2B — November 11, 2019
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Defense, goaltending not enough against Gophers

There’s a saying in sports 
that the score of a game doesn’t 
always reflect how close it was. 
Sometimes misused, it was 
emblematic 
Saturday 
night 
when the Michigan hockey 
team fell, 3-1, to Minnesota.
The third goal the Wolverines 
gave up was an empty netter 
in the final minute, while the 
second was the result of a 
fluke play where sophomore 
goaltender Strauss Mann tried 
to collect a rebound off the 
boards behind the goal line, but 
the puck bounced too far to an 
opposing player in the crease. 
And chance played a pivotal 
role on the first goal, too. The 
Golden Gophers were on a 
two-on-one against freshman 
defenseman Cam York, whilst 
redshirt junior forward Luke 
Morgan hustled back. Both 
players dove to choke the 
passing lane, but the puck 
ultimately bounced off York, 
then off Morgan’s left skate to 
a Minnesota forward near the 
crease.
If any of those bounces went 
another way, the game could 
have had a different tone. 
Thus there is weight behind 
the saying. But this raises the 
question, what kept the game 
close to begin with? And the 
answer to that is, undoubtedly, 
the defensive effort.
“The one nice thing, not nice, 
but the one underlying thing 
here is we’re playing so hard 
defensively and doing a lot of 
things on the right side of the 
puck,” said Michigan coach Mel 
Pearson. “So when we do start 
to score, we’ve already got that 
mentality of how we need to 
play away from it, and how hard 
we have to play defensively.”
While the offense struggled 
to score till late, the defense 
was cohesive. On the penalty 
kill, the players skated in 
unison to block shooting lanes. 
There were many more dives 
throughout 
the 
game 
than 

those on the conceded goal — 
many that actually worked. For 
instance, following a faceoff in 
the Wolverines’ attacking zone 
late in the opening period the 
Gophers got a quick rush, but 
sophomore defenseman Jack 
Summers went on all fours to 
keep the game close early on.
“I think that’s been real 
key for us we’re not scoring 
a 
ton 
right 
now but we’re 
playing 
great 
defensively,” 
Mann 
said. 
“And 
my 
defensemen are 
playing 
really 
great in front 
of me which is 
great and that’s 
really a recipe 
for success in 
the future.”
A 
substantial 
portion 
of 
Minnesota’s scoring chances 
weren’t 
due 
to 
mistakes 
in the defensive zone, but 
rather simple giveaways on 
the attack that led to odd-
man rushes. This was evident 
late in the third period when 
junior forward Dakota Raabe 
took a weak slap shot from 

near the blue line. Due to the 
lack of pace, forward Blake 
McLaughlin grabbed it out of 
the air, and thus Michigan had 
to defend another rush.
“We’ve got control of the 
puck and we whiff on it and 
they poke it and they’re gone 
and it ends up in the net. It’s 
frustrating,” 
Pearson 
said. 
“It’s really frustrating. I feel 
bad 
for 
our 
guys, 
actually, 
because they’re 
working 
hard. 
They’re working 
their 
tails 
off 
and 
we 
don’t 
have anything to 
show for it.”
Mann 
was 
the 
backbone 
of the defense. 
Ignoring 
the 
gaffe on the second goal, he 
made key saves all night. Seven 
minutes into the game, junior 
forward 
Jack 
Becker 
lost 
possession right in front of the 
Wolverines’ net resulting in an 
easy chance for the Gophers, 
but Mann deflected the puck 
upward to get out of harm’s 
way. 
Late in the second period, he 

