The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 — 7

Sainristil turning hype to production

Throughout 
spring 
ball, 
Mike Sainristil’s name had an 
inescapable 
presence 
inside 
Schembechler Hall.
Offensive players praised the 
three-star freshman receiver. 
Defensive players said he was 
terrifying to face. Coaches spoke 
ad nauseam about his adaption 
to the college game.
“He’s been really good,” said 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, 
summarizing 
the 
general 
consensus at the time. “Can’t say 
enough good things about him.”
Fall ball, though, brought a 
different reality.
Suddenly, 
Sainristil 
was 
absent. Ronnie Bell took his 
place at the center of the 
Wolverines’ ever-churning hype 
machine and actually followed 
up 
with 
production, 
while 
Sainristil notched just one catch 
for eight yards through seven 
games.
“Coming in from spring ball, 
the speed adjustment was really 
a big factor,” Sainristil said. “… 
Fall camp is just more game 
reality. Putting yourself in those 
game situations compared to 
spring ball is when (we do) big 
installs.”
That, in turn, lowered a 
confidence 
that 
had 
soared 
throughout the spring.
“A couple times during fall 
camp, a couple times during 
season 
practices 
where 
I 
just really wasn’t locked in,” 
Sainristil said. “Because I was 
just feeling like I wasn’t giving 
my all to the team. I kinda didn’t 
like the position I was in.”
Slowly, though, Sainristil has 
begun working his way onto the 
field, mostly as the slot receiver 
in three and four-wide looks.
Saturday against Notre Dame, 
he doubled his career reception 
total with a key second-quarter 
third-down conversion. Two 
quarters later, he notched his 
first 
collegiate 
touchdown, 
weaving through a trio of 

would-be tacklers for a 26-yard 
score to put Michigan up, 45-7.
“It felt great scoring for the 
first time,” Sainristil said. “… 
And it surprised me that my first 
touchdown was against Notre 
Dame.”
Sainristil knows that he’s not 
a central cog in the Wolverines’ 
offense. Bell, Donovan Peoples-
Jones, Nico Collins and Tarik 
Black take that mantle, with 
82 of Michigan’s 92 receiver 
receptions between them.
It’s part of what makes the 
regular season different from 
spring 
ball, 
when 
Peoples-
Jones, Collins and Black were 
out, 
allowing 
Sainristil 
to 
thrive. But it’s also given him 
an opportunity to develop at 
his own pace, adapting to the 
college game over the course of 
the past three months.
“Really seeing a lot of growth 
from Mikey,” Harbaugh said. 
“The last four weeks, especially 
in practice, he’s really gained 
a lot of confidence in catching 
the football. He’s always been 
really good at route running. He 
went through a little spell there 
where he wasn’t catching the 
ball great. Now his confidence is 
back and surging.”
Sainristil’s route to this point 
took the path of most freshman 
contributors. It required hours 
in front of the jug machine, 
working with graduate assistant 
coach and former Michigan wide 
receiver Roy Roundtree. Every 

time the Wolverines had what 
Sainristil calls an “opportunity 
practice,” Roundtree’s message 
was simple: “Come out, have 
a day.” Sainristil took that 
message to heart, knowing it 
would eventually translate to 
game scenarios.
All of that is normal. The 
difference for Sainristil is where 
expectations stood six months 
ago, when he was praised as 
Michigan’s 
next 
freshman 
sensation.
Since then, he has been able 
to push his position on the 
depth chart out of his mind, 
focusing instead on his own 
performances.
The result is a catching ability 
that’s finally caught up to his 
route-running and yards-after-
catch savvy. The proof is a trio 
of catches and a game-high 73 
yards in Michigan’s biggest win 
of the year.
Thinking 
back 
on 
the 
touchdown catch that defined 
his day, Sainristil knows that it 
didn’t win Michigan the game, 
that it won’t catapult him to the 
top of the depth chart, that it 
isn’t going to make the coming 
weeks any easier.
And yet, as he spoke, he 
couldn’t help a massive smile 
from spilling over his face.
“I wouldn’t say I overcame 
a lot within these months that 
I’ve been here, but it was just a 
big relief,” Sainristil said. “I just 
wanted to get into the end zone.”

How Mel Pearson used his timeouts

Despite a four-goal lead 
midway through the third 
period Friday, the Michigan 
hockey team was reeling, and 
coach Mel Pearson had had 
enough.
The game was at hand, and 
the players settled. In turn, 
they 
took 
on 
unnecessary 
wear-and-tear, 
defending 
against Western Michigan’s 
dominating zone presence.
Instead of attacking the 
opposing net, Michigan players 
were 
blocking 
shots 
and 
taking hits, fending off attacks 
with their bodies. Instead of 
dominating the ice as they 
had done all night long, they 
had become mere spectators, 
watching along as the other 
team had its way with things.
And 
so 
Pearson 
called 
timeout.
“(What) you’re trying to do 
(in) that last seven minutes 
(is), force them to have to 
play in their zone,” Pearson 
said. “So when it does take a 
toll on you for the next night, 
we were playing in our zone 
way too much in our defense 
and having to endure more 
hits and more pressure when 

