The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 — 7
Michigan learning how to bend but not break
Kris Mayotte’s favorite saying
is ‘Bend, but don’t break.’ It’s
been parroted around the halls
of Yost Ice Arena enough times
this season that every time
someone says something to that
effect, everyone knows where it
came from.
But the Michigan hockey
team has largely struggled to
fulfill what its assistant coach
has been asking. In three of
the Wolverines’ seven Big Ten
games before Sunday’s game in
Madison, Michigan held a two-
goal lead in the second period —
four times if you count both the
2-0 and 3-1 leads over Michigan
State on Nov. 14.
All three times, the Wolverines
broke under pressure as their
opponents came back to win.
In the conference opener at
Ohio State on Nov. 1, redshirt
sophomore
forward
Emil
Öhrwall found the back of
the net for his first goal in a
Michigan
sweater
halfway
through the second period. The
Wolverines led, 2-0, and had all
the momentum.
Six
minutes
later,
the
Buckeyes halved the deficit, and
Michigan couldn’t get its feet
back. Just over a minute into the
third, Ohio State found twine
again. And not even two minutes
after that, the Buckeyes took a
lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Wolverines bent, and
then they broke.
Two weekends later against
Michigan State, the breaking
point was even more damning.
Sophomore forward Garrett Van
Wyhe had just given Michigan
a 2-0 lead when the Spartans
marched down the ice on the
next shift and made it a 2-1 game.
But the Wolverines bounced
back — for the time being —
when freshman forward Johnny
Beecher fired a sharp-angle shot
over goaltender John Lethemon’s
shoulder and Michigan regained
a two-goal lead.
As you either know or can
guess by now, that two-goal lead
was doomed. Michigan State
made it 3-2 by the end of the
second period and 3-3 just under
four minutes into the third. By
the 8:51 mark of the third period,
the Spartans had taken the lead.
Once again, the Wolverines
bent. Then they broke.
“There’s times where were
just get too high or get too low
and then you can see that in
the
game,”
said
sophomore
defenseman Nick Blankenburg
after that game. “Or some shifts
don’t go our way, and you can
kinda see that happen. (Mayotte)
says, ‘Bend, don’t break,’ and I
think we gotta keep working on
that.”
It felt as though blowing a
two-goal lead — twice — on
home ice to its biggest rival
would either be a turning point
or a breaking point for Michigan.
The game two nights later in
East Lansing seemed to prove
it was a breaking point, as the
Wolverines were shut out for the
first time all year in a 3-0 loss.
It was the Spartans’ first
sweep over Michigan since 2009.
And when the Wolverines
returned to conference play this
past weekend at Wisconsin, the
same story returned. Michigan
got out to an early lead and led
2-0 in the second period.
In a blink, it was 2-1 after
forward Dylan Holloway beat
sophomore goaltender Strauss
Mann when the Wolverines got
caught in a slow line change.
Minutes
later,
defenseman
Wyatt Kalynuk made it 2-2
when he danced through all five
Michigan skaters on his way to
the net.
Inevitably, the Badgers took
the lead just over halfway
through the third period when
defenseman K’Andre Miller’s
shot
bounced
off
freshman
defenseman Keaton Pehrson’s
skate and into the net.
For the third time in four
weeks, the Wolverines blew a
2-0 lead and lost. The loss was
characterized by mental lapses,
of a team that just couldn’t find
a way to win. A team that had
long since passed its bending
point and was now, truly, at its
breaking point.
“But we have to find a way, we
have to stick together and work
through this time that we’re
having,” said Michigan coach
Mel Pearson on Sunday. “Then
once we find a way to win some
games, we’re going to win our
share of one-goal games. We just
have to stick together as a group
and continue to work. It’s the
only way we’re going to get out
of it.”
So, when Michigan found
itself up 2-0 early in the second
period
in
Sunday’s
game,
there
was
little
reason
to
expect the script to be flipped.