made a stellar glove save off a 
two-on-one attack to keep his 
team within one. And he stayed 
calm despite the mishap on the 
second goal. This was pivotal 
midway 
through 
the 
final 
frame, when Minnesota moved 
the puck back and forth from 
near the left circle to the slot. 
Mann maintained his position 
and moved quickly to block the 
shot when it finally came.
“I feel bad for him because 
he’s losing games,” Pearson 
said. “And you look at his record 
and if you didn’t know his goals 
against you wonder, ‘Oh this 
kid just keeps losing, why do 
we keep playing him?’ But he 
continues to do a great job. … 
You look at the goals against 
and we can’t fault him on any of 
that for sure.”
Not faulting Mann and the 
defensive unit is the most 
logical, as without them the 
Wolverines 
likely 
wouldn’t 
have had any shot at winning. 
But 
Michigan 
must 
also 
complement it’s defensive unit 
with a better attack, otherwise 
the efforts will continue to 
go to waste and the team will 
have to keep residing to mere 
sayings.

Offensive struggles continue for Wolverines

The game was right there on 
Jimmy Lambert’s stick.
He cut toward the net and into 
the left faceoff circle, alone and 
waiting. The scrum on the other 
end of the zone resulted in Johnny 
Beecher caressing the puck away 
from the battlefield of bodies, 
and the freshman forward was 
looking to pass.
And he found Lambert, whose 
extended stick indicated he was 
ready for the pass and looking 
to score the easy goal — one that 
would break the 1-1 tie and win 
the Michigan hockey team the 
game.
But the puck slid toward 
Lambert. Then it slid past him. He 
whiffed on the shot and tumbled 
down onto the ice, sprawling on 
all fours as he looked to the distant 
puck, left to wonder what could 
have been in the eventual tie. 
Only a minute later, the puck 
made its way back over to Lambert 
for a chance to redeem himself, all 
alone in the faceoff circle with his 
stick readied. He found himself in 
a similar position as before.
This time, Lambert connected 

with the puck, but it didn’t even 
come close to being on frame. 
He sailed his shot wide right, 
and another scoring chance was 
wasted.
“He fell,” said Michigan coach 
Mel Pearson. “Nobody around 
him. Good opportunity coming 
down the slot, just whiffs on it. He 
had three or four (whiffs). Once 
you’re not scoring and you’re a 
forward, you really start to press. 
It can get in your head.”
But Lambert wasn’t the only 
Wolverine who couldn’t capitalize 
on opportunities; the team as a 
whole proved unable to finish 
pucks on net.
The Wolverines’ lone goal 
came in the third period off a tip-
in by graduate transfer forward 
Jacob Hayhurst off a shot from 
senior defensemen Luke Martin. 
It seemed their offense had finally 
made it over the hurdle. But it was 
a false hope. Hayhurst’s goal was 
followed up by a string of missed 
opportunities.
One came from senior forward 
Jake Slaker, who fired the puck 
directly into the skate blade of a 
Golden Gopher. Another came 
from Hayhurst. And then three 
of four from Lambert. It didn’t 

matter the offense was getting 
significantly more shots to the 
net than in the previous period 
because it couldn’t finish on them. 
“We’re struggling offensively 
right now,” Pearson said. “Boy oh 
boy, I wish I had some answers, 
but we just have to make sure 
we’re playing well defensively. 
The offense is gonna come, it’s 
just a matter of time, but we’re in a 
funk right now.” 
On top of the fanned shots 
and 
overpassing, 
Michigan’s 
offense has been generated by a 
small group so far this season. On 
Friday night, that was apparent. 
Overall, it had 34 shots on net, but 
most came from a select group 
of four of five players including 
Slaker and freshman defenseman 
Cam York, who collectively had 
eight shots.
“We don’t score a lot of goals,” 
said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. 
“We’re gonna have to find a way 
to all chip in. We have to start 
doing a better job of that. We had 
some open looks and guys whiff 
on shots, guys falling down. Great 
opportunities. We’re just really, 
really struggling on the offense.”
Contrasting the onslaught of 
offense in the third, in the second 

