone up 
and not have that 
big 
momentum 
switch, 
that 
momentum 
is 
huge.”

It’s the exact momentum 
the Wolverines 
rarely 
felt 
last season — 
the feeling of 
playing with the 
lead. 
“You’ll 
have 
to look at the 
statistics,” 
Lockwood said. 
“But 
I 
think 
the team that 
scores 
first 
wins most of the 
games so to get that (first) one is 
important, it’s huge.”

Michigan finishes season strong, 
with fourth place weekend finish

After a rocky start to its fall 
season, the Michigan men’s golf 
team came to a strong finish.
Following 
last 
week’s 
competition at Crooked Stick, 
where the team ended 10th out of 
14 teams, the Wolverines arrived 
at the Royal Oak Intercollegiate 
tournament on Monday with a 
renewed mindset— one focused 
on putting the past behind them.
In the first round of the game, 
Michigan had already set itself 
apart from the other 11 teams. 
After the first 18 holes, junior 
Charlie Pilon and senior Brent 
Ito claimed first and second 
place with 67 and 68 points, 
respectively.
Thanks to the help of the rest 
of the team, the Wolverines 
were able to finish first overall. 
This strong start proved to be a 
welcome change for Michigan. 
 “They’re learning, which is 
a good thing. They’re learning 
from 
their 
mistakes,” 
said 
Michigan coach Zach Barlow. 
“They’re seeing that they don’t 
have to go out there and really 
do anything special, they just 
have to play good solid golf. It’s 
not about individual honors, it’s 
all about the team.” 
In the following rounds, this 
team-centered 
mindset 
and 
confidence in their game helped 
the Wolverines continue to fight 
towards victory.
Michigan 
slipped 
down 
to fourth place in the second 
round, mainly due to several 
bogeys from the players. Brent 
Ito lost his 2nd place ranking 
as a result of bogeys on the 1st, 
8th, 12th, and 14th holes, ending 
the round even par (142) in 17th 
place. Despite this slight drop 
overall, Pilon remained steady 
throughout the second round, 
remaining in first place at 
6-under-par.
As the team geared up for 

its third and final round at 
Royal 
Oak’s 
Intercollegiate 
on Tuesday, Pilon was feeling 
the pressure to maintain his 
winning streak. 
“I definitely had a bit of 
nerves,” Pilon said. “It was 
probably the different format 
for this event— the five of 
us grouped together instead 
of with other teams— that 
helped me calm down a bit and 
regroup. Obviously I wanted to 
do a good job individually, but I 
also wanted to help the team as 
much as I could, which helped 
me take my mind off of it a little 
bit.”
The 
third 
round 
saw 
improvement 
for 
many 
of 
Michigan’s players. Brent Ito 
was able to hit his 5th, 6th and 
14th holes under par, leading 
him to finish in 13th place 
overall. This gave him his third 
top-15 
individual 
finish 
of 
the season. Additionally, Ben 
Dunne improved in the third 
round, ending two under par 
with 69 points (73-78-69).
Pilon 
faced 
some 
slight 
challenges in the third round, 

hitting bogeys on the 3rd and 
10th hole. Regardless of this, 
he was able to come out on top, 
keeping his first-place title and 
ending the tournament with 
205 points (67-69-69). 
With 
these 
scores, 
the 
Wolverines were able to end 
the tournament in fourth place 
overall. 
While enjoying the feeling of 
his second collegiate win and a 
career-low of 205 (8 under par), 
Pilon was complimentary of his 
team’s overall progress. 
“We had a bit of a slow start 
to the season,” Pilon said, “but 
we definitely pulled through 
coming out of this week.”
With a win to end to its fall 
season, 
Michigan 
is 
ready 
to begin preparing for their 
upcoming season in the spring. 
The 
team’s 
focus 
while 
preparing for the next season 
will be on their short game. 
“Our short games, chipping, 
putting, 
they 
need 
to 
get 
better,” Barlow says, “If we’re 
going to be the team we desire 
to be, our short game has to get 
better.”

KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico has set her team’s sights higher than merely making the NCAA Tournament

After a 13-win season a year ago, often defined by poor starts, Michigan is focused on scoring first as often as possible

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Senior forward Will Lockwood knows the virtues of scoring first and playing with a lead, after last year’s team often struggled to do so and struggled as a result

MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer

Obviously 
playing up is 
what you want 
to do.

(The Lakers) 
came out 
Saturday night 
and scored two.

ROSE CRAMTON
For The Daily

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan men’s golf team finished fourth at the Royal Oak Intercollegiate.

... the team 
that scores first 
wins most of 
the games...