they 
shouldn’t 
have 
been. 
And (sophomore goaltender) 
Strauss (Mann) too, you wear 
him down a little bit.
“So that was the whole 
reasoning as to try to not give 
them any momentum or a life 
for the next night.”
It was an example of a coach 
seeing a play 
slip and making 
a 
timely 
judgement call 
to sway things 
in 
his 
favor. 
The Wolverines 
had 
gotten 
complacent. 
He wanted to 
remind 
them 
what 
exactly 
they 
had 
to 
lose. Sure, not the game. But 
there was the chance of a 
shutout still up for grabs and 
the condition of players, who 
may have benefitted from a 
couple less bumps or bruises 
on Saturday’s game.
“I 
just 
usually 
see 
a 
momentum shift a little bit in 
and when you do that and just 
trying to slow them down and 
whatnot,” Pearson said. “And 
just give our guys a little break 
but just try to light a fire under 
them. The matches weren’t 

working so couldn’t get the fire 
going underneath our guys.”
“And 
it 
didn’t 
work,” 
Pearson said on the timeout 
Friday. “We should’ve saved 
the time out.”
While he expressed wanting 
to save it at the time, there was 
really no better time to use 
it. The team was losing focus 
and there was really nothing 
to lose to try to jolt effort in 
them. Pearson didn’t need to 
use it for strategy to secure a 
close game. It would have gone 
to waste.
“You can’t save them, you 
can’t take them with you,” 
Pearson said. “So you might 
as well use them, we only get 
one, and I thought was a good 
chance to use it and try to 
change that momentum.”
It was a similar case on 
Saturday, except instead of 
using the timeout defensively 
to change momentum, Pearson 
used 
it 
offensively. 
After 
sophomore 
forward 
Jimmy 
Lambert 
took 
a 
hit 
from 
behind, a minor penalty was 
assessed but the 
players thought 
otherwise. 
Trusting 
his 
players, Pearson 
gambled 
a 
timeout in the 
chance 
the 
call would get 
overturned. 
“That point of 
the game, yeah, I 
have no problem 
with that because it could have 
been a big momentum change,” 
Pearson said. “And as it worked 
out, we didn’t really need our 
timeout maybe when it’s 3-1 at 
some point later, you’re still 
down two goals though. So not 
as critical, going down one.”
In hockey, there’s only one 
timeout for 60 minutes. When 
and how it’s used can shift a 
game in any direction. And for 
Pearson, his weekend uses of 
his were no-brainers.
“It’s just a gut feeling.”

Amy Dilk ready to take the next step

It’s never easy for a freshman 
to fill a vacant starting role. It’s 
even harder when that freshman 
is replacing a program’s all-time 
leading scorer.
That 
was 
the 
case 
for 
sophomore guard Amy Dilk last 
season. Katelynn Flaherty, the 
Michigan women’s basketball 
program’s 
most 
decorated 
player, graduated the year prior 
to Dilk’s arrival, leaving a huge 
hole in the Wolverines’ roster. 
Dilk came in as Michigan’s top 
recruit, a five-star ranked No. 40 
in the nation, with the weight of 
filling an important role on the 
team. 
While 
a 
highly-touted 
freshman like herself could let 
the pressure to replace Flaherty 
affect her play, Dilk did what was 
asked of her and got acclimated 
to the college game.
“I think the biggest challenge 
for her last year was that she 
didn’t realize that you have 
to actually play hard on every 
possession,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “I think 
when you’re in high school and 
you’re such an elite player ... you 
can take possessions off where 
you don’t even realize that you’re 
taking possessions off.”
With a full season under her 

belt, Dilk evaluated her weaker 
aspects and improved them. 
One area in particular is taking 
care of the ball. Dilk turned the 
ball over 3.4 times per game last 
season, higher than both she and 
Barnes Arico would like.
Additionally, 
Dilk 
looked 
to improve her shooting (39.4 
percent last season) and scoring 
(7.2 points per game) abilities 
during the offseason. With three 
other players averaging over 10 
points per game and two other 
established scorers averaging 
over seven, she was not asked to 
be one of the Wolverines’ main 
scoring threats last season. But 
after losing three of their top 
four scorers from last season, 
Dilk will be relied upon as a 
distributor and a scorer.
“I think those two things are 
primarily what I’ve focused on 
over the summer because I think 
that’s what I needed to improve 
to be the best that I can be,” Dilk 
said. “Taking the fundamentals 
and going back to the basics of 
making sure my free throws 
snap, my form is perfect, and 
tightening my ball handling 
skills so I don’t create those 
turnovers. 
“We call it daily vitamins. It’s 
just things that we personally 
need to get better at that we do 
every day as an individual.”
Added Barnes Arico: “I think 