period Michigan fell flat. It tallied 
only five shots on net despite 
attempting 14, a stark contrast to 
the 18 shots it registered in the 
following 20 minutes.
Rather than shooting the puck, 
the Wolverines opted to pass. And 
pass. And pass. When they did 
manage to put the puck on net, it 
sailed wide or over the crossbar 
or didn’t even connect with a 
player’s stick. 
And it was the wasted chances 
that plagued Michigan. Too many 
times had the extra pass across 
the crease fail and frustrate 
players. The hard-gripped sticks 
only got gripped a little tighter 
each and every failed attempt.
“We’re 
just 
not 
burying 
opportunities,” said Hayhurst. 
“We’re getting chances. As you 
can see we had a ton in the third, 
we’re just not putting them on the 
net.”
After losing three straight 
and 
tying 
Minnesota, 
but 
surrendering the extra point, it’s 
obvious Michigan’s offense needs 
to regroup. 
What’s less obvious is whether 
the Wolverines will be able to do 
so before their standing in the Big 
Ten suffers even further.

After late-game issues, 
‘M’ looks for composure

When both Michigan and 
Appalachian 
State 
players 
shuffled off the court towards 
their respective benches at the 
11:05 mark of the second half on 
Tuesday, everything was going 
according to plan for Juwan 
Howard. 
The 
Wolverines 
held 
a 
26-point advantage, seemingly 
setting the new coach up for 
his first victory. Michigan’s 
leading scorers on the night, 
senior center Jon Teske and 
junior guard Eli Brooks, were 
subbed out for sophomores 
Colin Castleton and Adrien 
Nunez — things looked that 
good.
Then, 
that 
cushion 
evaporated into thin air. Over 
the next ten minutes, the 
Mountaineers 
whittled 
the 
Wolverines’ lead down to just 
five. 
“We just got away from 
the little things,” Teske said. 
“Things got a little tense, we 
just had to relax. I mean we 
were up 30 points.
“We were trying to make 
a quick shot. We had a lot of 
one-pass 
possessions 
where 
we tried to take a quick shot or 
make a quick move.” 
The fastbreak opportunities 
and easy buckets of the first 
half gave way to half-court 
sets and a lack of offensive 
cohesion. 
Against 
the 
3-2 
zone that Appalachian State 
implemented 
at 
halftime, 
Michigan turned the ball over 
nine times and couldn’t hit any 
of the open looks it was given. 
In the face of the offensive 
collapse 
and 
the 
surging 
Mountaineers, 
the 
message 
inside the Wolverines’ huddle 
was simple: composure.
“They’re gonna give you 
open shots in a zone,” Howard 

said. “ ‘You just gotta be 
patient.’ That’s exactly what I 
was telling our guys. ‘Be patient 
with the zone. Let’s make sure 
that we work the basketball 
around and move. And at times 
you see seams, drive it.’ ”
While the rest of Crisler 
Center 
may 
have 
been 
panicked 
and 
frustrated, 
Howard remained positive and 
calm in his first experience 
commanding a huddle as a head 
coach — something his team 
recognized. 
“He was more of a motivator 
than anything,” Brooks said. 
“Coach Howard was definitely 
talking the most. He did a good 
job of controlling the huddle.”
Similar directives came from 
the team’s veterans. Senior 
point guard Zavier Simpson, 
junior forward Isaiah Livers 
and Teske tried to keep the 
team focused and confident. 
“You kinda expect us to hit 
a bump,” Brooks said. “Not 
everything is going to go 
smoothly with a new coach 
and new system. It was just 
keep moving forward, next play 
mentality. Just get back to what 
was successful at the beginning 
of the game.”
Michigan 
never 
fully 
regained its offensive efficiency 
from the first half, but it scored 
when it needed to. Livers 
converted a follow-up layup 
from underneath and Brooks 
went 5-for-6 from the foul line. 
The Wolverines escaped what 
would have been a disastrous 
start 
to 
their 
season 
and 
Howard’s tenure. 
The late-game conversations 
may not have been the sole 
reason 
Michigan 
survived, 

but Howard got a small taste 
of high-stakes coaching on 
Tuesday night. 
And, in a new role and a 
rebuilt roster, that might not be 
such a bad thing.