When freshman forward Nick
Granowicz went to the box for
roughing in the third period and
Wisconsin’s Cole Caufield made
it a 2-1 game with six minutes
left, it looked to be, once again,
the same story, different night.
But for the first time in
Big Ten play, the Wolverines
didn’t break. An empty-netter
from
senior
forward
Jake
Slaker sealed things with 46
seconds left for Michigan’s first
conference win.
“They’ve had some tough
losses,” Pearson said Sunday.
“And every time you lose like
that it’s like somebody reaches
in and rips a piece of your heart
out, but they’ve continued to
come and believe and work and
so from that standpoint, it’s a
huge win.”
Three times, the Wolverines
broke. On the fourth, they bent
— just a bit — and then managed,
somehow, to hold strong.
It’s way too soon to make
determinations about whether
this win is a turning point
for
Michigan,
because
the
Wolverines
may
well
find
themselves at another breaking
point this weekend when first-
place Penn State comes to town.
But for the first time, Michigan
managed to do what Mayotte has
been begging for all year.
Bend, but don’t break.
‘M’ season ends in disappointing
fashion with Sweet Sixteen loss
It all seemed too good to be true.
Derick Broche found himself all
alone, green grass the only thing
between him and the opposing
goalkeeper, his feet the recipient
of a ball that split the Wake Forest
defense. One accurate touch and
the sophomore forward would tie
up the game.
The equalizer, though, wasn’t
meant
to
be.
Broche’s
shot,
seemingly destined for the net,
trickled harmlessly past the post,
wide right.
Broche’s gaffe, arguably the
most egregious error in a game rife
with missed opportunities, was
microcosmic of Sunday’s 3-1 Sweet
Sixteen loss for the Michigan men’s
soccer team (11-5-6) against Wake
Forest (15-4-2). As the missed
chances built, Michigan’s chances
at winning the game dwindled
away.
“It was just a hard fought match
and, in the end, it was a game of
chances converted,” said Michigan
coach Chaka Daley. “They found
their chances, and we missed
ours.”
In the 70th minute, just moments
after the Wolverines missed their
golden opportunity, the Demon
Deacons capitalized upon one of
Michigan’s defensive mistakes.
Senior defenseman Abdou Samake
was whistled for a foul going for a
loose ball in the box, which led to
a Bruno Lapa penalty kick goal.
Lapa’s strike buried the Wolverines
in a two-goal deficit, capping off a
sequence that served as the nail in
the coffin to Michigan’s season.
“Momentum
swings,
that’s
football,” Daley said. “When the
momentum swings, you know
we’re one-on-one twice in the
game, goals change games for
sure. And that sequence certainly
changes the game in the end.”
In the 24th minute, graduate
transfer forward Nebojsa Popovic
missed a chance that began equally
as promising as Broche’s. Popovic
received a through ball from senior
winger Jack Hallahan that led him
behind the last row of defense, yet
his one-timer was deflected out
of bounds on a lunging save by
Wake Forest goalkeeper Andrew
Pannenberg.
Throughout,
the
Michigan
attack continued to create chances
with six shots on goal, growing
into its own as the game went on.
Failing to convert on said chances,
though, plagued most of the
opportunities.
Scoring became an even more
challenging task for the Wolverines
when Hallahan — the team’s
third-leading goal-scorer — left
the game in the 53rd minute due
to an apparent injury after being
inadvertently struck in the face.
Michigan’s defense, meanwhile,
was
in
bend-but-not-break
mode from the opening whistle,
struggling to keep one of the
nation’s most potent attacks at bay.
In the first half, the defense held
its own. In the second half, it finally
broke.
The Wolverines deployed an
aggressive press, which left them
vulnerable to counter attacks
and long passes down the wing.
Five minutes into the second half,
Wake Forest forward Machop
Chol burst by junior defenseman
Austin Sweich on the right flank
and launched a cross towards the
box. Freshman goalkeeper Owen
Finnerty dove off his line, yet
the ball came inches away from
grazing his outstretched right
hand. Instead, it found the head
of Demon Deacon forward Kyle
Holcomb, who wasted no time in
giving Wake Forest the 1-0 lead.