for her to take those next steps in 
her development ... she’s gotta be 
a more consistent shooter. She’s 
gotta be willing to take those 
shots and knock down those 
shots, and she has worked hard 
on that in the offseason.”
Dilk’s 
teammates 
have 
praised her passing ability. She 
finished seventh in the Big Ten 
last season with 4.4 assists per 
game. Her knowledge of her 
teammates’ style was key to this.
“As a point guard, coach talks 
about it all the time, being able 
to make the right reads and just 
knowing the person also,” said 
junior forward Hailey Brown. 
“Building relationships on the 
court as well, I think she just did 
a really good job her freshman 
year.”
While Dilk has worked hard 
to improve her game, the most 
important factor that could 
lead to a breakout season is the 
increased confidence that comes 
with having played a year in the 
system. 
“(She) knows her teammates, 
and knows what she has to do to 
get those wins, and she knows 
what she has to do to put her 
teammates in the best position,” 
said sophomore forward Naz 
Hillmon. “I think she’s going to 
look even better than last year, if 
you guys can even imagine what 
that looks like.”

‘M’ defense shuts down Terrapins

Studs out and the U-M 
Soccer Stadium packed, the No. 
16 Michigan women’s soccer 
team 
dominated 
Maryland, 
4-1, in its last regular-season 
game Sunday. Sitting behind 
just Wisconsin and Rutgers 
in the Big Ten standings, the 
Wolverines 
(13-4-1 
overall, 
8-2-1 Big Ten) put in a fierce 
performance 
against 
the 
Terrapins (9-7-3 overall, 5-5-1 
Big Ten). 
During a crisp fall afternoon 
where 
Michigan 
outshot 
Maryland, 12-2, it was the 
Wolverines who dominated for 
90 minutes in a critical game 
leading into the postseason. 
Though the game included 
multiple 
goals 
from 
the 
winning side, the Wolverines’ 
defense also proved to be an 
important aspect to its success. 
In its 18 games prior to Sunday, 
Michigan allowed just 15 goals, 
an average of .83 goals per 
game and an impressive stat 
from a commanding back line. 
The center back partnership 
of junior defender Alia Martin 
and 
sophomore 
defender 
Sydney Shepherd anchored the 
Wolverines’ back line and shut 
out the Terrapins until the 83rd 
minute. 
“We 
want 
to 
be 
good 

defensively,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach Jennifer Klein. “When 
you want to be a great team you 
have to be a team that can keep 
the ball out of your net. It is a 
goal of ours to be good at that.”
The 
goals 
came 
for 
Michigan this year, with junior 
midfielder Sarah Stratigakis 
leading the team in points with 
six goals and nine assists. Yet, 
the importance of the backline 
is obvious. As the Wolverines 
dominated offensively Sunday, 
it was the calmness of Martin 
and Shepard that controlled the 
flow of the game. The passing 
between the two and into the 
opponents’ defensive third gave 
Michigan the edge. 
“This year, defensively, we’ve 
been very strong, especially 
with Hilary Beall back their 
in 
the 
goal,” 
Stratigakis 
said. “We’re doing well both 
offensively and defensively and 
that’s how we are winning our 
games.”
Though the team could not 
finish the game with a shutout, 
the confidence remained. With 
Big Ten Tournament play about 
to begin, the team will rely 
heavily on its back line to grind 
out wins in games in which 
results matter more heavily. The 
Terrapins’ lone two shots came 
on a long shot from freshman 
forward Kaylee Kozlowski that 
barely challenged Beall. The 

second came from a late second 
half goal. In other words, 
Michigan’s back line didn’t give 
Maryland the chance to reach 
its defensive third. 
“It’s 
a 
huge 
confidence 
booster any time you can get 
a result at your last regular 
season game,” Klein said. “Now 
we can close the chapter on 
regular season and prep for 
postseason.” 
Whether it was clearing 
a ball from a Terrapin cross 
or keeping possession in the 
final moments of the game, the 
Wolverines stayed compact and 
dominant throughout the game. 
Out of five players who played 
the full 90 minutes, Beall, 
Shepherd and Martin were 
three of them. Not only does 
this show their importance 
to the squad, but also how 
dependable they will be as the 
postseason begins and a trophy 
is at stake. 
Michigan has not played 
in a Big Ten championship 
game since 2005 and hasn’t 
won since 1999. Anything can 
happen in tournament season 
and the Wolverines will look to 
capitalize on that chance and 
use their stalwart defense to do 
so.
“We are very confident,” 
Stratigakis 
said. 
“We’re 
a 
team to watch out for coming 
postseason.”

NICK MOEN
For The Daily

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Junior midfielder Sarah Stratigakis helped Michigan’s defense to a dominant performance over Maryland.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Freshman receiver Mike Sainristil scored his first touchdown on Saturday.

JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Sophomore guard Amy Dilk worked to improve her shooting as well as her passing during the offseason.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Editor

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson regretted his timeout usage against Western.

It didn’t work. 
We should’ve 
saved that 
timeout.