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore goaltender Strauss Mann played well this weekend, but it wasn’t enough as Michigan took just one of six points.

You look at the 
goals against 
and we can’t 
fault (Mann).

MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer

MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Sophomore forward Jimmy Lambert whiffed on an easy scoring chance Friday night, encapsulating the Wolverines’ offensive frustrations on the weekend.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer

Michigan drops opener

When 
sophomore 
heavyweight 
Mason 
Parris 
dislocated his finger in the 
midst of his match, there was 
no doubt in his mind that it 
would not affect the rest of his 
wrestling. The crowd went silent 
as the trainer stepped onto the 
mat to reset the finger. Parris, 
after a quick flex of his fingers, 
was ready to wrestle again. It 
was a gruesome embodiment 
of the mentality the Michigan 
wrestling team has adopted 
early this season — effort and 
confidence.
But, in an up-and-down first 
dual meet against 
North Carolina, 
the 
Wolverines 
struggled 
to 
maintain 
this 
resiliency, losing 
19-17. 
After 
a 
dominant 
performance 
from 
redshirt 
sophomore 
Jack 
Medley 
at 
125-pounds, 
winning 10-2, the match-up 
leveled off, with the Tar Heels 
winning the next 2 matches.
“(Jack Medley) wrestled a kid 
who he maybe wasn’t supposed 
to beat, but he really took it to 
him, and I was impressed by 
that,” said 197-pound fifth year 
senior Jackson Striggow.
Things seemed to be looking 
up for Michigan when redshirt 
freshman Nick Freeman took 
the 149-pound match, gaining 
eight points from a near fall and 
two take-downs. However, his 
individual win couldn’t spur 
enough 
momentum 
for 
the 
Wolverines, especially since his 
match led into intermission, 
giving UNC a chance to re-group.
“It was definitely a match that 
we thought we were capable 
of winning, and again it goes 
back to wrestling hard all three 
periods and forcing your offense 
on an opponent,” said Michigan 
coach Sean Bermot. “(Freeman) 
is really capable of doing that. 
He kind of held off until the 3rd 

period.”
The Tar Heels came out of 
intermission strong, winning the 
next four individual matches. 
The most detrimental matchup 
for Michigan was the 174-
pound match between redshirt 
freshman Max Maylor and UNC 
redshirt sophomore Clay Lautt. 
Lautt gained advantage quickly 
and executed a fall just two 
minutes and 20 seconds into the 
first period ending the match and 
giving the Tar Heels an extra six 
team points.
After 
two 
wins 
for 
the 
Wolverines from Jelani Embree 
and Jackson Striggow, it was left 
to Mason Parris to finish out the 
night, who faced UNC’s Andrew 
Gunning in the 
heavyweight 
match. 
Down 
by 
five 
team 
points, 
Parris 
would 
have 
to complete a 
fall in order to 
win the match. 
Parris 
fought 
hard, and won 
the match 4-0, 
with a takedown 
late in the third period, but it was 
not enough as Michigan fell two 
points short.
The Wolverines were also 
unable to capitalize on bonus 
points, 
something 
heavily 
emphasized by the coaching 
staff. They split the matches 
evenly with the Tar Heels, 
each team winning five, but the 
difference in team score was in 
bonus points.
“I think bonus points are 
always big,” Bermot said. “We’ve 
been working on that stuff a lot. 
We do have some younger guys 
in the lineup, and first-time 
guys competing at (Cliff) Keen 
Arena. I think as they continue 
to become more confident, more 
aggressive, we’re going to see 
more bonus points.”
While the dual result ended in 
a loss for Michigan, both players 
and coaches were hopeful for the 
rest of the season, ready to get 
back to practicing.
Ready to metaphorically reset 
the finger.

WRESTLING

ABBIE TELGENHOF
Daily Sports Writer

There were still 
a lot of things 
we need to 
work on.