“Defensively,
we
pressed
them pretty well, kept them
uncomfortable for a large portion
of the game,” Daley said. “We
were pretty good until we made
those mistakes in the second half,
and they were really sharp on
capitalizing on our mistakes. That
was the difference in the game.”
Michigan finally broke through
in the 77th minute when junior
midfielder Marc Ybarra rifled a
kick from outside the box, and the
ball pinballed through the defense
until it found Broche’s right foot
and the back of the net.
The Wolverines’ stay on life-
support, though, proved short-
lived. In the 83rd minute, Holcomb
struck again, blasting a one-timer
off a right-side cross over Finnerty
directly at the net and notching his
second goal of the game.
The plug had officially been
pulled on the Michigan’s season.
“It’s a sad locker room,” Daley
said. “Never easy to end your
season. But at least we ended
our season to a very formidable
opponent. We want to compete
against the big boys of college
soccer and that’s what we came to
do and the boys were up for it. Just
disappointed in the end.”
For seniors, a familiar season’s end
Shea Patterson has only been
at Michigan for two years, but
that didn’t seem to matter.
The question — What went
wrong in the third quarter —
lingered in the air for eight
seconds,
then
nine,
before
Patterson muttered his response.
“I don’t have anything for
that,” he said, his voice cracking
as he shook his head. As Patterson
held back tears, it was hard to
feel anything but sympathy. He
grew up in the epicenter of this
rivalry, a Michigan fan from
birth.
When
he
transferred
two years ago, it was with the
promise that he could be the one
to lead the Wolverines past Ohio
State — something they hadn’t
done in six tries up to that point.
Now, that streak is at eight,
with
Patterson’s
two
shots
at
the
Buckeyes
ending
in
blowout
losses.
Michigan’s
traditional seniors at least had
victory within their grasp as
freshmen and sophomores, but
they too leave winless. Only a
meaningless bowl game now
separates them from the end of
their college careers.
“It’s very, very frustrating,”
Patterson said, sitting beside
sophomore
running
back
Hassan Haskins at the podium
postgame. “What we do all year
leading to this game is for them.
We know it’s an emotional game.
Luckily Hassan’s got a few more
shots at them.”
Implicit in his comments is
that Patterson and the rest of
Michigan’s seniors don’t.
That doesn’t, in and of itself,
make their college careers a
waste. Patterson has 19 wins in
his two years here. The four-year
seniors have 37. Those, like fifth-
year senior Jordan Glasgow, who
have been here for Harbaugh’s
entire tenure have 47.
“I don’t think this result
should have been the result that
we should have seen,” Glasgow
said. “But it’s the one that we
have. We just gotta live with
that.”
On
Saturday
afternoon,
though, living with that was
easier said than done.
All week, these same seniors
emphasized
the
importance
of this game. The national
championship and Big Ten title
hopes that they arrived with four
years ago were gone, but beating
Ohio State — just once — could
cure all.
“I just love playing in these
big games,” senior guard Ben
Bredeson said Monday. “There’s
no bigger stage in college football
than
Ohio
State-Michigan.
That’s why we all come to the
respective schools is to play
championship football and with
that, play each other, be a part
of the greatest rivalry in college
football.”
A week later, that opportunity
has
been
evaporated
into
history,
joining
relinquished
championship
hopes
in
Michigan’s latest lost season.
It’s
a
feeling
that
five
generations of seniors have now
had to put into words. For five
years, they’ve taken to a podium
— whether in Ann Arbor or
Columbus — and been asked how
it feels to leave Michigan without
a win over their biggest rival.
And for five years, there hasn’t
been anything new to say.
“Wish I could’ve got a couple
wins in it,” safety Tyree Kinnel
said after last year’s 62-39 loss.
