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.