“That’s the toughest part. I’m
gonna have to sleep on that the
rest of my life, that I was not able
to win in this game.”
A year earlier, John O’Korn
fought through tears to deliver
the same message.
“The hardest part for me is
that you come here to win this
game,” O’Korn said then. “And
our senior class wasn’t able to do
it.”
Now, it comes from Patterson
and Glasgow and Bredeson. All
took different paths to get here,
but all entered Saturday with
one chance to etch their names
in Michigan history.
Instead, they leave with an
eight-game losing streak in their
wake.
“Definitely really frustrating,
especially for the seniors,” said
senior tight end Sean McKeon.
“It’s just kind of the same thing
every year.”
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
How a full-court press
unleashed an offense
So
far
this
season,
the
Michigan women’s basketball
team’s
greatest
advantages
over its mid-major opposition
have been its size, speed and
strength.
Every player in its starting
lineup is over six feet — a rarity
in women’s basketball. With
three starting forwards, it looks
to dominate the paint every
game.
And the Wolverines succeed,
when they find space and
hold onto the ball. Sophomore
forward Naz Hillmon is the
team’s leading scorer, followed
by
freshman
center
Izabel
Varejão and senior forward
Kayla Robbins. Their length is
their strength — 58 percent of
points come from shots inside
the arc.
Against Eastern Michigan
on Nov. 27, though, Michigan
struggled early on producing
offense. Missed shots, missed
free
throws
and
turnovers
plagued the team in the first
quarter.
And
then
on
Sunday,
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico changed the game plan
completely. The entire team
played in the first quarter, as the
Wolverines struggled to take
a lead against Morgan State.
Barnes Arico decided to press
the Bears.
“We’re trying to figure out
with our rotations and what’s
the best lineup to be able to
(press),” Barnes Arico said. “It’s
hard if you’re playing (Hillmon)
37 minutes a game to be pressing
the entire time, but tonight with
an opportunity to use our 11
players, we were able to press a
little bit more, which is great.”
The shift started early in
the first half, when sophomore
guard Danielle Rauch came on
the court for sophomore guard
Amy Dilk. There would be no
break from the onslaught of
pressure for the visitors. After a
tight first half, the Bears finally
broke — turning the ball over
seven times and giving Michigan
13 points off turnovers.
“We were able to get into the
open court in transition so it
was higher percentage shots,”
Barnes Arico said. “In the first
half we were taking sometimes
contested (shots) and turning
the ball over a lot, so I think our
defense helped us create our
offense which helped us settle
in a little bit more.”
Added senior guard Akienreh
Johnson: “When we don’t get
stops on defense it kind of
messes up our offense because
we lose our confidence, things
like that. But our ability to get
stops, get steals, get rebounds,
things like that, we really pride
ourselves on that.”
When Morgan State finally
crumbled under the Wolverines’
press, the floodgates opened for
Michigan’s offense. Shooters
like freshman guard Michelle
Sidor enjoyed an abundance
of time and space to get shots
off, Sidor sank four 3-pointers
on her way to a career high 16
points. As a whole, the team
shot 61 percent in the second
half, compared to 47 percent in
the first.
Thanks to the press, the
Wolverines had found their
rhythm.
“In the first half we kind of
tried to do one pass and shot a
lot of the times,” Johnson said.
“But in the second half we
calmed down and got the two,
three, four passes and then
the duck in or the kick out to
the three. So I think it was a
lot more of rhythm and then
confidence.”
In the second half against
Morgan State, Michigan put
a lid on its turnovers — its
biggest early-season problem —
committing just three.
For the first time all season,
the Wolverines seemed to use
their dominant athleticism in
another way beyond controlling
the glass, freeing up their
guards to steal the spotlight in
a way they haven’t all season.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
The Michigan hockey team held onto its two-goal lead Sunday, getting its first Big Ten win against Wisconsin.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson has lost in both tries against Ohio State.
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
The Michigan men’s soccer team was eliminated by Wake Forest on Sunday.